ISO 639

ISO 639 is one of several international standards that list short codes for language names. ISO 639 consists of different parts, of which two parts are currently published. The other parts are works in progress.

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There are two items for ISO 639:

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• ISO 639-1:2002 Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 1: Alpha-2 code
• ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 2: Alpha-3 code

In other words, there are two-letter codes and three-letter codes. Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes. For these languages, the first three-letter code is for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B), and the second three-letter code is for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T).

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The following parts are still being developed:

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• ISO 639-3:2006? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages http://xml.coverpages.org/Nx74Clews-part3.pdf
• ISO 639-4:2007? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 4: Implementation guidelines and general principles for language coding
• ISO 639-5:2006? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 5: Alpha-3 code for language families and groups
ISO 639: ISO 639-2 ►



 

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Language: A language is a system of expression and communication. Individual languages use sound, gesture, and other means to express and communicate concepts, emotions, ideas, and thoughts. Expressions of a language are analysable into words, whose meanings are usually conventional. The word "language" is ...