German Language Dateline: 09/28/98 

One unique feature of the German alphabet is the infamous ß. Found in no other language, part of the uniqueness of the ß -- aka "eszet" ("s-z") or "scharfes s" ("sharp s") -- is that, unlike all other German letters, it exists only in the lower case. This exclusivity may help explain why many Germans and Austrians are so attached to the character. Just how attached can be seen in the raging controversy over spelling reform (Rechtschreibreform) that has shaken the German-speaking world of late. (...) Even though the Swiss have managed to live peacefully without the ß in Swiss German for decades, some German-speakers are up in arms over its possible demise. But Swiss writers, books, and periodicals have long ignored the ß, using double-s (ss) instead.

That's why it's all the more puzzling that the International Working Committee for [German] Spelling (Internationaler Arbeitskreis für Orthographie) chose to keep this troublesome oddity in certain words, while eliminating its use in others. Why not just toss out this troublemaker -- that beginners in German often mistake for a capital B -- and be done with it? If the Swiss can get by without it, why not the Austrians and Germans?

The rules for when to use the "ß" rather than a simple "ss" have never been easy, but while the new "simplified" spelling rules are less complex, they still seem to continue the confusion. The German spelling reformers included a section called Sonderfall ss/ß (Neuregelung) - "Special Case ss/ß (New Rules)" that says (in German): "For the sharp (voiceless) [s] after a long vowel or diphthong one writes ß, as long as no other consonant follows in the word stem." - Alles klar? (Got that?)

Thus, while the so-called "new rules" do reduce the use of the ß, they still leave intact the old bugaboo that means some German words are spelled with ß and others with ss. (The Swiss are looking more reasonable by the minute, aren't they?) The new "improved" rules mean that the conjunction formerly known as daß ("that") should now be spelled dass (short-vowel rule) -- but the adjective groß ("big") stays groß (long-vowel rule). Many words formerly spelled with ß are now written with ss, while others retain the sharp-s character (technically known as the "sz ligature"): Straße (street) but Schuss (shot), Fleiß (diligence) but Fluss (river). The old mixing of different spellings for the same root word also remains: fließen (flow) but floss (flowed), ich weiß (I know) but ich wusste (I knew). -- The reformers were forced to make an exception for the oft-used preposition aus, which otherwise would now have to be spelled auß. However, außen, "outside," stays außen. Alles klar? Gewiss! (...)

Daß dies beabsichtigt ist, wird letztlich durch die Entscheidung der Print- und Onlinemedien gestützt, die RSR mit Abstrichen  ab 01.08.99 zu übernehmen. Die Strategie ist, die Bevölkerung, die noch dagegen ist, zu verunsichern, zu zermürben und letztlich dazu zu bringen, das Regelwerk anzukennen.