Re: Language tags (Re: Statistics on reusing request)

    Date: Thu, 02 Nov 1995 16:51:07 -0800 (PST)
    From: Ned Freed <NED@innosoft.com>

    Now, it may well be that RFC1766 is broken. If it is then we need to
    fix it.

I don't believe I said it was "broken".  I would simply say it is in
need of augmenting as described under the text for "primary language tags":

  "Other values cannot be assigned except by updating this standard."

    In summary, the only thing here that "sounds empty" to me is the
    notion that its acceptable to have two different sets of language tags
    in different IETF work items and that its acceptable avoid
    revising documents that need revision.

OK, then lets update 1766.  I propose that 3 character primary language
tags be those assigned by the Ethnologue, 12th edition, this list being
available here:

    http://www.stonehand.com/unicode/standard/ethn12.html

This list contains 6790 language identifiers covering the entire known
set of living and extinct languages.

The HTML I18N I-D has already proposed this extension due to the current
limited coverage of 2 character ISO 639 language tags.

Would you like me to write up an I-D?

Regards,
Glenn Adams

Received on Friday, 3 November 1995 01:42:59 UTC