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Last modified: August 29, 2001
Code for the Representation of the Names of Languages. From ISO 639, revised 1989.

ISO 639. Code for the representation of the names of languages.

[2001-08-29] Note: See now the updated document "Language Identifiers in the Markup Context."

Note. See also related materials:


[December 20, 1997] Updated to reflect six changes from the "1989" revision by the ISO 639 Registration Authority; see the note at the end of the document itemizing the edits.

The partial listing of ISO 639 two-character codes is supplied here will supplement the shorter lists given in Martin Bryan (SGML: An Author's Guide to the Standard Generalized Markup Language, 92-93) and Eric van Herwijnen (Practical SGML, 67-68). The two-character language codes of ISO 639 are relevant to SGML encoding in two respects. First, the SGML standard (ISO 8879) itself specifies that declaration of public text language should be given using the language code(s) from ISO 639; see ISO 8879-1986(E) page 36, section 10.2.2.3. Second, the WSD (Writing System Declaration) implemented in the Text Encoding Initiative uses the [two-character] language code of ISO 639 (as amended) as a language.code attribute of the nat.language declaration, specifying the language in which the WSD is written.

The information on 2-character language codes summarized below has been taken from ISO 639 Code for the representation of the names of languages. First edition, 1988-04-01. Reference number: ISO 639: 1988 (E/F). iii + 17 pages. ISO 639:1988 is a technical revision of ISO 639: 1967, prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 37. The language codes are listed in ISO 639 with lowercase letters, but are given here in uppercase, as recommended for use as SGML tag names for "public text language." See ISO 8879 section 10.2.2.3: "the 'public text language' must be a two-character name, entered with upper-case letters."

ISO 639 contains much other information about the use of language symbols, registration of new symbols, etc. The language codes of ISO 639 are said to be "devised primarily for use in terminology, lexicography and linguistics, but they may be used for any application requiring the expression of languages in coded form." The registration authority for ISO 639 is given as Infoterm, Österreiches Normungsinstitut (ON), Postfach 130, A-1021 Vienna, AUSTRIA.

The two-character language codes of ISO 639 are recognized as being inadequate for use as SGML language attributes when tagging text, viz, for use as global lang attributes attached to any element to identify the language of the text element or a language shift. On lang as a global attribute, see the TEI Guidelines, page 45, section 3.2.1. In principle, there should be nothing wrong with tagging language using SGML elements rather than attributes, if the encoder has principled reasons for not using attributes (e.g., indexing engines which read simple tags but not SGML attributes). But the two-character codes of ISO 639 are neither sufficiently mnemonic nor complete for the world's languages: whereas ISO 639 supplies codes for only about 136 languages, the Ethnologue published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics identifies over 6100 languages (see Ethnologue: Languages of the World, ed. Barbara Grimes. 11th edition. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1988). A revision of ISO 639 completed late 1990 is described as supplying 3-character language codes (following MARC 3-character language codes in part), based upon the code sequence of the American National Standard (ANSI Z39.53). This draft will be circulated for worldwide review in 1991. It remains to be seen whether these new ISO 639 3-character codes qualify mnemonically for use in SGML tagging and if the set is complete. Provisionally, and as a convenience, the set of 3-character MARC language codes are supplied in this appendix. Where they are mnemonic, unique and adequately distinguish dialectical variants, it would seem permissible to use them for lang attribute values or as language tags.

         ISO 639 CODES ALPHABETIC BY LANGUAGE NAME (ENGLISH SPELLING)

LANGUAGE NAME  CODE     LANGUAGE FAMILY

ABKHAZIAN       AB     IBERO-CAUCASIAN
AFAN (OROMO)    OM     HAMITIC
AFAR            AA     HAMITIC
AFRIKAANS       AF     GERMANIC
ALBANIAN        SQ     INDO-EUROPEAN (OTHER)
AMHARIC         AM     SEMITIC
ARABIC          AR     SEMITIC
ARMENIAN        HY     INDO-EUROPEAN (OTHER)
ASSAMESE        AS     INDIAN
AYMARA          AY     AMERINDIAN
AZERBAIJANI     AZ     TURKIC/ALTAIC

BASHKIR         BA     TURKIC/ALTAIC
BASQUE          EU     BASQUE
BENGALI;BANGLA  BN     INDIAN
BHUTANI         DZ     ASIAN
BIHARI          BH     INDIAN
BISLAMA         BI     [not given]
BRETON          BR     CELTIC
BULGARIAN       BG     SLAVIC
BURMESE         MY     ASIAN
BYELORUSSIAN    BE     SLAVIC

CAMBODIAN       KM     ASIAN
CATALAN         CA     ROMANCE
CHINESE         ZH     ASIAN
CORSICAN        CO     ROMANCE
CROATIAN        HR     SLAVIC
CZECH           CS     SLAVIC

DANISH          DA     GERMANIC
DUTCH           NL     GERMANIC

ENGLISH         EN     GERMANIC
ESPERANTO       EO     INTERNATIONAL AUX.
ESTONIAN        ET     FINNO-UGRIC

FAROESE         FO     GERMANIC
FIJI            FJ     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
FINNISH         FI     FINNO-UGRIC
FRENCH          FR     ROMANCE
FRISIAN         FY     GERMANIC

GALICIAN        GL     ROMANCE
GEORGIAN        KA     IBERO-CAUCASIAN
GERMAN          DE     GERMANIC
GREEK           EL     LATIN/GREEK
GREENLANDIC     KL     ESKIMO
GUARANI         GN     AMERINDIAN
GUJARATI        GU     INDIAN

HAUSA           HA     NEGRO-AFRICAN
HEBREW          HE     SEMITIC [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, IW] 
HINDI           HI     INDIAN
HUNGARIAN       HU     FINNO-UGRIC

ICELANDIC       IS     GERMANIC
INDONESIAN      ID     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, IN] 
INTERLINGUA     IA     INTERNATIONAL AUX.
INTERLINGUE     IE     INTERNATIONAL AUX.
INUKTITUT       IU     [        ]
INUPIAK         IK     ESKIMO
IRISH           GA     CELTIC
ITALIAN         IT     ROMANCE

JAPANESE        JA     ASIAN
JAVANESE        JV     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN

KANNADA         KN     DRAVIDIAN
KASHMIRI        KS     INDIAN
KAZAKH          KK     TURKIC/ALTAIC
KINYARWANDA     RW     NEGRO-AFRICAN
KIRGHIZ         KY     TURKIC/ALTAIC
KURUNDI         RN     NEGRO-AFRICAN
KOREAN          KO     ASIAN
KURDISH         KU     IRANIAN

LAOTHIAN        LO     ASIAN
LATIN           LA     LATIN/GREEK
LATVIAN;LETTISH LV     BALTIC
LINGALA         LN     NEGRO-AFRICAN
LITHUANIAN      LT     BALTIC

MACEDONIAN      MK     SLAVIC
MALAGASY        MG     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MALAY           MS     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MALAYALAM       ML     DRAVIDIAN
MALTESE         MT     SEMITIC
MAORI           MI     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MARATHI         MR     INDIAN
MOLDAVIAN       MO     ROMANCE
MONGOLIAN       MN     [not given]

NAURU           NA     [not given]
NEPALI          NE     INDIAN
NORWEGIAN       NO     GERMANIC

OCCITAN         OC     ROMANCE
ORIYA           OR     INDIAN

PASHTO;PUSHTO   PS     IRANIAN
PERSIAN (farsi) FA     IRANIAN
POLISH          PL     SLAVIC
PORTUGUESE      PT     ROMANCE
PUNJABI         PA     INDIAN

QUECHUA         QU     AMERINDIAN

RHAETO-ROMANCE  RM     ROMANCE
ROMANIAN        RO     ROMANCE
RUSSIAN         RU     SLAVIC

SAMOAN          SM     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
SANGHO          SG     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SANSKRIT        SA     INDIAN
SCOTS GAELIC    GD     CELTIC
SERBIAN         SR     SLAVIC
SERBO-CROATIAN  SH     SLAVIC
SESOTHO         ST     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SETSWANA        TN     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SHONA           SN     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SINDHI          SD     INDIAN
SINGHALESE      SI     INDIAN
SISWATI         SS     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SLOVAK          SK     SLAVIC
SLOVENIAN       SL     SLAVIC
SOMALI          SO     HAMITIC
SPANISH         ES     ROMANCE
SUNDANESE       SU     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
SWAHILI         SW     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SWEDISH         SV     GERMANIC

TAGALOG         TL     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
TAJIK           TG     IRANIAN
TAMIL           TA     DRAVIDIAN
TATAR           TT     TURKIC/ALTAIC
TELUGU          TE     DRAVIDIAN
THAI            TH     ASIAN
TIBETAN         BO     ASIAN
TIGRINYA        TI     SEMITIC
TONGA           TO     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
TSONGA          TS     NEGRO-AFRICAN
TURKISH         TR     TURKIC/ALTAIC
TURKMEN         TK     TURKIC/ALTAIC
TWI             TW     NEGRO-AFRICAN

UIGUR           UG     [       ]
UKRAINIAN       UK     SLAVIC
URDU            UR     INDIAN
UZBEK           UZ     TURKIC/ALTAIC

VIETNAMESE      VI     ASIAN
VOLAPUK         VO     INTERNATIONAL AUX.

WELSH           CY     CELTIC
WOLOF           WO     NEGRO-AFRICAN

XHOSA           XH     NEGRO-AFRICAN

YIDDISH         YI     GERMANIC [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, JI] 
YORUBA          YO     NEGRO-AFRICAN

ZHUANG          ZA     [       ]
ZULU            ZU     NEGRO-AFRICAN


             ISO 639 CODES SORTED BY LANGUAGE CODE

LANGUAGE NAME  CODE     LANGUAGE FAMILY

AFAR            AA     HAMITIC
ABKHAZIAN       AB     IBERO-CAUCASIAN
AFRIKAANS       AF     GERMANIC
AMHARIC         AM     SEMITIC
ARABIC          AR     SEMITIC
ASSAMESE        AS     INDIAN
AYMARA          AY     AMERINDIAN
AZERBAIJANI     AZ     TURKIC/ALTAIC
BASHKIR         BA     TURKIC/ALTAIC
BYELORUSSIAN    BE     SLAVIC
BULGARIAN       BG     SLAVIC
BIHARI          BH     INDIAN
BISLAMA         BI     [not given]
BENGALI;BANGLA  BN     INDIAN
TIBETAN         BO     ASIAN
BRETON          BR     CELTIC
CATALAN         CA     ROMANCE
CORSICAN        CO     ROMANCE
CZECH           CS     SLAVIC
WELSH           CY     CELTIC
DANISH          DA     GERMANIC
GERMAN          DE     GERMANIC
BHUTANI         DZ     ASIAN
GREEK           EL     LATIN/GREEK
ENGLISH         EN     GERMANIC
ESPERANTO       EO     INTERNATIONAL AUX.
SPANISH         ES     ROMANCE
ESTONIAN        ET     FINNO-UGRIC
BASQUE          EU     BASQUE
PERSIAN (farsi) FA     IRANIAN
FINNISH         FI     FINNO-UGRIC
FIJI            FJ     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
FAROESE         FO     GERMANIC
FRENCH          FR     ROMANCE
FRISIAN         FY     GERMANIC
IRISH           GA     CELTIC
SCOTS GAELIC    GD     CELTIC
GALICIAN        GL     ROMANCE
GUARANI         GN     AMERINDIAN
GUJARATI        GU     INDIAN
HAUSA           HA     NEGRO-AFRICAN
HEBREW          HE     SEMITIC [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, IW] 
HINDI           HI     INDIAN
CROATIAN        HR     SLAVIC
HUNGARIAN       HU     FINNO-UGRIC
ARMENIAN        HY     INDO-EUROPEAN (OTHER)
INTERLINGUA     IA     INTERNATIONAL AUX.
INTERLINGUE     IE     INTERNATIONAL AUX.
INUPIAK         IK     ESKIMO
INDONESIAN      ID     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, IN] 
ICELANDIC       IS     GERMANIC
ITALIAN         IT     ROMANCE
INUKTITUT       IU     [        ]
JAPANESE        JA     ASIAN
JAVANESE        JV     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
GEORGIAN        KA     IBERO-CAUCASIAN
KAZAKH          KK     TURKIC/ALTAIC
GREENLANDIC     KL     ESKIMO
CAMBODIAN       KM     ASIAN
KANNADA         KN     DRAVIDIAN
KOREAN          KO     ASIAN
KASHMIRI        KS     INDIAN
KURDISH         KU     IRANIAN
KIRGHIZ         KY     TURKIC/ALTAIC
LATIN           LA     LATIN/GREEK
LINGALA         LN     NEGRO-AFRICAN
LAOTHIAN        LO     ASIAN
LITHUANIAN      LT     BALTIC
LATVIAN;LETTISH LV     BALTIC
MALAGASY        MG     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MAORI           MI     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MACEDONIAN      MK     SLAVIC
MALAYALAM       ML     DRAVIDIAN
MONGOLIAN       MN     [not given]
MOLDAVIAN       MO     ROMANCE
MARATHI         MR     INDIAN
MALAY           MS     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MALTESE         MT     SEMITIC
BURMESE         MY     ASIAN
NAURU           NA     [not given]
NEPALI          NE     INDIAN
DUTCH           NL     GERMANIC
NORWEGIAN       NO     GERMANIC
OCCITAN         OC     ROMANCE
AFAN (OROMO)    OM     HAMITIC
ORIYA           OR     INDIAN
PUNJABI         PA     INDIAN
POLISH          PL     SLAVIC
PASHTO;PUSHTO   PS     IRANIAN
PORTUGUESE      PT     ROMANCE
QUECHUA         QU     AMERINDIAN
RHAETO-ROMANCE  RM     ROMANCE
KURUNDI         RN     NEGRO-AFRICAN
ROMANIAN        RO     ROMANCE
RUSSIAN         RU     SLAVIC
KINYARWANDA     RW     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SANSKRIT        SA     INDIAN
SINDHI          SD     INDIAN
SANGHO          SG     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SERBO-CROATIAN  SH     SLAVIC
SINGHALESE      SI     INDIAN
SLOVAK          SK     SLAVIC
SLOVENIAN       SL     SLAVIC
SAMOAN          SM     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
SHONA           SN     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SOMALI          SO     HAMITIC
ALBANIAN        SQ     INDO-EUROPEAN (OTHER)
SERBIAN         SR     SLAVIC
SISWATI         SS     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SESOTHO         ST     NEGRO-AFRICAN
SUNDANESE       SU     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
SWEDISH         SV     GERMANIC
SWAHILI         SW     NEGRO-AFRICAN
TAMIL           TA     DRAVIDIAN
TELUGU          TE     DRAVIDIAN
TAJIK           TG     IRANIAN
THAI            TH     ASIAN
TIGRINYA        TI     SEMITIC
TURKMEN         TK     TURKIC/ALTAIC
TAGALOG         TL     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
SETSWANA        TN     NEGRO-AFRICAN
TONGA           TO     OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
TURKISH         TR     TURKIC/ALTAIC
TSONGA          TS     NEGRO-AFRICAN
TATAR           TT     TURKIC/ALTAIC
TWI             TW     NEGRO-AFRICAN
UIGUR           UG     [       ]
UKRAINIAN       UK     SLAVIC
URDU            UR     INDIAN
UZBEK           UZ     TURKIC/ALTAIC
VIETNAMESE      VI     ASIAN
VOLAPUK         VO     INTERNATIONAL AUX.
WOLOF           WO     NEGRO-AFRICAN
XHOSA           XH     NEGRO-AFRICAN
YIDDISH         YI     GERMANIC [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, JI] 
YORUBA          YO     NEGRO-AFRICAN
ZHUANG          ZA     [       ]
CHINESE         ZH     ASIAN
ZULU            ZU     NEGRO-AFRICAN


             ISO 639 LANGUAGE CODES SORTED BY LANGUAGE GROUP

LANGUAGE NAME  CODE     LANGUAGE FAMILY

AYMARA          AY      AMERINDIAN
GUARANI         GN      AMERINDIAN
QUECHUA         QU      AMERINDIAN

BHUTANI         DZ      ASIAN
BURMESE         MY      ASIAN
CAMBODIAN       KM      ASIAN
CHINESE         ZH      ASIAN
JAPANESE        JA      ASIAN
KOREAN          KO      ASIAN
LAOTHIAN        LO      ASIAN
THAI            TH      ASIAN
TIBETAN         BO      ASIAN
VIETNAMESE      VI      ASIAN

LATVIAN;LETTISH LV      BALTIC
LITHUANIAN      LT      BALTIC

BASQUE          EU      BASQUE

BRETON          BR      CELTIC
IRISH           GA      CELTIC
SCOTS GAELIC    GD      CELTIC
WELSH           CY      CELTIC

KANNADA         KN      DRAVIDIAN
MALAYALAM       ML      DRAVIDIAN
TAMIL           TA      DRAVIDIAN
TELUGU          TE      DRAVIDIAN

GREENLANDIC     KL      ESKIMO
INUPIAK         IK      ESKIMO

ESTONIAN        ET      FINNO-UGRIC
FINNISH         FI      FINNO-UGRIC
HUNGARIAN       HU      FINNO-UGRIC

AFRIKAANS       AF      GERMANIC
DANISH          DA      GERMANIC
DUTCH           NL      GERMANIC
ENGLISH         EN      GERMANIC
FAROESE         FO      GERMANIC
FRISIAN         FY      GERMANIC
GERMAN          DE      GERMANIC
ICELANDIC       IS      GERMANIC
NORWEGIAN       NO      GERMANIC
SWEDISH         SV      GERMANIC
YIDDISH         YI      GERMANIC [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, JI] 

AFAN (OROMO)    OM      HAMITIC
AFAR            AA      HAMITIC
SOMALI          SO      HAMITIC

ABKHAZIAN       AB      IBERO-CAUCASIAN
GEORGIAN        KA      IBERO-CAUCASIAN

ASSAMESE        AS      INDIAN
BENGALI;BANGLA  BN      INDIAN
BIHARI          BH      INDIAN
GUJARATI        GU      INDIAN
HINDI           HI      INDIAN
KASHMIRI        KS      INDIAN
MARATHI         MR      INDIAN
NEPALI          NE      INDIAN
ORIYA           OR      INDIAN
PUNJABI         PA      INDIAN
SANSKRIT        SA      INDIAN
SINDHI          SD      INDIAN
SINGHALESE      SI      INDIAN
URDU            UR      INDIAN

ALBANIAN        SQ      INDO-EUROPEAN (OTHER)
ARMENIAN        HY      INDO-EUROPEAN (OTHER)

ESPERANTO       EO      INTERNATIONAL AUX.
INTERLINGUA     IA      INTERNATIONAL AUX.
INTERLINGUE     IE      INTERNATIONAL AUX.
VOLAPUK         VO      INTERNATIONAL AUX.

KURDISH         KU      IRANIAN
PASHTO;PUSHTO   PS      IRANIAN
PERSIAN (farsi) FA      IRANIAN
TAJIK           TG      IRANIAN

GREEK           EL      LATIN/GREEK
LATIN           LA      LATIN/GREEK

HAUSA           HA      NEGRO-AFRICAN
KINYARWANDA     RW      NEGRO-AFRICAN
KURUNDI         RN      NEGRO-AFRICAN
LINGALA         LN      NEGRO-AFRICAN
SANGHO          SG      NEGRO-AFRICAN
SESOTHO         ST      NEGRO-AFRICAN
SETSWANA        TN      NEGRO-AFRICAN
SHONA           SN      NEGRO-AFRICAN
SISWATI         SS      NEGRO-AFRICAN
SWAHILI         SW      NEGRO-AFRICAN
TSONGA          TS      NEGRO-AFRICAN
TWI             TW      NEGRO-AFRICAN
WOLOF           WO      NEGRO-AFRICAN
XHOSA           XH      NEGRO-AFRICAN
YORUBA          YO      NEGRO-AFRICAN
ZULU            ZU      NEGRO-AFRICAN

FIJI            FJ      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
INDONESIAN      ID      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, IN] 
JAVANESE        JV      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MALAGASY        MG      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MALAY           MS      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
MAORI           MI      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
SAMOAN          SM      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
SUNDANESE       SU      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
TAGALOG         TL      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN
TONGA           TO      OCEANIC/INDONESIAN

CATALAN         CA      ROMANCE
CORSICAN        CO      ROMANCE
FRENCH          FR      ROMANCE
GALICIAN        GL      ROMANCE
ITALIAN         IT      ROMANCE
MOLDAVIAN       MO      ROMANCE
OCCITAN         OC      ROMANCE
PORTUGUESE      PT      ROMANCE
RHAETO-ROMANCE  RM      ROMANCE
ROMANIAN        RO      ROMANCE
SPANISH         ES      ROMANCE

AMHARIC         AM      SEMITIC
ARABIC          AR      SEMITIC
HEBREW          HE      SEMITIC [*Changed 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, IW] 
MALTESE         MT      SEMITIC
TIGRINYA        TI      SEMITIC

BULGARIAN       BG      SLAVIC
BYELORUSSIAN    BE      SLAVIC
CROATIAN        HR      SLAVIC
CZECH           CS      SLAVIC
MACEDONIAN      MK      SLAVIC
POLISH          PL      SLAVIC
RUSSIAN         RU      SLAVIC
SERBIAN         SR      SLAVIC
SERBO-CROATIAN  SH      SLAVIC
SLOVAK          SK      SLAVIC
SLOVENIAN       SL      SLAVIC
UKRAINIAN       UK      SLAVIC

AZERBAIJANI     AZ      TURKIC/ALTAIC
BASHKIR         BA      TURKIC/ALTAIC
KAZAKH          KK      TURKIC/ALTAIC
KIRGHIZ         KY      TURKIC/ALTAIC
TATAR           TT      TURKIC/ALTAIC
TURKISH         TR      TURKIC/ALTAIC
TURKMEN         TK      TURKIC/ALTAIC
UZBEK           UZ      TURKIC/ALTAIC

BISLAMA         BI      [not given]
MONGOLIAN       MN      [not given]
NAURU           NA      [not given]



Changes made December 20, 1997, based upon information in the following note from a member of the W3C HTML group:

"In 1989, the ISO 639 Registration Authority changed a number of codes
as follows (the quote is taken from RFC 1766):

:  The following codes have been added in 1989 (nothing later): ug
:  (Uigur), iu (Inuktitut, also called Eskimo), za (Zhuang), he (Hebrew,
:  replacing iw), yi (Yiddish, replacing ji), and id (Indonesian,
:  replacing in)."

Hence these changes in the listings above (assignment of UIGUR,
INUKTITUT and ZHUANG to a 'LANGUAGE FAMILY' to be determined):

HEBREW      HE  SEMITIC (3 occurrences, replacing IW with HE)
YIDDISH     YI  GERMANIC (3 occurrences, replacing JI with YI)
INDONESIAN  ID  OCEANIC/INDONESIAN (3 occurrences, replacing IN with ID)
UIGUR       UG  [       ] (2 occurrences added)
INUKTITUT   IU  [       ] (2 occurrences added)
ZHUANG      ZA  [       ] (2 occurrences added)

Additional Note 2001-08-29

The provisional/draft (informative) "Annex B" in ISO 639-1:2001
(FDIS) offers these clarifications:

From: http://www.rtt.org/ISO/TC37/SC2/WG1/639/639-1-FDIS-x-2001-02-09.htm

Changes from ISO 639:1988 to ISO 639-1:2001
This annex lists all languages that have been added since the 
publication of ISO 639:1988. Modifications to the names of the
languages are not included.

Three language identifiers were changed in 1989. The changes were 
publicised, but they have not been included in printed versions of ISO 
639. These changes are:

The identifier for Hebrew was changed from "iw" to "he".
The identifier for Indonesian was changed from "in" to "id".
The identifier for Yiddish was changed from "ji" to "yi".
In addition, ISO 639:1988 contains one error. The identifier for 
Javanese is rendered as "jw" in table 1, while it is correctly
given as "jv" in the other tables.

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