In message <[log in to unmask]> "Milicent K Wewerka" writes,
re: Walloon language (dialect) (iso639.382)

> Peter Constable mentions that Ethnologue will recognize Walloon as a
> separate language. While that is certainly a factor to consider, I have
> found that Ethnologue is very generous in awarding "language" status to
> what many would consider dialects. ISO needs to consider other factors
> also.

It should be noted that the number of publications in Walloon (some by
prominent writers) certainly is well in excess of the 50 specified in
ISO 639-2, in an orthography, style, and language considerably
different to standard French, so it's a more than obvious candidate.

It's as different from French as "nds" - Lower German/Lower Saxon
(recently approved by the ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committe) - is to
standard High German.

I'm not sure what took SIL so long over this one - probably a
clerical error.

Note also that Walloon as a language is now getting a certain amount
of government support.

Best regards

John Clews

--
John Clews,
Keytempo Limited (Information Management),
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tel: +44 1423 888 432;

Committee Member of ISO/IEC/JTC1/SC22/WG20: Internationalization;
Committee Member of ISO/TC37: Terminology