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
Weyertal 137, D-50931 Köln
Telefon: +49 (0)221 470-90535
Sprechstunden: https://uni.koeln/ENZEB
E-Mail: [email protected] = [email protected]
Threema: https://threema.id/8M375R5K
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Homepage: http://daniel.buncic.de/
Academia: http://uni-koeln.academia.edu/buncic
ResearchGate: https://researchgate.net/profile/Daniel-Buncic-2
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