Alphabetical order
system whereby strings of characters are placed in order by alphabet / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alphabetical order is a way to sort (organize) a list. It helps a reader to find a name or a title in the list. It is done by following the standard (usual) order of letters in an alphabet. Some lists in alphabetical order were used during the early Roman Empire. It became commonplace after the Renaissance.
Sorting things in English is done using the Roman alphabet. Different languages have different rules for sorting. Note also, that there are different ways to sort numbers, and special characters, such as letters with diacritics. German has the letters ä,ö,ü, and ß.
- Option one: the letter with diacritics is treated the same way as the one without, ä is treated as a, ö as o and ü as u. (Known as DIN 5007-1, usually used for encyclopedias)
- Option two: the letter is treated the same as some replacement: ä is replaced by ae, ö be oe, ü by ue, and ß by ss (Known as DIN 5007-2, used for phone books)
Note that these may be different by language: Danish also has a letter ä, but sorts it after z, and not treated like a as in German.