You are correct in saying these are not alternative forms of the same
name. But we don't have any way of making those distinctions in ISO 639-2.
In the MARC language code list we have ways to show the relationships
between various languages because we include references and list all the
specific languages that are included in a language group name. I don't
think we would want to define a new language identifier for this
situation. Perhaps we could say that when two names are given that it
could be an alternative name or or a variant/dialect that is also
included. We could refer to the MARC list if they want to get the exact
relationship. If we started using "also included" it would be a huge
amount of work to go back and include those that are "also included" in
all the language names we have. If we only started doing so now, it will
be questionable to the user why only a few are included.
Rebecca
On Thu, 13 Mar 2003, [iso-8859-1] Håvard Hjulstad wrote:
> I am not sure that I agree entirely; but this is an important issue on the
> level of principle.
>
> I believe there are at least two ways to describe the situation from a
> linguistic point of view: (1) Valiencian (and Balearic) are "dialectal
> variants" of Catalan; or (2) Valencian, Balearic, and Catalan are all three
> separate variants of more or less the same language. Catalan has a slightly
> different "status" with a somewhat higher level of standardized written
> form. What is certain, is that "Valencian" is not a "different name" for the
> same language; it is either a "sub-variant" of the language, or a "separate
> closely related language". I am uncertain as to the wisdom and the
> consequence of assigning both names to the same entity.
>
> If we had a category like "also included", I would probably have no
> objection to using that. But for now we only have the category of
> "equivalent names". And that isn't entirely satisfactory.
>
> What do others think?
>
> Håvard
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
> Of Rebecca S. Guenther
> Sent: 13. mars 2003 15:58
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: A question about a language (fwd)
>
>
> I received a request from this person for a language code for
> Valencian (see below). He was pleased with my proposal to include the
> language name with Catalan. I just wanted to let the JAC know that I plan
> to do this and see if there are any objections.
>
> Rebecca
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 11:56:23 -0500 (EST)
> From: Rebecca S. Guenther <[log in to unmask]>
> To: Tomas Miralles <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: A question about a language
>
> We have considered Valencian a variant of Catalan and have included it in
> that code. Sometimes when we discover this sort of omission we add that
> language name to the list with the code assigned. Since this is a variant
> and uses the code of Catalan, we could change to:
>
> Catalan; Valencian cat
> then in the "V" section we would add:
> Valencian; Catalan cat
>
> There is the alternative to fill out the form for a new language code, but
> I think in this case the committee would still consider it a variant and
> it is our policy to include it as I detailed above. The form is at:
> http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/iso639-2form.html
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> ^^ Rebecca S. Guenther ^^
> ^^ Chair, ISO 639-2 Maintenance Agency ^^
> ^^ Senior Networking and Standards Specialist ^^
> ^^ Library of Congress ^^
> ^^ Washington, DC 20540-4402 ^^
> ^^ (202) 707-5092 (voice) (202) 707-0115 (FAX) ^^
> ^^ [log in to unmask] ^^
> ^^ ^^
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>
> On Fri, 7 Mar 2003, Tomas Miralles wrote:
> >
> > Dear friends,
> >
> > I'm writing you because I have entered in your web about "codes for the
> > representation of names of languages and I would like to know why my
> mother
> > lenguage (valencian; a variant of catalan but independent of this,
> > recognized in Spain by the Statuts) doesn't appear at list.
> >
> > Valencian have own history and great writers like Joanot Martorell.
> > I would like that you gave me a code for valencian and if not, the reasons
> > by witch do not appear valencian at list. I do not understand why appear a
> > great number of lenguages spoken all arround the world and don't my
> > lenguage.
> >
> > Please, excuse me for my poor english, I'm waiting for your reply,
> > thanks you very much for your time.
> >
> > Bye
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Charla con tus amigos en línea mediante MSN Messenger:
> > http://messenger.microsoft.com/es
> >
> >
>
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