What term is more correct — "achronologisch" or "antichronologisch"?

Question

Which of the two following German translations for reverse chronological (as in: reverse chronological order)

achronologisch

and

antichronologisch

is the correct form, or are both correct? Do they mean the same? Or is there a subtle distinction between anti- and a-?

I would actually say nicht chronologisch or in umgekehrter chronologischer Reihenfolge. — OregonGhost, Jun 01 '11 at 12:02
Another way would be to say chronologisch ungeordnetor in verkehrter zeitlicher Reihenfolge. Though I would not use in verkehrter chronologischer Reihenfolge. — bernd_k, Jun 01 '11 at 20:14
@Deve und Tim: Sieht "...isch" wie eine englsiche Endung aus? — user unknown, Dec 21 '15 at 17:27
@userunknown Zu dem Zeitpunkt als wir unsere Kommentare gepostet haben, lautete die Frage noch anders, sh. Editierverlauf. — Deve, Dec 21 '15 at 17:31
@Deve: Okay, habe sie als obsolet markiert. Kannst Deinen aber auch selbst löschen. — user unknown, Dec 21 '15 at 18:48

score 10 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 01 '11 at 11:12

They are both correct, but have different meanings.

The a-word construction indicates a lack of word, whereas the anti-word construction indicates something against word.

In your example, something which is "achronological" is something without a time-based order. For example, I could say my notebook is achronological, as I write on random pages on random days.

Something is "antichronological" (this is a odd word however) if it is in reverse chronological order. For example, if I wrote on my notebook from the last page to the first page, I could say it is antichronological.

Anti can mean "opposite to some direction", so here it could mean "opposite to the direction of time". It could also mean "opposite to some meaning/perspective/attitude". So one could also use this adjective for anything, that disturbs the chronological order. — Toscho, Mar 02 '13 at 13:08

score 8 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 21 '15 at 12:54

8

I don't think those words really exist in German. At least I couldn’t find them on duden.de.

The only context I found them (both) via Google was with CVs. So I guess it’s an anglicism that came to Germany with the American style CVs recently.

OregonGhost posted the correct translations in his comment. However, antichronologisch sounds wronger to my ears than achronologisch.

edited Dec 21 '15 at 12:54

Jan

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answered Jun 01 '11 at 13:38

ladybug

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Yes, as I noted even in English "antichronological" is very weird. It is much more normal to see "reverse chronological" instead, which is a synonym. – Glen Wheeler Jun 01 '11 at 13:44
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These are technical terms that are not listed in a dictionary like the Duden which aims at everyday users. Since many technical terms are created within an international society of scientists and technologists, and since many of these kinds of terms are created ad hoc and forgotten again, it would take extensive research to find out where they originated. – Mar 08 '13 at 13:23
I agree with @Toscho that putting "anti" in front of chronologisch is ambiguous. It could either mean "in reverse (chronological) order" or it could mean "not chronological" (the same as achronistisch). Therefore using this word composition just seems plain wrong to me. One should rather explain the intention more clearly, for example "in umgekehrt chronologischer Reihenfolge". – BatteryBackupUnit Jun 15 '15 at 09:20

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 01 '11 at 11:11

The prefixes "a-" and "anti-" have different meanings. "achronological" means "not proceeding through time in an ordered fashion", while "antichronological" means "proceeding backwards through time".

Example: Most movies rewinded are antichronological, while e.g. Memento is achronological,

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 21 '15 at 12:56

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The best translation for reverse chronological is, remarkably, the literal translation:

Umgekehrt chronologisch

A Google search confirms that this is used in German.

answered Dec 21 '15 at 12:56

Jan

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 21 '15 at 13:07

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Antichronologisch and Unchronologisch don't really exist in German.

It's more common to say

Nicht chronologisch

eng. non-chronological

Anachronistisch

eng. anachronistic

Duden.de

answered Dec 21 '15 at 13:07

dontbyteme

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score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Dec 21 '15 at 12:46

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I see some people have problems with their own language. Unchronologisch would be proper to us; the prefix un- is used to show the opposite of something, like unlogisch, unglaublich etc.

edited Dec 21 '15 at 12:46

Em1

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answered Mar 01 '13 at 17:59

Alex S

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There's a difference between "unchronolgisch" (not chronological, i.e., in random order) and "antichronologisch" (in reverse order). – Johannes Kloos Mar 01 '13 at 20:50

What term is more correct — "achronologisch" or "antichronologisch"?

6 Answers6