ISO 639-2 facts for kids
ISO 639 is a special set of rules that gives short codes for language names. Think of it like a secret code for every language in the world!
The first set of rules was called ISO 639-1. But soon, people needed to list even more languages. So, new versions like ISO 639-2, ISO 639-3, and ISO 639-5 were created.
Each language gets a special 3-letter code. This helps people around the world easily identify languages without using long names.
Contents
What are Language Codes?
Language codes are like shortcuts. Instead of writing "English language" every time, you can just use "eng". This is super helpful for computers and for organizing information about languages.
Different Kinds of Codes
Sometimes, you might see two ISO 639-2 codes for one language. If one of them has an asterisk (`*`) next to it, that's the "bibliographic code" (B code). The other one is the "terminological code" (T code). They are just different ways to refer to the same language, often used in different types of documents.
What the Codes Tell Us
The list of codes also gives us more information about each language. For example, it tells us:
- Ancient languages: These are languages that are no longer spoken today, like Latin.
- Collections of languages: Sometimes, a code represents a group of similar languages, not just one.
- Constructed languages: These are languages that were made up by people, like Esperanto or even Klingon from Star Trek!
- Extinct languages: These languages have died out in more recent times.
- Historical languages: These are older forms of languages that are different from how they are spoken today, like Old English.
- Macrolanguages: These are big language groups that include several smaller, related languages.
Examples of Language Codes
Here are a few examples from the full list to show you how it works:
| ISO 639-2/5 | ISO 639-3 | ISO 639-1 | Language name | Scope | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eng | eng | en | English | Individual | Living |
| fra / fre* | fra | fr | French | Individual | Living |
| spa | spa | es | Spanish | Individual | Living |
| jpn | jpn | ja | Japanese | Individual | Living |
| lat | lat | la | Latin | Individual | Ancient |
| epo | epo | eo | Esperanto | Individual | Constructed |
The full list is very long, but it helps experts and computer systems keep track of all the languages in the world!
See also
- In Spanish: ISO 639-2 para niños
