RE: Language Identifier List Comments, updated

> From: John Cowan [mailto:jcowan@reutershealth.com]


> > If you want to refer to Standard Arabic, use "ar". If Standard
Arabic
> > has a Sudan-specific variant (dialect or spelling differences), then
use
> > ar-SD. If what is intended is the vernacular Sudanese Spoken Arabic
> > (perceived as a distinct language from Standard Arabic or the spoken
> > varieties in other countries), then ISO 639-3 will provide a
distinct
> > alpha-3 ID, and I suggest that people wait to use that.
> 
> Eh?  Has the decision to make "ar" a macro-language been changed?

No. I was simply suggesting what I think makes best sense for tagging
content in Standard Arabic, which is to tag it the way it has been
getting tagged for the past decade: "ar".


Peter Constable