I think the problem with the codes for Norwegian arises from the
existence of three codes. If one is using codes "nob" and "nno," then
what does "nor" represent?

A colleague of mine pointed out that a similar situation exists in
modern Greek with Demotic and Katharevusa usage. Will we have to deal
with this situation also?

When 639-2 was developed, the code "esk" for Eskimo was eliminated
because the four added codes for Yupik, Greenlandic, Inuktitut, and
Inupiaq covered all the Eskimo languages.

If we have separate codes for the two forms of Mari or the two forms
of Sorbian, what use would be made of the existing codes for Mari or
Sorbian?

Perhaps we should have a principle that the "collective" code is
discontinued (withdrawn, deprecated, etc.) when all constituent
elements are represented by other codes.

Milicent Wewerka