Level 2 and 3

In both black letter and antiqua texts, two forms of the lower case letter s can occur: the long-s (ſ, U+017F, LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S) and the round s (s, U+0073, LATIN SMALL LETTER S). They are differentiated in the transcription.

The ligature of long-s and z is not to dissolve but to transcribe as ß (spoken sz). Exceptions and particularities are shown in the following table.

Table 1. Particularities concerning the transcription of sz
Original Explanation Transcription
A long-s followed by a s is reproduced true to the original as ſs. daſs
A long-s followed by a z is reproduced true to the original as ſſz. hauſſzen
The ligature long-s + z is reproduced true to the original as ß. daß