The ancient near east had about three different systems competing at least. a Hebrew dictionary with the words in order of their gematria value.) the "compare the first symbols of the words pairwise, then the next symbols, and so on" algorithm) we use for comparing words in English? (I'm imagining e.g. or more) in a linguistic subject or related, send us a mod mail.īy "alphabetical order", I mean the concept of giving all the symbols or radicals in a writing system a rank relative to one-another, such that words in that written language would then commonly be sorted by some mental algorithm that takes into account the ranks of the letters that make up each word.Īlso: beyond the question of ordering the symbols themselves, did the concept of sorting words using their symbols - and thus of needing a strict ordering for those symbols, to employ in sorting words - exist before the advent of dictionaries, as just "a thing you can do with words", maybe for sorting/filing in ancient libraries/scriptoriums? Or did dictionaries impose standards of word-ordering (and thus strict standards of symbol ordering) onto previously-unordered lexicons, the way that printing imposed standards on orthography?Īlso: are there written languages that have an "alphabetic order", and have a defined ordering for words using that "alphabetic order" but where that ordering for words is defined using some algorithm other than the "lexicographic sort" algorithm (i.e. If you suspect a question is one of homework, please answer as generally as possible - giving tips rather than answers.īefore you post, consider using the search bar and the FAQ page to see if your question has already received a satisfactory answer. It is fine to ask for tips or for feedback on your methodology so far. Homework questions are permitted as long as you state your understanding so far and don't expect anyone to answer your questions for you. Transphobia, homophobia, racism, ableism, and any other discriminatory content will result in deletion and/or a ban.ĥ- Follow all site-wide rules and terms of service.
Insulting or harassing others will result in deletion and/or a ban. "Informed" means those answering should be mindful of stating limitations to their own knowledge or understanding. Answers without explanation will be removed or locked (and/or prompted to provide an explanation).
This can take the form of academic sources, stated personal experience (eg, of the language/s in question), and similar.
"High-quality" means that answers should provide an explanation/justification. *Repeated posting of the same/similar question.Ģ- Answers must be informed, relevant and high-quality. Questions should seek to learn or understand, not push an agenda. Post to r/grammar or a language subreddit. *Questions of basic grammaticality/common usage. See r/whatstheword or a language subreddit.