sanakirjajärjestykseen

Sanakirjajärjestys, or dictionary order, is a method for arranging words or word forms in a sequence according to a defined alphabet, by comparing letters from left to right. It is the basis for many lexicographic traditions, including dictionaries, indexes and computer sorting. The form sanakirjajärjestykseen is the illative case in Finnish, meaning “into dictionary order” or “to sort into dictionary order,” as in laittaa lista sanakirjajärjestykseen.

Etymology and form: The term combines sanakirja (dictionary) and järjestys (order). The resulting phrase refers to the ordering system used in lexicography and related fields.

Usage and contexts: Sanakirjajärjestys is used in lexicography, information retrieval, data processing, natural language processing, search indexing and various word games. It provides a reproducible way to locate and compare words.

Sorting rules: The exact order depends on the alphabet defined for the task. In practice, words are compared letter by letter from the beginning; the first position with differing letters determines the order. If one word is a prefix of another, the shorter word comes first. How diacritics are handled varies: they may be treated as separate letters or normalized to base forms. Finnish dictionaries typically use a defined Finnish alphabet, where letters such as ä and ö have dedicated positions, and loanword letters like å may be included depending on the standard used.

Examples: “kissa” comes before “koira” because the second letter i is smaller than o. “omena” comes before “onkalo” because m < n. These illustrate the basic principle of lexicographic comparison.

See also: lexicographic order, alphabet, sorting algorithms.