To ISO 639 JAC:

I apologize, I should have consulted about the addition of Moldovan as an
alternate name to what we now have established as Moldavian. I thought it
was fairly obvious that this name needs to be added if we have this
established, but I should have consulted. If this is on the list I assume
that everyone agrees that the name Moldovan should be there.

Of course there are issues about having it on the list at all for other
reasons, which is another discussion that we will need to have.

I apologize for jumping the gun on this one.

Rebecca

---------- Forwarded message ----------

"Doug Ewell" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: [log in to unmask]
2008-06-27 08:03 PM

To
<[log in to unmask]>
cc

Subject
Moldovan

ISO 639-2 has added "Moldovan" as an alternative name for code element
'mo', in addition to the existing name "Moldavian."

http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_changes.php

I'll send the proposed new Registry record and registration form to the
list shortly, then we'll begin our week-long review period.

--
Doug Ewell * Arvada, Colorado, USA * RFC 4645 * UTN #14
http://www.ewellic.org
http://www1.ietf.org/html.charters/ltru-charter.html
http://www.alvestrand.no/mailman/listinfo/ietf-languages ˆ

_______________________________________________
Ietf-languages mailing list
[log in to unmask]
http://www.alvestrand.no/mailman/listinfo/ietf-languages



"Rebecca S. Guenther" <[log in to unmask]>
2008-06-26 03:42 PM

To
Bogdan Stancescu <[log in to unmask]>
cc
[log in to unmask]
Subject
Re: Fw: Inquiry about the Moldavian language


The Library of Congress established "Moldavian" as the name of this
language quite some time ago when we established a subject heading to
describe works about this language. It was probably during the time that
it was not independent. We had not received any requests to change it up
until now. The ISO 639-2 list was initially based on the MARC code list
for languages which also used this form. I can see that there is a problem
with current usage. However, we do not want to do a disservice to users
who might be looking for it under the old name, so I would be inclined to
add the language name Moldovan rather than entirely delete the old name
Moldavian. We can discuss this in the ISO 639-2 Joint Advisory Committee,
which makes decisions on changes to the standard to see what the
preference is.

And in answer to your question about what language Moldavian is supposed
to be formalizing, it would be the one that is now called Moldovan, which
is used in the country of Moldova and in adjoining areas of Romania and
Ukraine (areas that were all previously part of the historic region and
principality of Moldavia). We recognize that there is little difference
between Moldovan (Moldavian) and Romanian.

In the meanwhile I can add Moldovan as a language name.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^ 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 Wed, 25 Jun 2008, Bogdan Stancescu wrote:

> Dear Joan,
>
> Thank you for your message. I have followed your advice and I'm copying
> this reply to the contact e-mail for ISO639-2, I hope someone there has
> access to some archives containing the answers.
>
> Of course I don't know the history of the actions which led to the
> current situation either (this is, after all, precisely what I'm trying
> to find out). I would however venture to guess that at some point in
> time, the government of the then Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic has

> applied for an ISO code for the Moldavian "language" based mainly on the

> difference in writing system (Moldavian used to be written in Cyrillic).

> In the meanwhile the Moldavian SSR ceased to exist, and with it the
> Cyrillic alphabet for writing "Moldavian" -- at present, there is no
> distinguishable difference whatsoever between the literary forms of
> Romanian and Moldavian, even in writing. I'm not sure what course of
> action should be taken in this situation, or what the ISO code for
> Moldavian is supposed to formalize. Could you please direct me to the
> relevant information in these matters?
>
> Best regards,
> Bogdan Stancescu
>
> [log in to unmask] wrote:
> >
> > Dear Bogdan,
> >
> > SIL International agrees with your conclusion that Moldavian and
> > Romanian are essentially the same language on linguistic grounds. This

> > is why the Ethnologue does not list Moldavian separately, and will not

> > do so in its next edition. However, in managing the ISO 639-3
> > standard, SIL in its activity as Registration Authority, must align
> > code set management with the prior decisions made for ISO 639-1 and
> > ISO 639-2, where Moldavian already had been assigned a separate code
> > element. According to the criteria of the ISO 639-3 standard,
> > Moldavian should not be distinct from Romanian, but it must be
> > included in the code set in order to maintain compatibility within the

> > whole of the ISO 639 standard.
> >
> > A recommendation or request to deprecate the code element for
> > Moldavian (and perhaps propose that the code element for Romanian add

> > the name Moldavan as another name used for the language) could be
> > directed to the ISO 639-2 Registration Authority, the Library of
> > Congress. http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/ However, as I do not

> > know the history of the actions to create the separate code element
> > for Moldavian, I will not guess at the outcome of such a request.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Joan Spanne
> > ISO 639-3/RA
> > SIL International
> > 7500 W Camp Wisdom Rd
> > Dallas, TX 75236
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > *Editor Ethnologue/IntlAdmin/WCT*
> > Sent by: Conrad Hurd
> >
> > 2008-06-17 03:26 PM
> >
> >
> > To
> > ISO639-3/IntlAdmin/[email protected]
> > cc
> >
> > Subject
> > Fw: Inquiry about the Moldavian language
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Forwarded by Conrad Hurd/IntlAdmin/WCT on 06/17/2008 03:26 PM
-----
> > *Info-SIL/IntlAdmin/WCT*
> > Sent by: Jane Pappenhagen
> >
> > 06/09/2008 08:47 AM
> >
> >
> > To
> > Editor Ethnologue/IntlAdmin/[email protected]
> > cc
> >
> > Subject
> > Fw: Inquiry about the Moldavian language
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Jane Pappenhagen
> > SIL Information
> >
> > ----- Forwarded by Jane Pappenhagen/IntlAdmin/WCT on 06/09/2008 08:47
> > AM -----
> > *Bogdan Stancescu <[log in to unmask]>*
> > Sent by: <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> > 06/07/2008 04:51 AM
> >
> >
> > To
> > [log in to unmask]
> > cc
> >
> > Subject
> > Inquiry about the Moldavian language
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear Madam, Sir,
> >
> > I have an inquiry regarding the criteria used for assigning a language

> > code and the "Individual language" status for the Moldavian language
> > (_http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=mol_). According to

> > that page, the scope of that language is "Individual". Your
> > documentation on your own criteria for determining that
> > (_http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/scope.asp#I_) seems however to be in
> > contradiction to that status, since the language spoken in the
> > Republic of Moldova is practically identical to the language spoken in

> > Romania (no matter what you choose to call each of them). I am certain

> > I'm missing some piece of the reasoning, and this is why I'm writing
> > -- could you please take ten minutes to help me understand this
matter?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Bogdan Stancescu
> >
>