ArticleslgStudy

science

Long s

Long s is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Long s rather than just read about it. In short: The long s, ⟨ſ⟩, also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaic form of the lowercase letter ⟨s⟩, found mostly in works from the late 8th to early 19th centuries. It replaced one or both of the letter s in a double-s sequence (e.g., "ſinfulneſs" for "sinfulness" and "poſſeſs" or "poſseſs" for "possess", but never "poſſeſſ").

Long s — main illustration
Long s — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Long s belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Long s to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Long s from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The long s, ⟨ſ⟩, also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaic form of the lowercase letter ⟨s⟩, found mostly in works from the late 8th to early 19th centuries. It replaced one or both of the letter s in a double-s sequence (e.g., "ſinfulneſs" for "sinfulness" and "poſſeſs" or "poſseſs" for "possess", but never "poſſeſſ"). The modern ⟨s⟩ letterform is known as the "short", "terminal", or "round" s. In typography, the long s is known as a type of swash letter, commonly referred to as a "swash s". As with other letters, the long s may have a variant appearance depending on typeface: ſ, ſ, ſ, ſ. In some typefaces, this letter has a very similar appearance to the letter ⟨f⟩ (lowercase F), distinguished only by the width of the crossbar. The long s is the basis of the first half of the German ligature ⟨ß⟩ (Eszett or scharfes s, 'sharp s') and of the Middle Scots ⟨Ꟗ ꟗ⟩.

Rules

English This list of rules for the long s is not exhaustive, and it applies only to books printed during the 17th to early 19th centuries in English-speaking countries. Similar rules exist for other European languages. Long s was always used (ſong, ſubſtitute), except:

Upper-case letters are always the round S; there is no upper-case long s. A round s was always used at the end of a word ending with ⟨s⟩: his, complains, ſucceſs However, long s was maintained in abbreviations such as ſ. for ſubſtantive (substantive), and Geneſ. for Geneſis. Before an apostrophe (indicating an omitted letter), a round s was used: us'd and clos'd. Before or after an f, a round s was used: offset, ſatisfaction. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the round s was used before k and b: ask, husband, Ailesbury, Salisbury, Shaftsbury; in the late 18th century, the long s was used instead: aſk, huſband, Aileſbury, Saliſbury, Shaftſbury. These two exceptions applied only if the letters were physically adjacent on the page, and long s was used if the two were separated by a hyphen and line break, e.g., off-ſet, Saliſ-bury. There were no special exceptions for a double s. The first s was always long, while the second was long in mid-word (e.g., poſſeſſion), or short when at the end of a word (e.g., poſſeſs). See, for example, the word Bleſſings in the Preamble to the United States Constitution. This usage was not universal, and a long followed by a short s is sometimes seen even mid-word (e.g., Miſsiſsippi). Round s was used at the end of each word in a hyphenated compound word: croſs-piece. In the case of a triple s, such words were normally hyphenated with a round s, e.g., croſs-ſtitch, but a round s was used even if the hyphen was omitted: croſsſtitch. In handwriting, these rules did not apply—the long s was usually confined to preceding a round s, either in the middle or at the end of a word—for example, aſsure, bleſsings.

German

The general idea is that round s indicates the end of a semantic part. Thus, long ſ is used everywhere except at the end of a syllable, where further conditions need to be true. The following rules were laid down at the German Orthographic Conference of 1901. The round s is used:

at the end of (non-abbreviated) words:e.g., das Haus, der Kosmos, des Bundes, Pils(however: im Hauſe, die Häuſer, Pilſener) at the end of prefixes, as a connecting s and in compounds at the end of the first part-word, even if the following part-word begins with a long ſ:e.g., Liebesbrief, Arbeitsamt, Donnerstag, Unterſuchungsergebnis, Haustür, Dispoſition, disharmoniſch, dasſelbe, Wirtsſtube, Ausſicht in derivations with word formation suffixes that begin with a consonant, such as -tum, -heit, -keit, -lein, -chen, -bar, -lich, -haft, etc. (not before inflectional endings with t and possibly schwa [ə]):e.g., Wachstum, Weisheit, Häuslein, Mäuschen, Bistum, nachweisbar, wohlweislich, boshaft(however: er reiſte, das ſechſte, cf. below ſt) at the end of a syllable, even if the syllable is not the end of a (part-)word, common in names and proper nouns:e.g., kosmiſch, brüskieren, Realismus, lesbiſch, Mesner; Oswald, Dresden, Schleswig, OsnabrückMany exceptions apply. Long ſ is used whenever round s is not used (for s):

at the beginning of a syllable, i.e. anywhere before the vowel in the center of a syllable:e.g., ſauſen, einſpielen, ausſpielen, erſtaunen, ſkandalös, Pſyche, Miſanthrop (for syllables: Mi⋅ſan⋅throp; alternative variant: Mis⋅an⋅throp)The same applies for the beginning of a syllable of a suffix like -ſel, -ſal, -ſam, etc.: e.g., Rätſel, Labſal, ſeltſam in ſp and ſt (since 1901 also ſz), unless they arise by happenstance (via a connecting s or composition); that includes flexion suffixes starting with t:e.g., Weſpe, Knoſpe, faſten, faſzinierend, Oſzillograph, Aſt, Haſt, Luſt, einſt, du ſtehſt, meiſtens, beſte, knuſpern; er reiſt, du lieſt, es paſſte (modern orthography; traditionally: paßte), ſechſte, Gſtaad in multigraphs that represent a single sound such as ſch (to represent , but not ) and English ſh and doubled consonants ſſ and ſs:e.g., Buſch, Eſche, Wunſch, wünſchen, Flaſh, Waſſer, Biſſen, Zeugniſſe, Faſs (modern orthography; traditionally: Faß), however: EschatologieAlso applies to double s through assimilation:e.g., aſſimiliert, Aſſonanz before l, n, and r if an e is omitted:e.g., unſre, Pilſner, Wechſlerhowever: Zuchthäusler, Oslo, Osnabrück before an apostrophe and other forms of abbreviation:e.g., ich laſſ’ es (casual for ich laſſe es), ſ. (common abbreviation for ſiehe) when the initial ſ of a word is merged with and has priority over the terminal s of a prefix:e.g., in tranſzendent, tranſzendieren, etc.; in this case, the initial ſ of ſzend (from Latin ſcando) is merged with the terminal s of the trans- prefix due to z following the ſ. These rules do not cover all cases and in some corner cases, multiple variants can be found. One such case is whether to apply original semantics (that are largely unknown) or follow spoken syllables; e.g., in Asbest vs. Aſbest as it is spoken As⋅best, but comes from Ancient Greek ἄσβεστος composed of ᾰ̓- plus σβέννῡμῐ, meaning a is a prefix, and thus, a long ſ follows. In Fraktur, the ligature ſt (Unicode: U+FB05 ſt LATIN SMALL LIGATURE LONG S T) is not spaced in spaced setting, as with other ligatures.

History

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Long s illustration
Long s: An italicized long s used in the word "Congress" (as "Congreſs") in the United States Bill of Rights
An italicized long s used in the word "Congress" (as "Congreſs") in the United States Bill of Rights
Long s: The ligature ⟨ſt⟩, like ⟨ch, ck, ꜩ⟩, is immune to spaced typesetting. However, it is usually uncoupled as a ligature,[citation needed] unlike the others. A different case is eszett (⟨ß⟩, originally ⟨ſʒ⟩) as it is usually considered a single letter nowadays.
The ligature ⟨ſt⟩, like ⟨ch, ck, ꜩ⟩, is immune to spaced typesetting. However, it is usually uncoupled as a ligature,[citation needed] unlike the others. A different case is eszett (⟨ß⟩, originally ⟨ſʒ⟩) as it is usually considered a single letter nowadays.
Long s: Two words "ſecret foe" (secret foe) extracted from the 1667 printing of the poem Paradise Lost (Book IV page 1), enabling comparison of long s and f
Two words "ſecret foe" (secret foe) extracted from the 1667 printing of the poem Paradise Lost (Book IV page 1), enabling comparison of long s and f
Long s: Direction sign to Bernauer Straße, with long s and with ⟨ß⟩ written as a ⟨ſ z {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {z}}} ⟩ ligature
Direction sign to Bernauer Straße, with long s and with ⟨ß⟩ written as a ⟨ſ z {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {z}}} ⟩ ligature

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Long s

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Long s claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Long s before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Long s ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Long s

In research
Long s appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Long s in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Long s is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics History of the English language, Latin-script letters, Letters with final form, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Long s outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Long s in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Long s means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Long s out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Long s in simple terms?

The long s, ⟨ſ⟩, also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaic form of the lowercase letter ⟨s⟩, found mostly in works from the late 8th to early 19th centuries. It replaced one or both of the letter s in a double-s sequence (e.g., "ſinfulneſs" for "sinfulness" and "poſſeſs" or "poſseſs" f…

Why does Long s matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Long s?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Long s.

Tags

  • History of the English language
  • Latin-script letters
  • Letters with final form
  • Palaeographic letters
  • Typography

Keep exploring