German sharp S uppercase mapping

[Daniel Buncic]

Am 01.12.2024 um 04:15 schrieb Markus Scherer via Unicode:
> As a library implementer and German speaker, I have been looking out
> for the supposed sea change in usage, and haven't seen it.

Dear Markus,

There are three things that make the change less visible.  First, domain 
names and other ASCII environments as well as stylistic devices.  I live 
in a town called Brühl and work in a city called Köln (which has its own 
top-level domain, .koeln).  You see a surprising number of signage, 
logos, etc. which spell the names as “Bruehl” or “Koeln”:
   https://www.cvjm.koeln/ueber-uns/175-jahre.html
   https://mhi-koeln.de/
   http://kleinbahn.koeln/
   https://koeln-weekend.de/
   https://www.ebay.de/str/koelnartkunsthandel
This is also true of Gießen, where the incorrect spelling “Giessen” has 
a long tradition of giving the name a more artistic, more modern, or 
more international flavor:
  
https://img.oldthing.net/8867/27104185/0/p/AK-Ansichtskarte-Giessen-Lahn-Behoerdenhochhaus-Hauptbahnhof-Stadttheater-Schloss-Wappen-Kat.webp
   https://www.sportkreis-giessen.de/
   https://www.dayuse.de/hotels/germany/trip-inn-city-hotel-giessen
   https://www.statt-giessen.com/
   https://giessenkreativ.de/
   http://transit-giessen.de/
If the spelling “Giessen” is ubiquitous, one should not be surprised to 
also find “GIESSEN”.

Second, ignorance about the spelling in general.  I think I have seen 
“Straße” and “Spaß” spelled as “Strasse” and “Spass” more often than the 
correct spelling:
   https://bigtime.ch/6476-tm_thickbox_default/viel-spass-damit-stempel.jpg
   https://access-im-unternehmen.de/Flexible_Adressen/
  
https://www.kartenparadies.at/cdn/shop/products/GanzvielSpasszumGeburtstagKW-460_900x.jpg
  
https://app.fuxcdn.de/api/fb437fc8-fbec-4c45-a28c-7bebd9aa4d5e/thumbnail/74/25/f8/1668190533/mainspatzen-arbeit-macht-spass-v_800x800.jpg
In contrast to this, “STRASSE” and “SPASS” are not even incorrect.

Third, ignorance about technical possibilities.  So many designs are 
nowadays made by people who know how to handle QuarkXPress or InDesign 
but who have no idea about typography or even orthography.  Designers 
often choose fonts for corporate designs that only contain the absolute 
minimum of characters.  My own university chose a font that does not let 
me write my name, Bunčić, let alone write a Russian translation in the 
same font.  Such minimal fonts also do not contain capital ẞ.

But there definitely is change.  Compare old book covers of “The Great 
Gatsby” in German like
   https://nikol-verlag.de/cdn/shop/products/9783868205268_351x523.jpg
  
https://images.thalia.media/00/-/0f18217aef9f4c779a86bc28985ce4d7/der-grosse-gatsby-gebundene-ausgabe-f-scott-fitzgerald.jpeg
(which have the title as “DER GROSSE GATSBY”)
with two covers from 2022 and 2023
  
https://images.thalia.media/00/-/20013f18fd854595b609ea31f7dba854/der-grosse-gatsby-gebundene-ausgabe-f-scott-fitzgerald.jpeg
  
https://einfachebuecher.de/thumbnail/1f/08/26/1680510657/Der%20gro%C3%9Fe%20Gatsby%20-%20cover%20Lowres_1920x1920.jpg
(where the title is spelled “DER GROẞE GATSBY”).

A few years ago, the number of capital ẞ you could see was exactly zero. 
  Now they are popping up more and more.  For the above reasons, they 
are not the majority yet, but they are increasing fast.  Language change 
is happening in front of our eyes.

All the best,

Daniel

-- 
Prof. Dr. Daniel Bunčić
===============================================================
Slavisches Institut der Universität zu Köln
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E-Mail:        daniel.buncic at uni-koeln.de = daniel at buncic.de
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Homepage:      http://daniel.buncic.de/
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