Am 2000-03-12 um 12:58 h PST hat Alain geschrieben:
> Swiss German does not use the sharp s (ß)...

Almost so.

The official spelling rules, negotiated between (amongst others) the
Swiss, and German, ministers for education, say:
: In der Schweiz kann man immer ss schreiben. Beispiel: Straße - Strasse
(= In Switzerland, you may always write "ss" [instead of "ß"].
Source: <http://www.ids-mannheim.de/grammis/reform/a2-3.html#25E2>

Indeed, some Swiss publisher use the "ß", particularly in books; though
most newspapers spell "ss", and I have never seen a "ß" on a Swiss road
sign.


> But that does not change ordering.

It does influence ordering, in the 2nd level. E. g.
"er trank Wein in Maßen" (= he drank wine, moderately)
goes after
"er trank Wein in Massen" (= he drank wine, in large quantities).
If both are spelled with "ss" (as mostly in Switzerland), then these
strings are identical, hence they may come in any order.

If another 2nd-level difference comes after the "ß", then the "ss"
spelling indeed changes the ordering, as in
"er trank Wein in Massen, so ein Ärger" ( = "..., what an chagrin")
goes before
"er trank Wein in Maßen, so ein Arger" ( = ".., this bad, hypocrite guy"),
but after
"er trank Wein in Massen, so ein Arger".

I concede, that these examples are far-fetched. They are designed to
show that the "ss" (for "ß") spelling indeed does influence the sorting
order, though only in very rare cases.

Best wishes,
   Otto Stolz