2655: Long S Outside Writing Systems Mar 25, 2022

While naturally the long s ⟨ſ⟩ character was used in handwriting, print, and in ligatures, outside of specific writing systems it’s also had other functions. was the symbol of the shilling when that was part of British currency, though this has largely been replaced with a / symbol. ⟨ſ⟩ is used in mathematics for integrals, though this is a stylized form based on the italicised version /ʃ/, hence the tail at the end and no x-height nub. In the International Phonetic alphabet, the same italicised version /ʃ/ is used to represent the first found in 'SHort'.

This is the final post in a series about the long-s. To read all of them together, click here.

2654: Lingering Traces of Long S Mar 24, 2022

While usage of the long s ⟨ſ⟩ declined sharply after the start of the 19th century, but it did not totally disappear. First of all, it was used in the alphabets as its own letter—that is, not as a variant of 'S'—such as in various writing systems of Slavic and Caucasian languages even into the early 20th century; Turkmen used it for its Latin script as its own letter before that was replaced with 'ž'. Moreover, it is still found as a ligature making up the German ß (sz) though this has long been considered its own letter.

Moreover, outside of specific writing systems, it was the symbol of the shiling when that was part of British currency, though this has largely been replaced with a / symbol. ⟨ſ⟩ is used in mathematics for integrals, though this is a stylized form based on the italicised version /ʃ/, hence the tail at the end and no x-height nub. In the International Phonetic alphabet, the same italicised version /ʃ/ is used to represent the first found in 'SHort'.

2653: Decline of Long S Mar 23, 2022

Like the decline of other letters in English history, the death blow to the long-s ⟨ſ⟩ was printing. Unlike other letters like ⟨Ð,ð⟩ or ⟨Æ, æ⟩ that died in English even earlier because the first printing presses were from Flanders and Germany where those symbols weren't present, ⟨ſ⟩ was used in German and indeed most European scripts. This allowed the character to survive into the very beginning of the 18th century, but extra cost for casting more types as well as extra effort for printers both in selection and in kerning made this a less appealing choice. Around this time, casters stopped making them and many prominent publishers didn't use them which normalized the practice. In Handwriting, the practice persistent for another half-century or so, but was eventually not emphasized in schools and went by the wayside as well.

2651: Long S Rules Mar 21, 2022

In printing, as well as handwriting since the time of the Romans, there was a so-called 'long s' which appeared ⟨ſ⟩. This was not a random variant or a font of ⟨s⟩, but has its own rules about when it is used instead. In the 17th & 18th centuries, these were the standards for printing

• Round S ⟨s⟩ was always used before ⟨f⟩, before apostrophes, and at the ends of words.

•Long S ⟨ſ⟩ was always used in the beginning or middle including when the word was broken up with hyphens or abbreviated.

• If there were two successive S's, the first would be long and the last would be round. Some letters were known to usually be preceded by a long or round s, like ⟨b⟩ that usually has a round s.

2650: Long S Mar 20, 2022

There is something called the long s ⟨ſ⟩, which people may be familiar with from printed documents before the 19th century especially. This is often confused with an ⟨f⟩ on first glance, but the two are unrelated. The long s, distinguished from the 'round s', dates back to Roman times at the time the upper & lower case letters were being distinguished, but before there were clear rules about them. The Greek sigma also is unique in the Greek alphabet for having three forms, and represents broadly the same sound, but that's not related. This was later formalized in German printing especially. After the start of the 18th century, it became phased out as it was harder for typists, required an extra letter in print types, and was not seen as providing enough benefit to account for the extra work. There will be more on the form & history of the long s in coming posts.