ISO 639-2:1998, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code, is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. The three-letter codes given for each language in this part of the standard are referred to as "Alpha-3" codes. There are 464 entries in the list of ISO 639-2 codes.

The US Library of Congress is the registration authority for ISO 639-2 (referred to as ISO 639-2/RA). As registration authority, the LOC receives and reviews proposed changes; they also have representation on the ISO 639-RA Joint Advisory Committee responsible for maintaining the ISO 639 code tables.

Work was begun on the ISO 639-2 standard in 1989, because the ISO 639-1 standard, which gives two-letter codes for languages, would not be able to accommodate a sufficient number of languages. The ISO 639-2 standard was first released in 1998.

B and T codes [edit]

While most languages are given one code by the standard, twenty of the languages described have two three-letter codes, a "bibliographic" code (ISO 639-2/B), which is derived from the English name for the language and was a necessary legacy feature, and a "terminological" code (ISO 639-2/T), which is derived from the native name for the language. Each of these twenty languages is also included in the ISO 639-1 standard. (There were 22 B codes; scc and scr are now deprecated.)

In general the T codes are favored; ISO 639-3 uses ISO 639-2/T. However, ISO 15924 derives its codes when possible from ISO 639-2/B.

Scopes and types [edit]

Scopes:

• Individual languages
• Macrolanguages
• Collections of languages
• Dialects
• Reserved for local use
• Special situations

Types (for individual languages):

• Living languages
• Extinct languages
• Ancient languages
• Historic languages
• Constructed languages

Special situations [edit]

There are codes for special situations:

• mis is listed as "uncoded languages"
• mul (for multiple languages) is applied when several languages are used and it is not practical to specify all the appropriate language codes
• The interval from qaa to qtz is reserved and is not used in the standard
• und (for undetermined) is used in situations in which a language or languages must be indicated but the language cannot be identified.
• zxx is listed in the code list as "no linguistic content" (added 2006-01-11)

Collective language codes [edit]

Some ISO 639-2 codes that are commonly used for languages do not precisely represent a particular language or some related languages (as the above macrolanguages). They are regarded as collective language codes and are excluded from ISO 639-3. For a definition of macrolanguages and collective languages see [1].

The collective language codes in ISO 639-2 are listed below.

The following two codes are identified as collective codes in ISO 639-2 but are (at present) missing from ISO 639-5:

• bih Bihari (has the ISO 639-1 code bh)
• him Himachali

Codes registered for 639-2 that are listed as collective codes in ISO 639-5 (and collective codes by name in ISO 639-2):

• afa Afro-Asiatic languages
• alg Algonquian languages
• apa Apache languages
• art artificial languages
• ath Athapascan languages
• aus Australian languages
• bad Banda languages
• bai Bamileke languages
• bat Baltic languages
• ber Berber languages
• bnt Bantu languages
• btk Batak languages
• cai Central American Indian languages
• cau Caucasian languages
• cel Celtic languages
• cmc Chamic languages
• col Shilluk language
• cpe creoles and pidgins, English-based
• cpf creoles and pidgins, French-based
• cpp creoles and pidgins, Portuguese-based
• crp creoles and pidgins
• cus Cushitic languages
• day Land Dayak languages
• dra Dravidian languages
• fiu Finno-Ugrian languages
• gem Germanic languages
• ijo Ijo languages
• inc Indic languages
• ine Indo-European languages
• ira Iranian languages
• iro Iroquoian languages
• kar Karen languages
• khi Khoisan languages
• kro Kru languages
• map Austronesian languages
• mkh Mon–Khmer languages
• mno Manobo languages
• mun Munda languages
• myn Mayan languages
• nah Nahuatl languages
• nai North American Indian languages
• nic Niger–Congo languages
• nub Nubian languages
• oto Otomian languages
• paa Papuan languages
• phi Philippine languages
• pra Prakrit languages
• roa Romance languages
• sai South American Indian languages
• sal Salishan languages
• sem Semitic languages
• sgn sign languages
• sio Siouan languages
• sit Sino-Tibetan languages
• sla Slavic languages
• smi Sami languages
• son Songhai languages
• ssa Nilo-Saharan languages
• tai Tai languages
• tup Tupi languages
• tut Altaic languages
• wak Wakashan languages
• wen Sorbian languages
• ypk Yupik languages
• znd Zande languages

Special codes in ISO 639-2:

• und undetermined (language)
• mis uncoded language
• mul multiple languages
• zxx no linguistic content, not applicable

See also [edit]

• List of ISO 639-2 codes
• Language code

External links [edit]

• ISO 639-2/RA Homepage
• ISO 639-2/RA Change Notice
• Details at Library of Congress website