ISO 639-2

ISO 639-2, or more formally known as 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 United States 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
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
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
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
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 Scope of denotation for language identifiers.

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

Special codes in ISO 639-2:
 * <tt>und</tt> undetermined (language)
 * <tt>mis</tt> uncoded language
 * <tt>mul</tt> multiple languages
 * <tt>zxx</tt> no linguistic content, not applicable

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