# Reading right to left

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 22, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579 "2002-03-22T18:48:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579/1 "2002-03-22T18:48:49Z")

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Are there any languages (besides Hebrew) which are read from right to left? ;j

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**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579/2 "2002-03-22T18:52:14Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Knighted Vorpal Sword \*  
> \*\*Are there any languages (besides Hebrew) which are read from right to left? ;j \*\*

Aramaic? Yiddish? 😃

Zev Steinhardt

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579/3 "2002-03-22T18:58:59Z")

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Also Urdu and Farsi, I believe.

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**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579/4 "2002-03-22T19:00:37Z")

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arabic

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**Author:** ![Lao\_Tsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579/5 "2002-03-22T19:01:43Z")

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Japanese can be written from right to left, but only if you are writing vertically. Otherwise, you should write left to right.

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579/6 "2002-03-22T19:05:59Z")

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And, of course, the earliest Greek was written in serpentine fashion: left-to-right on one line and right-to-left on the next line, then left-to-right, etc.  
(I do not know whether the first line on the page began at the left or right. I suspect the left only because Greek broke with the Semitic habit of right-to-left.)

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**Author:** ![PsychoKick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b19c9b/32.png) [@PsychoKick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PsychoKick)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-right-to-left/99579/7 "2002-03-22T19:12:26Z")

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Depending on the context, Chinese (and other Chinese-using languages such as Japanese and Korean) may be written in either left-to-right, or the more traditional right-to-left format (which in addition arranges the sentences vertically as opposed to horizontally).