Dear Ms. Gunn:
I have looked back at all the versions of ISO 639-2 that have gone out in
the past to determine what the situation is. In all the previous drafts,
the language names were "Gaelic (Scots)", "Irish", and "Manx" (as they
were in the published standard). These draft standards were as follows:
CD 639-2 (1993): Ireland voted no because of an objection to the symbol
"gae" for Irish and objection to alternative codes.
CD 639-2 (1995): same as above
DIS 639-2 (1996): Irish voted no because of objection to codes; comment
was: "Experts consulted advise the abbreviations employed for Irish
Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic should be changed" to gle, gla,
glm. A change to the language names was not specifically requested.
FDIS 639-2 (1998): same comments; we then agreed to change the codes for
these languages as a compromise (although "glv" was selected for Manx to
be closer to the alpha-2 code already established "gv"). Since changes to
the language names were not specifically requested, so these were also not
changed in the final standard.
Note also that the Germanic language you refer to in your message has a
separate code "sco" (Scots). The term "Scots" is part of the name "Gaelic
Scots" to clarify that the language is Scottish Gaelic, rather than
Scots, the Germanic language.
Please submit a change request to the ISO 639-2 Registration Authority to
change the names of these three languages. This can be done electronically
by filling out the form at:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/iso639-2chform.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^ Rebecca S. Guenther ^^
^^ Chair, ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee ^^
^^ Library of Congress ^^
^^ Washington, DC 20540-4402 ^^
^^ (202) 707-5092 (voice) (202) 707-0115 (FAX) ^^
^^ [log in to unmask] ^^
^^ ^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Marion Gunn wrote:
> I have just taken a preliminary look at the document currently on public
> display at http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/langhome.html, and find
> that, as well as wrongly equating two totally unrelated languages
> ("Gaelic", which is a Celtic language, is wrongly equated with "Scots,
> which is a Germanic one) the word "Gaelic" has also been deleted from
> earlier drafts in at least two places (under "Manx" and "Irish"), where it
> properly belongs.
>
> As an expert who actually worked on the earlier drafts, I find these
> changes unacceptable, and would appreciate an explanation of the rationale
> of the Registration Authority (Library of Congrews) for so doing ASAP, as
> I'd much prefer to have this corrected now, so as to avoid having to lodge
> any official complaints at National level.
>
> Sincerely,
> Marion Gunn
> NSAI Representative to ISO/TC 37 and ISO/TC 46
>
> Ar 12:48 +0100 2000-06-06, scríobh Caoimhin O Donnaile:
> >Dear iso639-2 registration authority,
> >
> >I have been looking at:
> >
> > http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/langhome.html
> >
> >and I would like to suggest that you change the English name for
> >Scottish Gaelic, the language represented by codes "gla" and "gd",
> >from "Gaelic (Scots)" to "Gaelic (Scottish)".
> >
> >This is to avoid the liklihood of confusion with the language
> >"Scots", code "sco", which is closely related to English and is
> >nothing like Gaelic. This language is most often referred to as
> >"Scots", sometimes as "Lallans" or "Doric", but never as "*Scottish",
> >as you will see from the links at:
> >
> > http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/saoghal/mion-chanain/Failte_en.html#Scots
> >
> >The French name "gaelique d'Ecosse" is fine.
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Caoimhin O Donnaile,
> >
> > Head of IT,
> > Sabhal Mor Ostaig (Gaelic-medium college),
> > Isle of Skye, Scotland
> > http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/
>
>
> --
> Marion Gunn <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>
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