AW: Mappings - some examples

[Georg Ochsner]

> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Shawn Steele [mailto:Shawn.Steele at microsoft.com]
> Gesendet: Dienstag, 1. Dezember 2009 19:13 
> 
> > 5. Registration is opened to the public and people realize that
> "machines" now distinguish ß from ss like humans do.
> 
> Like *some* humans do, which is part of the problem.  My year in a
> Bitburg Grundschule was prior to the spelling reform and I see very
> little distinction, though my limited preference it toward the "correct"
> spelling.  Swiss probably have a similar attitude though likely with
> somewhat different biases.

By not always writing ss instead of ß they definitely make a distinction. It doesn't matter here if they like it or not or if they are just forced by spelling rules. People living in countries where this distinction is made and officially mandatory are 82 Mio. in Germany and 8 Mio. in Austria. I think this is really more than "some"! And finally people who do not distinguish ß from ss (like the 5 Mio. German speaking Swiss) just use ss anyway and will not suffer from the distinction of others.

Thank you
Georg