RE: Language tags on root

I like the idea of specifying the primary language on the root, 
and then specifying other languages as they occur in the tree.

The code for multiple languages is "mul":
   http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/englangn.html#mn

I agree that xml:lang must not be changed to take a list of 
languages.

The appropriate way to provide a list of languages is to use 
the appropriate HTTP header and/or the <meta> element.  HTML 
allows:

   <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="fr, de, en">

Looking quickly through the public XHTML 2 draft, I couldn't 
find a mention of http-equiv.  Is it still there?

Misha


-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-i18n-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-i18n-ig-request@w3.org] On
Behalf Of Stephen Deach
Sent: 27 January 2005 16:02
To: Richard Ishida; public-i18n-core@w3.org; i18n IG
Subject: Language tags on root (was: Re: XHTML2 review - Please check)



If you recommend/require xml:lang on the html element, don't come up
with a 
value for "mixed", instead set the "primary"/"default" language there;
then 
allow xml:lang on subnodes within head/body as needed for other
languages 
in a mixed-language document. (In fact, it has been my regular 
recommendation for language tagging of all XML document formats to place
a 
default/primary language tag on the root node or the highest node above
any 
text content; then explicitly subtag any language changes (excluding 
"adopted words", but always tag a word/phrase/etc. you wish to be 
hyphenated/spell-checked/grammar-checked using a different dictionary
than 
the base language).

I don't remember how/if Dublin Core handles mixed-language docs (some dc

entries allow lists of values, others don't), but you might consider a 
metadata component to indicate mixed-language content is present.

It would be of significant impact to existing applications to change 
xml:lang to allow a list, and probably add greater ambiguity/confusion;
it 
would be better to add another attribute to carry a list of contained 
languages on the root node is you want it for go/no-go type decisions
over 
whether you can accept/read the doc and allow xml:lang to set the 
primary/default language.

--SDeach

At 2005.01.27-14:49(+0000), Richard Ishida wrote:

>I have updated the table of review comments at
>
>http://www.w3.org/International/2004/10/xhtml2-i18n-review.html
>
>Please check the text and tell me whether I can send to the HTML group.
>
>You should check, in particular, comments 38a to the end plus any other

>comments with a number followed by a,b or c.
>
>Also: When I spoke with Steven Pemberton a few days ago, he said why
don't 
>we request that xml:lang be mandatory on the html tag.  Perhaps we
could 
>discuss this at the next meeting. Of course, the sticking point would
be 
>where you have a mulilingual document. However, may be better to think
of 
>an appropriate value for such documents rather than simply abandon the 
>possibility of solving once and for all the problem of people not
marking 
>up documents with language information.
>
>RI
>
>
>
>
>============
>Richard Ishida
>W3C
>
>contact info:
>http://www.w3.org/People/Ishida/
>
>W3C Internationalization:
>http://www.w3.org/International/
>
>Publication blog:
>http://people.w3.org/rishida/blog/
>


---Steve Deach
    sdeach@adobe.com 





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Received on Thursday, 27 January 2005 16:20:55 UTC