ISO 639 macrolanguage

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A macrolanguage is a group of mutually intelligible speech varieties, or dialect continuum, that have no traditional name in common, and which may be considered distinct languages by their speakers. Macrolanguages are used as a book-keeping mechanism for the ISO 639 international standard of language codes. Macrolanguages are established to assist mapping between different sets of ISO language codes. Specifically, there may be a many-to-one correspondence between ISO 639-3, intended to identify all the thousands of languages of the world, and either of two other sets, ISO 639-1, established to identify languages in computer systems, and ISO 639-2, which encodes a few hundred languages for library cataloguing and bibliographic purposes. When such many-to-one ISO 639-2 codes are included in an ISO 639-3 context, they are called "macrolanguages" to distinguish them from the corresponding individual languages of ISO 639-3. [1] According to the ISO,

Contents

Some existing code elements in ISO 639-2, and the corresponding code elements in ISO 639-1, are designated in those parts of ISO 639 as individual language code elements, yet are in a one-to-many relationship with individual language code elements in [ISO 639-3]. For purposes of [ISO 639-3], they are considered to be macrolanguage code elements.

— ISO 639-3: Relationship between ISO 639-3 and the other parts of ISO 639 [2]

ISO 639-3 is curated by SIL International; ISO 639-2 is curated by the Library of Congress (USA).

The mapping often has the implication that it covers borderline cases where two language varieties may be considered strongly divergent dialects of the same language or very closely related languages (dialect continua); it may also encompass situations when there are language varieties that are considered to be varieties of the same language on the grounds of ethnic, cultural, and political considerations, rather than linguistic reasons.[ dubious – discuss ] However, this is not its primary function and the classification is not evenly applied.

For example, Chinese is a macrolanguage encompassing many languages that are not mutually intelligible, but the languages "Standard German", "Bavarian German", and other closely related languages do not form a macrolanguage, despite being more mutually intelligible. Other examples include Tajiki not being part of the Persian macrolanguage despite sharing much lexicon, and Urdu and Hindi not forming a macrolanguage despite forming a mutually intelligible dialect continuum. All dialects of Hindi are considered separate languages. Basically, ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3 use different criteria for dividing language varieties into languages, 639-2 uses shared writing systems and literature more whereas 639-3 focuses on mutual intelligibility and shared lexicon. The macrolanguages exist within the ISO 639-3 code set to make mapping between the two sets easier.

The use of macrolanguages was applied in Ethnologue , starting in the 16th edition. [3] As of 21 December 2023, there are fifty-nine language codes in ISO 639-2 that are counted as macrolanguages in ISO 639-3. [4] The most recent registered macrolanguage is Sanskrit with code san, adopted in 15 December 2023, though it already existed as individual language for several years. [5]

Some of the macrolanguages had no individual language (as defined by 639-3) in ISO 639-2, e.g. "ara" (Arabic), but ISO 639-3 recognizes different varieties of Arabic as separate languages under some circumstances. Others, like "nor" (Norwegian) had their two individual parts (nno Nynorsk, nob Bokmål) already in 639-2. That means some languages (e.g. "arb" Standard Arabic) that were considered by ISO 639-2 to be dialects of one language ("ara") are now in ISO 639-3 in certain contexts considered to be individual languages themselves. This is an attempt to deal with varieties that may be linguistically distinct from each other, but are treated by their speakers as forms of the same language, e.g. in cases of diglossia. For example,

ISO 639-2 also includes codes for collections of languages; these are not the same as macrolanguages. These collections of languages are excluded from ISO 639-3, because they never refer to individual languages. Most such codes are included in ISO 639-5.

Types of macrolanguages

List of macrolanguages

This list only includes official data from https://iso639-3.sil.org/code_tables/macrolanguage_mappings/data.

ISO 639-1ISO 639-2ISO 639-3Number of individual languagesName of macrolanguage
akaka aka 2 Akan language
arara ara 28 + retired 2 Arabic language
ayaym aym 2 Aymara language
azaze aze 2 Azerbaijani language
(-)bal bal 3 Baluchi language
(-)bik bik 8 + retired 1 Bikol language
(-)(-) bnc 5 Bontok language
(-)bua bua 3 Buriat language
(-)chm chm 2 Mari language (Russia)
crcre cre 6 Cree language
(-)del del 2 Delaware language
(-)den den 2 Slavey language (Athapascan)
(-)din din 5 Dinka language
(-)doi doi 2 Dogri language
etest est 2 Estonian language
fafas/per fas 2 Persian language
ffful ful 9 Fulah language
(-)gba gba 6 + retired 1 Gbaya language (Central African Republic)
(-)gon gon 3 + retired 1 Gondi language
(-)grb grb 5 Grebo language
gngrn grn 5 Guaraní language
(-)hai hai 2 Haida language
(-) [8] (-) hbs 4 Serbo-Croatian
(-)hmn hmn 25 + retired 1 Hmong language
iuiku iku 2 Inuktitut language
ikipk ipk 2 Inupiaq language
(-)jrb jrb 4 + retired 1 Judeo-Arabic languages
krkau kau 3 Kanuri language
(-)(-) kln 9 Kalenjin languages
(-)kok kok 2 Konkani language
kvkom kom 2 Komi language
kgkon kon 3 Kongo language
(-)kpe kpe 2 Kpelle language
kukur kur 3 Kurdish language
(-)lah lah 7 + retired 1 Lahnda language
lvlav lav 2 Latvian language
(-)(-) luy 14 Luyia language
(-)man man 6 + retired 1 Manding languages
mgmlg mlg 11 + retired 1 Malagasy language
mnmon mon 2 Mongolian language
msmsa/may msa 36 + retired 1 Malay language
(-)mwr mwr 6 Marwari language
nenep nep 2 Nepali language
nonor nor 2 Norwegian language
ojoji oji 7 Ojibwa language
orori ori 2 Oriya language
omorm orm 4 Oromo language
pspus pus 3 Pashto language
quque que 43 + retired 1 Quechua language
(-)raj raj 6 Rajasthani language
(-)rom rom 7 Romany language
sasan san 2 Sanskrit language
sqsqi/alb sqi 4 Albanian language
scsrd srd 4 Sardinian language
swswa swa 2 Swahili language
(-)syr syr 2 Syriac language
(-)tmh tmh 4 Tuareg languages
uzuzb uzb 2 Uzbek language
wlwal wal 2 Wolaytta language
yiyid yid 2 Yiddish language
(-)zap zap 58 + retired 1 Zapotec language
zazha zha 16 + retired 2 Zhuang languages
zhzho/chi zho 16 Chinese language
(-)zza zza 2 Zaza language
345963441 + retired 15total codes
ISO 639-1ISO 639-2ISO 639-3Number of individual languagesName of macrolanguage

List of macrolanguages and the individual languages

This is a complete list of the individual language codes that comprise the macrolanguages in the ISO 639-3 code tables as of 6 March 2023. [9]

aaa–ezz

aka

aka is the ISO 639-3 language code for Akan. Its ISO 639-1 code is ak. There are two individual language codes assigned:

ara

ara is the ISO 639-3 language code for Arabic. Its ISO 639-1 code is ar. There are twenty-eight individual language codes assigned:

The following codes were previously part of ara:

aym

aym is the ISO 639-3 language code for Aymara. Its ISO 639-1 code is ay. There are two individual language codes assigned:

aze

aze is the ISO 639-3 language code for Azerbaijani. Its ISO 639-1 code is az. There are two individual language codes assigned:

bal

bal is the ISO 639-3 language code for Baluchi. There are three individual language codes assigned:

bik

bik is the ISO 639-3 language code for Bikol. There are eight individual language codes assigned:

The following code was previously part of bik:

  • bhk – Albay Bicolano (Split into Buhi'non Bikol [ubl], Libon Bikol [lbl], Miraya Bikol [rbl], and West Albay Bikol [fbl] on 18 January 2010)

bnc

bnc is the ISO 639-3 language code for Bontok. There are five individual language codes assigned:

bua

bua is the ISO 639-3 language code for Buriat. There are three individual language codes assigned:

chm

chm is the ISO 639-3 language code for Mari, a language located in Russia. There are two individual language codes assigned:

cre

cre is the ISO 639-3 language code for Cree. Its ISO 639-1 code is cr. There are six individual language codes assigned:

In addition, there are six closely associated individual codes:

  • nsk – Naskapi (part of the Cree language group but not included under the cre macrolanguage designation)
  • moe – Montagnais (part of the Cree language group but not included under the cre macrolanguage designation)
  • atj – Atikamekw (part of the Cree language group but not included under the cre macrolanguage designation)
  • crg – Michif language (Cree-French mixed language with strong influences from Ojibwe language group and not included under the cre macrolanguage designation)
  • ojs – Ojibwa, Severn (Ojibwa, Northern) (part of the Ojibwa language group with strong influences from the Cree language group and not included under the cre macrolanguage designation)
  • ojw – Ojibwa, Western (part of the Ojibwa language group with strong influences from the Cree language group and not included under the cre macrolanguage designation)

In addition, there is one other language without individual codes closely associated, but not part of, this macrolanguage code:

del

del is the ISO 639-3 language code for Delaware. There are two individual language codes assigned:

den

den is the ISO 639-3 language code for Slave. There are two individual language codes assigned:

din

din is the ISO 639-3 language code for Dinka. There are five individual language codes assigned:

doi

doi is the ISO 639-3 language code for Dogri. There are two individual language codes assigned:

est

est is the ISO 639-3 language code for Estonian. Its ISO 639-1 code is et. There are two individual language codes assigned:

faa–jzz

fas

fas is the ISO 639-3 language code for Persian. Its ISO 639-1 code is fa. There are two individual language codes assigned:

ful

ful is the ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3 language code for Fulah (also spelled Fula). Its ISO 639-1 code is ff. There are nine individual language codes assigned for varieties of Fulah:

gba

gba is the ISO 639-3 language code for Gbaya located in the Central African Republic. There are six individual language codes assigned:

The following code was previously part of gba:

  • mdo – Southwest Gbaya (Split into Southwest Gbaya [gso] (new identifier) and Gbaya-Mbodomo [gmm] on 14 January 2008)

gon

gon is the ISO 639-3 language code for Gondi. There are three individual language codes assigned:

The following code was previously part of gon:

  • ggo – Southern Gondi (Split into [esg] Aheri Gondi and [wsg] Adilabad Gondi on 15 January 2016)

grb

grb is the ISO 639-3 language code for Grebo. There are five individual language codes assigned:

grn

grn is the ISO 639-3 language code for Guarani. Its ISO 639-1 code is gn. There are five individual language codes assigned:

hai

hai is the ISO 639-3 language code for Haida. There are two individual language codes assigned:

hbs

hbs is the ISO 639-3 language code for Serbo-Croatian. It formerly had an ISO 639-1 code sh but deprecated in 2000. There are four individual language codes assigned:

hmn

hmn is the ISO 639-3 language code for Hmong. There are twenty-five individual language codes assigned:

The following code was previously part of hmn:

  • blu – Hmong Njua (Split into Hmong Njua [hnj] (new identifier), Chuanqiandian Cluster Miao [cqd], Horned Miao [hrm], and Small Flowery Miao [sfm] on 14 January 2008)

iku

iku is the ISO 639-3 language code for Inuktitut. Its ISO 639-1 code is iu. There are two individual language codes assigned:

ipk

ipk is the ISO 639-3 language code for Inupiaq. Its ISO 639-1 code is ik. There are two individual language codes assigned:

jrb

jrb is the ISO 639-3 language code for Judeo-Arabic. There are four individual language codes assigned:

The following code was previously part of jrb:

kaa–ozz

kau

kau is the ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3 language code for the Kanuri. Its ISO 639-1 code is kr. There are three individual language codes assigned in ISO 639-3 for varieties of Kanuri:

There are two other related languages that are not considered part of the macrolanguage under ISO 639:

kln

kln is the ISO 639-3 language code for Kalenjin. There are nine individual language codes assigned:

kok

kok is the ISO 639-3 language code for Konkani (macrolanguage). There are two individual language codes assigned:

Both languages are referred to as Konkani by their respective speakers.

kom

kom is the ISO 639-3 language code for Komi. Its ISO 639-1 code is kv. There are two individual language codes assigned:

kon

kon is the ISO 639-3 language code for Kongo. Its ISO 639-1 code is kg. There are three individual language codes assigned:

kpe

kpe is the ISO 639-3 language code for Kpelle. There are two individual language codes assigned:

kur

kur is the ISO 639-3 language code for Kurdish. Its ISO 639-1 code is ku. There are three individual language codes assigned:

lah

lah is the ISO 639-3 language code for Lahnda. There are seven individual language codes assigned.

lah does not include Panjabi/Punjabi (pan).

The following code was previously part of lah:

lav

lav is the ISO 639-3 language code for Latvian. Its ISO 639-1 code is lv. There are two individual language codes assigned:

luy

luy is the ISO 639-3 language code for Luyia. There are fourteen individual language codes assigned:

man

man is the ISO 639-3 language code for Mandingo. There are six individual language codes assigned:

The following codes were previously part of man:

mlg

mlg is the ISO 639-3 language code for Malagasy. Its ISO 639-1 code is mg. There are eleven individual language codes assigned:

The following codes were previously part of mlg:

mon

mon is the ISO 639-3 language code for Mongolian. Its ISO 639-1 code is mn. There are two individual language codes assigned:

msa

msa is the ISO 639-3 language code for Malay (macrolanguage). Its ISO 639-1 code is ms. There are thirty-six individual language codes assigned:

The following code was previously part of msa:

  • mly – Malay (individual language) (Split into Standard Malay [zsm], Haji [hji], Papuan Malay [pmy], and Malay [zlm] on 18 February 2008)

In addition, there is an individual code not part of this macrolanguage because it is categorized as a historical language:

mwr

mwr is the ISO 639-3 language code for Marwari. There are six individual language codes assigned:

nep

nep is the ISO 639-3 language code for Nepali (macrolanguage). Its ISO 639-1 code is ne. There are two individual language codes assigned:

nor

nor is the ISO 639-3 language code for Norwegian. Its ISO 639-1 code is no. There are two individual language codes assigned:

oji

oji is the ISO 639-3 language code for Ojibwa. Its ISO 639-1 code is oj. There are seven individual language codes assigned:

In addition, there are three closely associated individual codes:

  • alq – Algonquin language (part of the Ojibwe language group but not included under the oji macrolanguage designation)
  • pot – Potawatomi language (formerly part of the Ojibwe language group and not included under the oji macrolanguage designation)
  • crg – Michif language (Cree-French mixed language with strong influences from Ojibwe language group and not included under the oji macrolanguage designation)

In addition, there are two other languages without individual codes closely associated, but not part of, this macrolanguage code:

ori

ori is the ISO 639-3 language code for Oriya (macrolanguage). Its ISO 639-1 code is or. There are two individual language codes assigned:

orm

orm is the ISO 639-3 language code for Oromo. Its ISO 639-1 code is om. There are four individual language codes assigned:

paa–zzz

pus

pus is the ISO 639-3 language code for Pashto. Its ISO 639-1 code is ps. There are three individual language codes assigned:

que

que is the ISO 639-3 language code for Quechua. Its ISO 639-1 code is qu. There are forty-three individual language codes assigned:

The following code was previously part of que:

raj

raj is the ISO 639-3 language code for Rajasthani. There are six individual language codes assigned:

rom

rom is the ISO 639-3 language code for Romany. There are seven individual language codes assigned:

In addition, there are nine individual codes not part of this macrolanguage but they are categorized as mixed languages:

san

san is the ISO 639-3 language code for Sanskrit. Its ISO 639-1 code is sa. As of 2024, it's the only macrolanguage with language type as Historical. There are two individual language codes assigned:

sqi

sqi is the ISO 639-3 language code for Albanian. Its ISO 639-1 code is sq. There are four individual language codes assigned:

srd

srd is the ISO 639-3 language code for Sardinian. Its ISO 639-1 code is sc. There are four individual language codes assigned:

swa

swa is the ISO 639-3 language code for Swahili. Its ISO 639-1 code is sw. There are two individual language codes assigned:

syr

syr is the ISO 639-3 language code for Syriac. There are two individual language codes assigned:

tmh

tmh is the ISO 639-3 language code for Tamashek. There are four individual language codes assigned:

uzb

uzb is the ISO 639-3 language code for Uzbek. Its ISO 639-1 code is uz. There are two individual language codes assigned:

yid

yid is the ISO 639-3 language code for Yiddish. Its ISO 639-1 code is yi. There are two individual language codes assigned:

zap

zap is the ISO 639-3 language code for Zapotec. There are fifty-eight individual language codes assigned.

The following codes were previously part of zap:

  • ztc – Lachirioag Zapotec (Moved to Yatee Zapotec [zty] on 18 July 2007)

In addition, there is an individual code not part of this macrolanguage because it is categorized as a historical language:

zha

zha is the ISO 639-3 language code for Zhuang. Its ISO 639-1 code is za. There are sixteen individual language codes assigned:

The following codes were previously part of zha:

  • ccx – Northern Zhuang (Split into Guibian Zh [zgn], Liujiang Zh [zlj], Qiubei Zh [zqe], Guibei Zh [zgb], Youjiang Zh [zyj], Central Hongshuihe Zh [zch], Eastern Hongshuihe Zh [zeh], Liuqian Zh [zlq], Yongbei Zh [zyb], and Lianshan Zh [zln]. on 14 January 2008)
  • ccy – Southern Zhuang (Split into Nong Zhuang [zhn], Yang Zhuang [zyg], Yongnan Zhuang [zyn], Zuojiang Zhuang [zzj], and Dai Zhuang [zhd] on 18 July 2007)

zho

zho is the ISO 639-3 language code for Chinese. Its ISO 639-1 code is zh. There are sixteen individual language codes assigned, most of which are not actually languages but rather groups of Sinitic languages distinguished by isoglosses:

Although the Dungan language (dng) is a dialect of Mandarin, it is not listed under Chinese in ISO 639-3 due to separate historical and cultural development. [11]

ISO 639 also lists codes for Old Chinese (och) and Late Middle Chinese (ltc)). They are not listed under Chinese in ISO 639-3 because they are categorized as ancient and historical languages, respectively.

zza

zza is the ISO 639-3 language code for Zaza. There are two individual language codes assigned:

See also

Related Research Articles

ISO 639 is a standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) concerned with representation of languages and language groups. It currently consists of four sets of code, named after each part which formerly described respective set ; a part 6 was published but withdrawn. It was first approved in 1967 as a single-part ISO Recommendation, ISO/R 639, superseded in 2002 by part 1 of the new series, ISO 639-1, followed by additional parts. All existing parts of the series were consolidated into a single standard in 2023, largely based on the text of ISO 639-4.

Za or ZA may refer to:

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 487 entries in the list of ISO 639-2 codes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hmong language</span> West Hmongic dialect continuum

Hmong or Mong is a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmongic languages spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hainan, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. There are some 2.7 million speakers of varieties that are largely mutually intelligible, including over 280,000 Hmong Americans as of 2013. Over half of all Hmong speakers speak the various dialects in China, where the Dananshan (大南山) dialect forms the basis of the standard language. However, Hmong Daw and Mong Leng are widely known only in Laos and the United States; Dananshan is more widely known in the native region of Hmong.

A mixed language, also referred to as a hybrid language, contact language, or fusion language, is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creoles/pidgins arise where speakers of many languages acquire a common language, a mixed language typically arises in a population that is fluent in both of the source languages.

ISO 639-3:2007, Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages, is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for identifying languages. The standard was published by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on 1 February 2007.

This is a list of ISO 639-3 language codes starting with A.

This is a list of ISO 639-3 language codes starting with B.

This is a list of ISO 639-3 language codes starting with E.

This is a list of ISO 639-3 language codes starting with M.

This is a list of ISO 639-3 language codes starting with S.

This is a list of ISO 639-3 language codes starting with U.

This is a list of ISO 639-3 language codes starting with X.

An IETF BCP 47 language tag is a standardized code that is used to identify human languages on the Internet. The tag structure has been standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Best Current Practice (BCP) 47; the subtags are maintained by the IANA Language Subtag Registry.

Meo or MEO may refer to:

BJQ or bjq can refer to:

References

  1. ↑ ISO 639-3: Scope of denotation for language identifiers: Macrolanguages
  2. ↑ "Relationships to other parts of ISO 639 | ISO 639-3".
  3. ↑ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). Ethnologue . Dallas: SIL International.
  4. ↑ "Scope of denotation for language identifiers". SIL International.
  5. ↑ "Comments received for ISO 639-3 Change Request 2011-041" (PDF). SIL International . October 31, 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: ara". SIL International.
  7. ↑ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: arb". SIL International.
  8. ↑
    ISO 639-2/RA Change Notice
    ISO
    639-1
    Code    		ISO
    639-2
    Code    		English
    name of
    Language    		French
    name of
    Language    		Date
    Added or
    Changed    		Category
    of Change    		Notes
    [-sh](none)Serbo-Croatianserbo-croate2000-02-18DepThis code was deprecated in 2000 because there were separate language codes for each individual language represented (Serbian, Croatian, and then Bosnian was added). It was published in a revision of ISO 639-1, but was never included in ISO 639-2. It is considered a macrolanguage (general name for a cluster of closely related individual languages) in ISO 639-3. Its deprecated status was reaffirmed by the ISO 639 JAC in 2005.
    srsrp [scc]Serbianserbe2008-06-28CCISO 639-2/B code deprecated in favor of ISO 639-2/T code
    hrhrv [scr]Croatiancroate2008-06-28CCISO 639-2/B code deprecated in favor of ISO 639-2/T code
  9. ↑ "ISO 639-3 Macrolanguage Mappings". SIL International. 2023-03-06.
  10. ↑ "Change Request Documentation: 2022-006". ISO 639-3. SIL International. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  11. ↑ Rimsky-Korsakoff, Svetlana (1967). "Soviet Dungan: The Chinese language of Central Asia. Alphabet, phonology, morphology". Monumenta Serica. 26: 352–421. doi:10.1080/02549948.1967.11744973.
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