Quote:
Originally Posted by ElMiko
Obviously, any native French speakers (c'mon, I know you're out there) who can shed light on sorting standards, please do!
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I am not a native French speaker, but I have looked at sorting rules for names in French. They are very difficult to automate.
First problem: capital letters matter. The name "Jean de La Fontaine" should sort as "La Fontaine, Jean de" because the 'L' in La is capitalized, making it part of the place name and not an article. If the name were "Jean de la Rivière" it would be sorted "Rivière, Jean de la", because in this case it is an article.
Second problem: people with the names make choices for how their name is spelled. I know people with names like "Jean du Dupont" who insist that their last name is "du Dupont", and others who insist that it is "Dupont". This problem also exists in German with von (and others).
Third problem: usage. I have seen both "Charles De Gaulle" and "Charles de Gaulle". Apparently there is some question about whether he has a "noble" name (de Gaulle) or a "common" name (De Gaulle); I don't know which is correct. In any event, these should sort differently.