Does sorting something alphabetically imply ascending order?

[Zoli]

Hello,
If I say "I sorted the tags alphabetically in ascending order" is the same as saying "I sorted the tags."? By ascending order I mean from A to Z.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Alphabetically" would naturally mean from A to Z.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Alphabetically in ascending order" would mean A at the bottom and Z at the top.
"Alphabetically in descending order" (more normal) would have A at the top and Z at the bottom.

 

[Skrej]

"Alphabetically in ascending order" would mean A at the bottom and Z at the top.
"Alphabetically in descending order" (more normal) would have A at the top and Z at the bottom.

I would interpret that just the opposite. Ascending would go from A - Z (even in the lines moved down the page) while descending would go from Z-A. I guess I'm focusing on the alphabet as ascending/descending, not the relative position of lines on the page.

Not that it's worth a great deal of support to my view, but in Microsoft Word, an 'ascending sort' goes from A-Z, while a 'descending sort' goes from Z-A. Oddly enough (or perhaps more wisely), Excel (which is of course just another Microsoft product) avoids the issue by simply offering you choices to 'sort A-Z' or 'sort Z-A', which avoids the ascending/descending terminology altogether.

 

[jutfrank]

If 'ascending order' basically means 'arranged from smallest to largest in value', I suppose any difference in opinion here would depend on which letter, A or Z, is imagined to have the greatest value. I don't think it makes a lot of sense to say that either one does.

As Dave says, 'alphabetically' means 'from A to Z'. In English speaking cultures, this means that one looks from left to right or from top to bottom. The trouble with the word 'ascending' is that it literally means 'going up'. But it doesn't really mean going up vertically rather than going up in value. So a horizontal presentation of, say, the positive integers 1 to 9 in ascending order would mean that 1 is on the left: 1, 2, 3, 4, ... . But a vertical presentation of the same set in ascending order would then mean that the smallest value 1 is at the top and the numbers get bigger as you go down the list, which I think is counterintuitive given the literal sense of the word 'ascending'.

If you want to make it clear that you are arranging with Z at the top, then 'arranged Z to A' or 'arranged in reverse alphabetical order' is much better.

 

[angelsdevins]

Sorting something alphabetically is a common way to organize information, but it doesn't necessarily imply ascending order. For example, if you're sorting a list of names, the alphabetical order would be A-Z. But if you're sorting a list of words by definition, the alphabetical order would be Z-A. So it all depends on how you're sorting the information. If you need to specify whether you're sorting in ascending or descending order, it's best to be explicit about it. Otherwise, people might make assumptions that aren't true.

Not a teacher (added by moderator Rover_KE)

 

[SoothingDave]

But if you're sorting a list of words by definition, the alphabetical order would be Z-A.

On what do you base this statement?

 

[probus]

A dictionary is a list of words sorted alphabetically with definitions. Every dictionary I've ever run across goes A to Z, not Z to A.

 

[Rover_KE]

angelsdevins, when answering questions you need to state that you are not a teacher, in accordance with the Forum Rules.

 

[angelsdevins]

angelsdevins, when answering questions you need to state that you are not a teacher, in accordance with the Forum Rules.

Okay, I get it. Sorry for that.

 

[Rover_KE]

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