Editing German orthography (section)

== Use of special letters ==
===Umlaut diacritic usage===
{{See also|Umlaut (diacritic)}}
The [[diacritic|accented]] letters {{Angbr|[[ä]], [[ö]], [[ü]]}} are used to indicate the presence of [[Germanic umlaut|umlaut]]s ([[fronting (phonology)|fronting]] of back vowels). Before the introduction of the [[printing press]], frontalization was indicated by placing an {{Angbr|e}} after the back vowel to be modified, but German printers developed the space-saving typographical convention of replacing the full {{Angbr|e}} with a small version placed above the vowel to be modified. In German [[Kurrent]] writing, the superscripted {{Angbr|e}} was simplified to two vertical dashes (as the Kurrent {{Angbr|e}} consists largely of two short vertical strokes), which have further been reduced to dots in both handwriting and German typesetting. Although the two dots of umlaut look like those in the [[Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] (trema), the two have different origins and functions.

When it is not possible to use the umlauts (for example, when using a restricted character set) the characters {{Angbr|Ä, Ö, Ü, ä, ö, ü}} should be transcribed as {{Angbr|Ae, Oe, Ue, ae, oe, ue}} respectively, following the earlier postvocalic-{{Angbr|e}} convention; simply using the base vowel (e.g. {{Angbr|u}} instead of {{Angbr|ü}}) would be wrong and misleading. However, such transcription should be avoided if possible, especially with names. Names often exist in different variants, such as {{lang|de|Müller}} and {{lang|de|Mueller}}, and with such transcriptions in use one could not work out the correct spelling of the name.

Automatic back-transcribing is wrong not only for names. Consider, for example, {{lang|de|das neue Buch}} ("the new book"). This should never be changed to {{lang|de|das neü Buch}}, as the second {{Angbr|e}} is completely separate from the {{Angbr|u}} and does not even belong in the same syllable; {{lang|de|neue}} ({{IPA|de|ˈnɔʏ.ə|}}) is {{lang|de|neu}} (the root for "new") followed by {{Angbr|e}}, an inflection. The word {{Angbr|neü}} does not exist in German.

Furthermore, in northern and western Germany, there are family names and place names in which {{Angbr|e}} lengthens the preceding vowel (by acting as a {{lang|de|[[:de:Dehnungszeichen#Dehnungs-e nach anderen Vokalen|Dehnungs-e]]}}), as in the former Dutch orthography, such as {{lang|de|[[Straelen]]}}, which is pronounced with a long {{Angbr|a}}, not an {{Angbr|ä}}. Similar cases are {{lang|de|[[Coesfeld]]}} and {{lang|de|[[Bernkastel-Kues]]}}.

In proper names and ethnonyms, there may also appear a rare {{angbr|[[ë]]}} and {{angbr|[[ï]]}}, which are not letters with an umlaut, but a [[Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]], used as in French and English to distinguish what could be a [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]], for example, {{angbr|ai}} in {{lang|de|[[Crimean Karaites|Karaïmen]]}}, {{angbr|eu}} in {{lang|de|[[Aleuts|Alëuten]]}}, {{angbr|ie}} in {{lang|de|[[Ferdinand Piëch|Piëch]]}}, {{angbr|oe}} in {{lang|de|[[Clemens von Loë|von Loë]]}} and {{lang|de|[[Bernhard Hoëcker|Hoëcker]]}} (although Hoëcker added the diaeresis himself), and {{angbr|ue}} in {{lang|de|[[Niue|Niuë]]}}.<ref>Die Erde: Haack Kleiner Atlas; VEB Hermann Haack geographisch-kartographische Anstalt, Gotha, 1982; pages: 97, 100, 153, 278</ref> Occasionally, a diaeresis may be used in some well-known names, i.e.: {{lang|de|[[Italy|Italiën]]}}<ref>Italien: Straßenatlas 1:300.000 mit Ortsregister; Kunth Verlag GmbH & Co. KG 2016/2017; München; page: III</ref> (usually written as {{lang|de|Italien}}).

[[Swiss keyboards]] and typewriters do not allow easy input of uppercase letters with umlauts (nor {{angbr|ß}}) because their positions are taken by the most frequent French diacritics. Uppercase umlauts were dropped because they are less common than lowercase ones (especially in Switzerland). Geographical names in particular are supposed to be written with {{angbr|a, o, u}} plus {{angbr|e}}, except {{lang|de|[[Austria|Österreich]]}}. The omission can cause some inconvenience, since the first letter of every [[German noun|noun]] is capitalized in German.

{{anchor|handwritten umlauts|handwritten u}} <!-- backlink: [[Regional handwriting variation]] -->
Unlike in [[Hungarian alphabet|Hungarian]], the exact shape of the umlaut diacritics – especially when handwritten – is not important, because they are the only ones in the language (not counting the [[tittle]] on {{angbr|i}} and {{angbr|j}}). They will be understood whether they look like dots ({{angbr|¨}}), [[double acute|acute accents]] ({{angbr| ˝ }}) or [[vertical bar]]s ({{angbr|<sup>‖</sup>}}). A horizontal bar ([[Macron (diacritic)|macron]], {{angbr|¯}}), a [[breve]] ({{angbr|˘}}), a tiny {{angbr|N}} or {{angbr|e}}, a [[tilde]] ({{angbr|˜}}), and such variations are often used in stylized writing (e.g. logos). However, the breve – or the [[ring (diacritic)|ring]] ({{angbr|°}}) – was traditionally used in some scripts to distinguish a {{vr|u}} from an {{vr|n}}. In rare cases, the {{vr|n}} was underlined. The breved {{vr|u}} was common in some [[Kurrent]]-derived handwritings; it was mandatory in [[Sütterlin]].

===Sharp s===
{{main|ß}}
[[File:Delikatess.JPG|thumb|German label "Delicacy / red cabbage." Left cap is with old orthography, right with new.]]
{{lang|de|Eszett}} or {{lang|de|scharfes S}} ({{angbr|[[ß]]}}) represents the [[Voiceless alveolar sibilant|“s”]] sound. In the current orthography, the letter is used only after long vowels and diphthongs. Prior to the [[German spelling reform of 1996]], it was used additionally whenever the letter combination {{angbr|ss}} occurred at the end of a syllable or word. It is not used in [[Switzerland]] and [[Liechtenstein]].

As {{angbr|ß}} derives from a ligature of lowercase letters, it is exclusively used in the middle or at the end of a word. The proper transcription when it cannot be used is {{vr|ss}} ({{vr|sz}} and {{vr|SZ}} in earlier times). This transcription can give rise to ambiguities, albeit rarely; one such case is {{lang|de|in Maßen}} "in moderation" vs. {{lang|de|in Massen}} "en masse". In all-caps, {{angbr|ß}} is replaced by {{vr|SS}} or, optionally, by the [[capital ß|uppercase {{angbr|ß}}]].{{sfn|Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung|2018|ref=abcRfdR|p=29|postscript=, § 25 E3}} The uppercase {{vr|ß}} was included in [[Unicode|Unicode 5.1]] as U+1E9E in 2008. Since 2010 its use is mandatory in official documentation in Germany when writing geographical names in all-caps.<ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://www.stagn.de/Portals/0/101125_TopR5.pdf Empfehlungen und Hinweise für die Schreibweise geographischer Namen, 5. Ausgabe 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703113103/http://www.stagn.de/Portals/0/101125_TopR5.pdf |date=2011-07-03 }}</ref> The option of using the uppercase {{vr|ẞ}} in all-caps was officially added to the German orthography in 2017.<ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://www.zeit.de/kultur/2017-06/rechtschreibreform-regeln-aenderung-scharfes-s Rechtschreibrat führt neuen Buchstaben ein], [[Die Zeit]], 29 June 2017, retrieved 29 June 2017.</ref>