What is Alphabetical order?
'''Alphabetical order''' is a way to [[sort]] ([[organization|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. * 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) These may be different by language, such as letters with [[diacritics]]. German, for example, has the letters ä,ö,ü, and ß. Danish also has a letter ä, but sorts it after z, and not treated like a as in German. == English == A list of items like '''''E'''ric,'' '''''L'''ydia'', '''''A'''ndrea'', and '''''B'''ob'' is organized by their [[first]] letter. ''A'' comes before ''B'', and ''B'' comes before ''E'', and ''E'' comes before ''L'' in the alphabet. When alphabetical order is used: *'''A'''ndrea *'''B'''ob *'''E'''ric *'''L'''ydia If many words have the same first letter, they are sorted by their [[second]] letters. *L'''a'''rry *L'''e'''onard *L'''i'''nda *L'''y'''dia After that, the third and fourth letters are used until the whole list is sorted. The words '''[[Article (grammar)|a]]''', '''[[Article (grammar)|an]]''' and '''[[Article (grammar)|the]]''' are ignored. Sometimes they are written at the end, after a [[Punctuation|comma]]. Spaces and [[punctuation|hyphens]] ( - ) are ignored, too. *''A'' Long '''D'''ay's Journey Into Night *''The'' Long '''G'''oodbye *Long'''h'''and: A Writer's Notebook *''The'' Long