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That's not entirely correct. Let me take the time to proove it.

According to that rule (or, let's call it suggestion, because it's nothing different), words like "bis" or "Zeugnis" would have to be written "biss" or "Zeugniss". Words like "Glas" or "Rasen" would have to be written "Glaß" or "Raßen". As you will agree, that's not correct. As I mentioned furthermore, "vocal lengths" are subject of dialects.

q.e.d. :-)

I don't know why you used the word "always"; the standard orthography defines individable ss to be written as ß. That's the simple rule. Allthough since the beginning of the reforms more and more suggestions occured, the standard rule is still present and used, by the way, more and more often, because it is easier to master than the "vocal length suggestion".



This is not correct. As I mentioned before, the ability to divide a word is the key to select between ss and ß. Stra-ße (not Stras-se), Schloß (not Schlos-s), Scheiße (not Scheis-se) and müssen (müs-sen); you can easily form other examples that illustrate the correctness of the rule. Especially at the end of a word no ss is placed (because you cannot divide off the last s).



That's correct.



You got the idea. You have to know which words are written with ß, which ones with ss and which ones with s. You cannot conclude this from the spoken form because it depends on dialects. See the "bavarian example" above.

Zeugnis - short vocal i - Zeugniss *wrong*
lesen - long vocal e - leßen *wrong*
Maßeinheit - in Bavaria: short vocal a - Masseinheit *wrong*

The german written language is [b[not a vocal language (Lautsprache). From the spoken form, you cannot exactly tell the written form.



The vocals never mattered. This Neusprech suggestion makes things more complicated as I mentioned before. There are "short vocals" where no ss follows, but instead simple s; furthermore, concatenated nouns where an "ss" is followed by "s*" in the next word part look weird. One of my favourite examples is "Messstrippe" - ssstr - five (!) conconants and no visible word gap.

Because vocal lengths are a matter of dialects, you cannot tell for sure how a vocal is spoken. For example, "Gras" can be spoken with a long a and a short a, but in no case "Graß" or "Grass" is written.

This is the main reason why pupils today have so many problems regarding correct spelling. I've seen it all. I know it, I did work in education sector. :-)



As I proved, nobody needs to obey these suggestions (because they have no power of force).



That's not a matter of Neuhochdeutsch (new high german), but instead of the so called deutsche Bühnensprache (german stage language) which is the mandatory pronouncing guide. If you put it into written form, you end up within standard orthography (and not in one of the suggested "reformed" forms), and correctly, if you read text according to standard orthography dialect-free, you have the german stage language again.



You're correct, the "new" rules (abolished in Austria more than 100 years ago due to too much confusion) do not make things easier, because first you have to know where an ß occurs and then replace some of them with ss. The rule according to division of ss is very simple and easy to check (place - between s and s in ss and check if it works). In my opinion, it is the easiest rule to decide s, ss or ß, because the rule based on vocal lengths does not work in all cases (examples above).



That's an educated and scientifically proven point of view. :-)

Finally, the use of ß ligature can be seen a matter of typography, so it's not within the working place of orthography. For example, if I don't use ck, fl, ffl, fi and other ligatures, my text still remains correct.

That's not entirely correct. Let me take the time to proove it.
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No, you are completely wrong. It IS correct. These were the official rules for deciding when to use ss and when to use ß. As I said, they said nothing about when to use ss/ß and when to use s. And it's not a suggestion, it's the official rule. Please accept that.

1.) No, Zeugnis, Glas, Rasen are not written with ß/ss and are not affected by the rule. Again, the rule only differentiates between ss and ß.
2.) vocal lengths may be different in dialects, but if you don't speak High German, you have to learn the correct lengths. It's not that it's somehow arbitrary how to speak "Spaß". In High German, you HAVE TO speak it with a long a, hence it's written "Spaß".

I may be easier, but the "vocal length suggestion" is the official rule, it's not a suggestion.



The vocals did matter and they do still matter. If you cannot use these rules, because you are from Bavaria and cannot speak High German properly, that's unfortunate, but doesn't change the rules. You're correct in that the Neusprech suggestion creates horrible looking words, but that's not the point here.


This has NOTHING to do with dialects. The official rules are for High German, and e.g. Gras is never spoken with a short "a" in High German. Please stop using these silly examples. The rule doesn't say anything about when to use ss/ß and when to use s, so you cannot disprove the rule by trying to apply it to these cases.

I still work there, and it's the same thing at the university – even the students cannot write properly anymore.


As I proved, nobody needs to obey these suggestions (because they have no power of force).
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Pupils, students and public service staff have to use these RULES. Other people can write the way they prefer.