🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan4.214109.8143@prl.dec.com>, boyd@prl.dec.com (Boyd Roberts) writes:
# In article <2605@titccy.cc.titech.ac.jp>, mohta@necom830.cc.titech.ac.jp (Masataka Ohta) writes:
# > 
# > In Japanese, the only natural sorting is on pronouciation, whose
# > information is missing from character code. Otherwise, any sorting
# > is almost as good as other sorting.
# > 
# 
# Applying your argument to languages that use the glyphs 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
# 6, 7, 8 and 9 to represent integers then it is only `natural' to sort
# them based on their pronounciation.
# 
# So in Japanese I will find myself sorting them in ascending order:
# 
#     1 ichi
#     9 kyu
#     5 go
#     3 san
#     4 shi
#     7 shichi
#     0 zero
#     2 ni
#     8 hachi

true, if that is how the numbers are intended to be read.

# But that would be wrong, because I can pronounce:
           ^^^^^ could

#     0 as rei
#     4 as yon
#     7 as nana
#     9 as ku

# So just how will you sort these glyphs based on `natural' pronounciation?

you have to know how it is intended to be read (pronounced).
otherwise you can't sort.

an example (sorted in ascending order):

 3rd (3 is read 'saa')
 sankaku
 3gatu (3 is read 'san')
 30 (30 is read 'sanjuu')
 4kaku (4 is read 'shi')
 13 (13 is read 'juusan')
 12 (12 is read 'juuni')
 3D (3 is read 'surii')
 3tsu (3 is read 'mi')
 4do (4 is read 'yon')
 123 (123 is read 'wan tsuu surii')

silly?

sorting Japanese using a mixture of kanji, kana, numbers, alphabets
can be really difficult.
--
Hitoshi Doi, International Open Systems Engineering        doi@jrd.dec.com
Japan Research and Development Center               decwrl!jrd.dec.com!doi
Digital Equipment Corporation Japan      [from JUNET: doi@jrd.dec-j.co.jp]