Am 2000-06-16 um 16:09 h hat Torsten Mohrin geschrieben: > The Duden also allows to uppercase "�" as "SZ" in ambiguous cases > (e.g. "MASSE" (Masse) vs. "MASZE" (Ma�e)). This is an (almost) obsolete rule, dropped in the 1996 spelling reform. The only current upercasing rule is that "�" becomes "SS", cf. <http://www.ids-mannheim.de/grammis/reform/a2-3.html#25E3>. Consequently, the newest Duden (21st ed., ISBN 3-411-04011-4) does not mention the (former) SZ variant (1st remark after rule R121 on page 58, column 2 -- you see, I have the book in front of me). (I said "almost obsolete" in account of the transitional arrangements allowing the old spelling rules to be applied, e. g. in school assignments until 2005-07-31, cf. <http://www.ids-mannheim.de/reform/wortlaut.html>, section 4c.) > Moreover, in the German Federal Armed Forces it is common to always > uppercase "�" as "SZ". I have no information about current spelling by the Armed Forces. If I am not mistaken, the new spelling has not yet been enacted for the German federal government and its subsidiaries, in spite of the international commitment <http://www.ids-mannheim.de/reform/absicht.html> of 1996-07-01, and in spite of the enactment for all German schools, most provincial governments in Germany, the Austrian federal, and the Swiss federal governments, and their respective subsidiaries. So indeed, the German forces may still abuse an almost obsolete spelling rule. (I say "abuse" rather than "use", as even according to the old orthography, "SZ" was the exception rather than the rule, effectively valid only for the single case given as an example by Torsten, as quoted above.) Best wishes, Otto Stolz
