Whats the difference between modern Spanish and traditional Spanish? They seem the same.

Question

On Microsoft Word when I click on Language there comes up with two selections under [Spanish (Spain - traditional)] and [Spanish (Spain - modern)]. I would just like to know if there is any real difference between the two.

Answer 1

As you know there are two different flavors of Spanish sorting: modern and traditional. The traditional has become less preferred over time, and is being replaced by the modern sort. Within the traditional sort, the following rules apply:

1. CH is treated as a compression (where C and H are treated as a single unit of sorting), which sorts between C and D as a unique letter.

2. LL is also treated as a compression, which sorts between L and M as a unique letter.

3. N tilde (ñ) is a unique letter between N and O.

For modern (international) sort, the only rule that applies is that N tilde is a unique letter between N and O.

• Oh, so its just a matter of the alphabet. - brehanyj Nov 2, 2009