RE: Language Identifier List Comments, updated

> From: ietf-languages-bounces@alvestrand.no [mailto:ietf-languages-
> bounces@alvestrand.no] On Behalf Of Tex Texin


> I hope others comment on this. If the two are distinct, then it is
another
> type
> of ambiguity with tagging.
> 
> tex
> 
> Andrew Cunningham wrote:
> 
> > ar-SD (Arabic)  also this tag could be considered to be ambiguous ..
is
> > it the national language of Sudan (Standard Modern Arabic) or is it
the
> > Sudanese Arabic dialect?

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.



Peter Constable

Received on Monday, 27 December 2004 18:20:21 UTC