Re: Language Identifier List Criteria

Hi Misha,

yes and yes.
Although the [useless] sets in q2 might be lengthy, given the number of
possible combinations.
But it is easy to produce.
But the nice thing about the comprehensive approach is that a search for any
combination gives an explicit answer, which can be reviewed and refined and not
overlooked.


I would probably deliver 3 lists:
1) The answer to Q1, for the PRC, might be: zh, zh-Hans, zh-CN, ...
 
2) The answer to Q2, for zh, might be:
 -  zh is [useful in/for ...] 
 -  zh-CN is [useful in/for ...]
 -  zh-Hans [is useful in/for ...]
 -  etc

3) The remainder (just guessing at examples):
- zh-IL not signficantly used.
- gr-CN ""

tex


Misha Wolf wrote:
> 
> Hi Tex,
> 
> You wrote that you are now keeping the stuff in a database.  That
> would enable you to provide both views:
> 
> 1.  What tags do I need for the language(s) of country/region X?
> 
> 2.  What tags exist for (derivatives of) language Y?
> 
> The answer to Q1, for the PRC, might be: zh, zh-Hans, zh-CN, ...
> 
> The answer to Q2, for zh, might be:
> -  zh is [useful in/for ...] | [useless]
> -  zh-CN is [useful in/for ...] | [useless]
> -  zh-Hans [is useful in/for ...] | [useless]
> -  etc
> 
> Misha
> 
> > On another related topic, I am considering for the next version
> > of the table to organize it differently. It strikes me that for
> > my needs, and my intended audience, that it is not as interesting
> > to list languages and noting which regions they are spoken, as to
> > list each of the regions and note the languages used there. If I
> > do that, I do not have to deal with meaningless identifiers and
> > map them to the correct ones to use.
> >
> > So I might have:
> >
> > region        languages
> > JP    ja
> > LI    de-CH (maybe others, I don't know.)
> > CH    de-CH, it, fr-FR, rm
> > US    en-US, es-US
> > CA    fr-CA, en-CA, iu
> >
> > With this approach, I can suggest something like the most popular
> > choices, not rule out the existence of other languages being used,
> > the lack of de-LI makes a statement about de-LI vs de-CH, without
> > being as explicit about criteria, other than perhaps a combination
> > of popular choices by major software vendors, offical languages,
> > and claims of encyclopedias and the like as to what is spoken
> > where.
> >
> > This approach is more helpful to folks like me who are looking to
> > answer what they need to provide. If someone wants to know how
> > many variants of German they need, they can scan the table for all
> > listings of de and de-*, and even scan just the regions they
> > support to determine their perhaps more exact needs.
> >
> > It's also easier for me to accept edits of the list from people
> > suggesting that language xx-YY is used in region ZZ, without a lot
> > of vetting effort.
> >
> > Would that work for people?
> >
> > tex
> 
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Tex Texin   cell: +1 781 789 1898   mailto:Tex@XenCraft.com
Xen Master                          http://www.i18nGuy.com
                         
XenCraft		            http://www.XenCraft.com
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Received on Tuesday, 21 December 2004 16:57:18 UTC