ISO 639

ISO 639

ISO 639 is a set of international standards that defines codes for the representation of names of languages. The purpose of these codes is to establish a standardized nomenclature for languages, which can be used in various applications such as linguistics, library science, and information technology.

Overview

ISO 639 is maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and it is divided into several parts, each addressing different aspects of language coding. The standard is widely used in software development, data management, and digital communication to ensure consistent language identification.

Parts of ISO 639

ISO 639 is divided into several parts, each with a specific focus:

ISO 639-1

ISO 639-1 provides two-letter codes for the representation of names of languages. It is the most widely used part of the standard and includes codes for major languages. For example, "en" is the code for English, and "fr" is the code for French.

ISO 639-2

ISO 639-2 provides three-letter codes for the representation of names of languages. This part of the standard includes codes for more languages than ISO 639-1 and is used when a two-letter code is insufficient. It includes both bibliographic (ISO 639-2/B) and terminological (ISO 639-2/T) codes.

ISO 639-3

ISO 639-3 extends the language codes to cover all known natural languages. It provides a comprehensive set of three-letter codes, including those for many lesser-known and extinct languages. This part is particularly useful for linguistic research and documentation.

ISO 639-4

ISO 639-4 provides the general principles of language coding and guidelines for the implementation and maintenance of the ISO 639 series.

ISO 639-5

ISO 639-5 provides three-letter codes for language families and groups. It is used to categorize languages into broader families, such as "gem" for Germanic languages.

ISO 639-6

ISO 639-6 was intended to provide four-letter codes for the representation of language variants and dialects. However, it has been withdrawn and is no longer maintained.

Applications

ISO 639 codes are used in various fields, including:

• Linguistics: For the classification and study of languages.
• Library Science: For cataloging and organizing multilingual collections.
• Information Technology: For software localization and internationalization.
• Digital Communication: For encoding language information in web pages and digital content.

Also see

• ISO 3166 - Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions.
• ISO 15924 - Codes for the representation of names of scripts.
• Language code - General information about language codes.
• Unicode - A standard for encoding text in different writing systems.