When did F become S in typeography, and why?












2















I'm sure you've all noticed documents in English from the 1700's often have 'F' where, if written now, there would be an 'S'. You can see what I'm talking about a few times in this example, like at the beginning where it says "Prayers faid" or in the date "Tuefday November 26. 1700."enter image description here



What's going on with this? When did it start? When did it stop?










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  • it's not f, it's half of German double-s: ß

    – Agent_L
    6 hours ago
















2















I'm sure you've all noticed documents in English from the 1700's often have 'F' where, if written now, there would be an 'S'. You can see what I'm talking about a few times in this example, like at the beginning where it says "Prayers faid" or in the date "Tuefday November 26. 1700."enter image description here



What's going on with this? When did it start? When did it stop?










share|improve this question

























  • it's not f, it's half of German double-s: ß

    – Agent_L
    6 hours ago














2












2








2








I'm sure you've all noticed documents in English from the 1700's often have 'F' where, if written now, there would be an 'S'. You can see what I'm talking about a few times in this example, like at the beginning where it says "Prayers faid" or in the date "Tuefday November 26. 1700."enter image description here



What's going on with this? When did it start? When did it stop?










share|improve this question
















I'm sure you've all noticed documents in English from the 1700's often have 'F' where, if written now, there would be an 'S'. You can see what I'm talking about a few times in this example, like at the beginning where it says "Prayers faid" or in the date "Tuefday November 26. 1700."enter image description here



What's going on with this? When did it start? When did it stop?







18th-century language






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share|improve this question








edited 1 hour ago









Ian Kemp

1033




1033










asked yesterday









Ryan_LRyan_L

26426




26426













  • it's not f, it's half of German double-s: ß

    – Agent_L
    6 hours ago



















  • it's not f, it's half of German double-s: ß

    – Agent_L
    6 hours ago

















it's not f, it's half of German double-s: ß

– Agent_L
6 hours ago





it's not f, it's half of German double-s: ß

– Agent_L
6 hours ago










1 Answer
1






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23














There's a typographical distinction between an actual f and the ſ you're referring to in the text. See for instance the difference between 'magiſtrats' and 'behalf' in the second paragraph.



The 'ſ' is a long 's'; the Wikipedia article has a very long section on its history and decline of use.




In general, the long s fell out of use in Roman and italic typefaces in professional printing well before the middle of the 19th century. It rarely appears in good quality London printing after 1800, though it lingers provincially until 1824, and is found in handwriting into the second half of the nineteenth century" being sometimes seen later on in archaic or traditionalist printing such as printed collections of sermons.




See this Old English Alphabet for a more complete list of changes to the alphabet. And this somewhat related Linguistics SE question, with a long answer that explains how 'ſ' was just another way of writing 's' in some circumstances, rather than a letter that corresponded to a different pronunciation.



Other interesting posts courtesy of sumelic:




  • Use of “f” instead of “s” in historic, printed English documents

  • How exactly was the long S used and why did people stop using it?






share|improve this answer





















  • 6





    This has nothing to do with sounds, and less than nothing to do with Hungarian! It is a typographical issue only.

    – TonyK
    14 hours ago













  • I agree, the last paragraph really doesn't have anything to do with the issue at hand.

    – sgf
    14 hours ago






  • 1





    @TonyK: that's precisely why I asked the separate question in Linguistics. Fixed.

    – Denis de Bernardy
    13 hours ago












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1 Answer
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1 Answer
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23














There's a typographical distinction between an actual f and the ſ you're referring to in the text. See for instance the difference between 'magiſtrats' and 'behalf' in the second paragraph.



The 'ſ' is a long 's'; the Wikipedia article has a very long section on its history and decline of use.




In general, the long s fell out of use in Roman and italic typefaces in professional printing well before the middle of the 19th century. It rarely appears in good quality London printing after 1800, though it lingers provincially until 1824, and is found in handwriting into the second half of the nineteenth century" being sometimes seen later on in archaic or traditionalist printing such as printed collections of sermons.




See this Old English Alphabet for a more complete list of changes to the alphabet. And this somewhat related Linguistics SE question, with a long answer that explains how 'ſ' was just another way of writing 's' in some circumstances, rather than a letter that corresponded to a different pronunciation.



Other interesting posts courtesy of sumelic:




  • Use of “f” instead of “s” in historic, printed English documents

  • How exactly was the long S used and why did people stop using it?






share|improve this answer





















  • 6





    This has nothing to do with sounds, and less than nothing to do with Hungarian! It is a typographical issue only.

    – TonyK
    14 hours ago













  • I agree, the last paragraph really doesn't have anything to do with the issue at hand.

    – sgf
    14 hours ago






  • 1





    @TonyK: that's precisely why I asked the separate question in Linguistics. Fixed.

    – Denis de Bernardy
    13 hours ago
















23














There's a typographical distinction between an actual f and the ſ you're referring to in the text. See for instance the difference between 'magiſtrats' and 'behalf' in the second paragraph.



The 'ſ' is a long 's'; the Wikipedia article has a very long section on its history and decline of use.




In general, the long s fell out of use in Roman and italic typefaces in professional printing well before the middle of the 19th century. It rarely appears in good quality London printing after 1800, though it lingers provincially until 1824, and is found in handwriting into the second half of the nineteenth century" being sometimes seen later on in archaic or traditionalist printing such as printed collections of sermons.




See this Old English Alphabet for a more complete list of changes to the alphabet. And this somewhat related Linguistics SE question, with a long answer that explains how 'ſ' was just another way of writing 's' in some circumstances, rather than a letter that corresponded to a different pronunciation.



Other interesting posts courtesy of sumelic:




  • Use of “f” instead of “s” in historic, printed English documents

  • How exactly was the long S used and why did people stop using it?






share|improve this answer





















  • 6





    This has nothing to do with sounds, and less than nothing to do with Hungarian! It is a typographical issue only.

    – TonyK
    14 hours ago













  • I agree, the last paragraph really doesn't have anything to do with the issue at hand.

    – sgf
    14 hours ago






  • 1





    @TonyK: that's precisely why I asked the separate question in Linguistics. Fixed.

    – Denis de Bernardy
    13 hours ago














23












23








23







There's a typographical distinction between an actual f and the ſ you're referring to in the text. See for instance the difference between 'magiſtrats' and 'behalf' in the second paragraph.



The 'ſ' is a long 's'; the Wikipedia article has a very long section on its history and decline of use.




In general, the long s fell out of use in Roman and italic typefaces in professional printing well before the middle of the 19th century. It rarely appears in good quality London printing after 1800, though it lingers provincially until 1824, and is found in handwriting into the second half of the nineteenth century" being sometimes seen later on in archaic or traditionalist printing such as printed collections of sermons.




See this Old English Alphabet for a more complete list of changes to the alphabet. And this somewhat related Linguistics SE question, with a long answer that explains how 'ſ' was just another way of writing 's' in some circumstances, rather than a letter that corresponded to a different pronunciation.



Other interesting posts courtesy of sumelic:




  • Use of “f” instead of “s” in historic, printed English documents

  • How exactly was the long S used and why did people stop using it?






share|improve this answer















There's a typographical distinction between an actual f and the ſ you're referring to in the text. See for instance the difference between 'magiſtrats' and 'behalf' in the second paragraph.



The 'ſ' is a long 's'; the Wikipedia article has a very long section on its history and decline of use.




In general, the long s fell out of use in Roman and italic typefaces in professional printing well before the middle of the 19th century. It rarely appears in good quality London printing after 1800, though it lingers provincially until 1824, and is found in handwriting into the second half of the nineteenth century" being sometimes seen later on in archaic or traditionalist printing such as printed collections of sermons.




See this Old English Alphabet for a more complete list of changes to the alphabet. And this somewhat related Linguistics SE question, with a long answer that explains how 'ſ' was just another way of writing 's' in some circumstances, rather than a letter that corresponded to a different pronunciation.



Other interesting posts courtesy of sumelic:




  • Use of “f” instead of “s” in historic, printed English documents

  • How exactly was the long S used and why did people stop using it?







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 50 mins ago









Laurel

3228




3228










answered yesterday









Denis de BernardyDenis de Bernardy

14.2k24555




14.2k24555








  • 6





    This has nothing to do with sounds, and less than nothing to do with Hungarian! It is a typographical issue only.

    – TonyK
    14 hours ago













  • I agree, the last paragraph really doesn't have anything to do with the issue at hand.

    – sgf
    14 hours ago






  • 1





    @TonyK: that's precisely why I asked the separate question in Linguistics. Fixed.

    – Denis de Bernardy
    13 hours ago














  • 6





    This has nothing to do with sounds, and less than nothing to do with Hungarian! It is a typographical issue only.

    – TonyK
    14 hours ago













  • I agree, the last paragraph really doesn't have anything to do with the issue at hand.

    – sgf
    14 hours ago






  • 1





    @TonyK: that's precisely why I asked the separate question in Linguistics. Fixed.

    – Denis de Bernardy
    13 hours ago








6




6





This has nothing to do with sounds, and less than nothing to do with Hungarian! It is a typographical issue only.

– TonyK
14 hours ago







This has nothing to do with sounds, and less than nothing to do with Hungarian! It is a typographical issue only.

– TonyK
14 hours ago















I agree, the last paragraph really doesn't have anything to do with the issue at hand.

– sgf
14 hours ago





I agree, the last paragraph really doesn't have anything to do with the issue at hand.

– sgf
14 hours ago




1




1





@TonyK: that's precisely why I asked the separate question in Linguistics. Fixed.

– Denis de Bernardy
13 hours ago





@TonyK: that's precisely why I asked the separate question in Linguistics. Fixed.

– Denis de Bernardy
13 hours ago


















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