The shape of Latin S arises from Greek Σ by dropping one out of the four strokes of that letter. The (angular) S-shape composed of three strokes existed as a variant of the four-stroke letter Σ already in the epigraphy of Western Greek alphabets, and the three and four strokes variants existed alongside one another in the classical Etruscan alphabet. In other Italic alphabets (Venetic, Lepontic), the letter could be represented as a zig-zagging line of any number between three and six strokes. The Italic letter was also adopted into Elder Futhark, as Sowilō (ᛊ), and appears with four to eight strokes in the earliest runic inscriptions, but is occasionally reduced to three strokes (ᛋ) from the later 5th century, and appears regularly with three strokes in Younger Futhark. The minuscule form ſ, called the long s, developed in the early medieval period, within the Visigothic and Carolingian hands, with predecessors in the half-uncial and cursive scripts of Late Antiquity.
- Semitic ssade appears in the early alphabets of Thera and Corinth in a form that represents /s/.
- The early Latin alphabet adopted sigma, but not san, as Old Latin did not have a /ʃ/ “sh” phoneme.
- In most Western orthographies, the ſ gradually fell out of use during the second half of the 18th century, although it remained in occasional use into the 19th century.
- It remained standard in western writing throughout the medieval period and was adopted in early printing with movable types.
- These alphabets have no sigma, while those that have sigma do not have the Semitic ssade.
Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet
In Spain, the change was mainly accomplished between 1760 and 1766. Printers in the United States stopped using the long s between 1795 and 1810. In English orthography, the London printer John Bell (1745–1831) pioneered the change. Encyclopædia Britannica’s 5th edition, completed in 1817, was the last edition to use the long s. In some words of French origin, ⟨s⟩ is silent, as in ‘isle’ or ‘debris’.
Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway
In most other positions, it remains unvoiced (e.g., in sing, save, speak, and aspect). When doubled, the letter represents the unvoiced sound in all positions (e.g., in grasses, miss, and assess). In vision and other words ending in -sion, the s, provided it is not doubled, has the voiced sound /zh/, and it has a similar sound in such words as pleasure and leisure. A rounded form appeared in the Chalcidian alphabet, and from this it was taken into Latin. Etruscan had no rounded form, but it appears in Umbrian and Faliscan. In England in the 17th century a looped form was introduced, and this is occasionally still seen in handwriting when followed by another s.
German
It also commonly represents a voiced alveolar sibilant /z/, as in ‘rose’ and ‘bands’. Due to yod-coalescence, it may also represent a voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/, as in ‘sugar’, or a voiced palato-alveolar fricative /ʒ/, as in ‘measure’. It corresponds to the Semitic sin “tooth.” The Greek treatment of the sibilants that occur in the Semitic alphabet is somewhat complicated.
There was a Greek minuscule form c of the 9th century ce, and this may be the source both of the Cyrillic c and of the lunate sigma used in some fonts of modern Greek type. In Portuguese, it may represent the voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/ in most dialects when syllable-final, and [ʒ] in European Portuguese Islão (Islam) or, in many sociolects of Brazilian Portuguese, esdrúxulo (proparoxytone). For example, “my son’s toys” will be “the toys that belong to my son”. In several Western Romance languages, like Spanish and French, the final ⟨s⟩ is the usual mark of plural nouns. In most Western orthographies, the ſ gradually fell out of use during the second half of the 18th century, although it remained in occasional use into the 19th century.
Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide
The Semitic samech appears in Greek as Ξ (xi) with the value in early times of /ss/, later and more generally of /x/ or /ks/. The name samech, however, which through its Aramaic form became in Greek Σ (sigma), was applied to the letter that corresponded to Semitic sin and stood for /s/. Semitic ssade appears in the early alphabets of Thera and Corinth in a form that represents /s/. These alphabets have no sigma, while those that have sigma do not have the Semitic ssade. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, ⟨s⟩ represents the voiceless alveolar sibilant /s/.
It remained standard in western writing throughout the medieval period and was adopted in early printing with movable types. It existed alongside minuscule “round” or “short” s, which were at the time only used at the end of words. The Western Greek alphabet used in Cumae was adopted by the Etruscans and Latins in the 7th century BC, and over the following centuries, it developed into a range of Old Italic alphabets, including the Etruscan alphabet and the early Latin alphabet. In Etruscan, the value /s/ of Greek sigma (��) was maintained, while san (��) represented a separate phoneme, most likely /ʃ/ “sh” (transliterated as ś). The early Latin alphabet adopted sigma, but not san, as Old Latin did not have a /ʃ/ “sh” phoneme. This has become voiced in English when intervocalic (e.g., in houses and nose).