What is alphabetical order?
Q: What is alphabetical order?
A: Alphabetical order is a way to sort (organize) a list by following the standard (usual) order of letters in an alphabet.
Q: When was it first used?
A: Alphabetical order was first used during the early Roman Empire and became commonplace after the Renaissance.
Q: How is sorting done in English?
A: Sorting things in English is done using the Roman alphabet.
Q: Are there different rules for sorting depending on language?
A: Yes, different languages have different rules for sorting.
Q: How are numbers sorted differently than words or characters?
A: There are different ways to sort numbers, and special characters, such as letters with diacritics.
Q: How do German speakers treat letters with diacritics when sorting?
A: German speakers can either treat the letter with diacritics the same way as the one without (known as DIN 5007-1, usually used for encyclopedias), or they can replace them with some other character (known as DIN 5007-2, used for phone books).
Q: Is this rule applicable to all languages that use diacritical marks? A: No, this rule may be different by language; Danish also has a letter ä but sorts it after z and not treated like a as in German.
