1、raising standards worldwideNO COPYING WITHOUT BSI PERMISSION EXCEPT AS PERMITTED BY COPYRIGHT LAWBSI Standards PublicationBS ISO 639-4:2010Codes for the representation ofnames of languagesPart 4: General principles of coding of therepresentation of names of languages andrelated entities, and applica
2、tion guidelinesBS ISO 639-4:2010 BRITISH STANDARDNational forewordThis British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 639-4:2010.The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to TechnicalCommittee TS/1, Terminology.A list of organizations represented on this committee can beobtained on req
3、uest to its secretary.This publication does not purport to include all the necessaryprovisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correctapplication. BSI 2010ISBN 978 0 580 54227 5ICS 01.140.20Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity fromlegal obligations.This British Stan
4、dard was published under the authority of theStandards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 August 2010Amendments issued since publicationDate Text affectedBS ISO 639-4:2010Reference numberISO 639-4:2010(E)ISO 2010INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO639-4First edition2010-07-15Codes for the representation of n
5、ames of languages Part 4: General principles of coding of the representation of names of languages and related entities, and application guidelines Codes pour la reprsentation des noms de langue Partie 4: Principes gnraux pour le codage de la reprsentation des noms de langue et dentits connexes, et
6、lignes directrices pour la mise en uvre BS ISO 639-4:2010ISO 639-4:2010(E) PDF disclaimer This PDF file may contain embedded typefaces. In accordance with Adobes licensing policy, this file may be printed or viewed but shall not be edited unless the typefaces which are embedded are licensed to and i
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10、ofilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or ISOs member body in the country of the requester. ISO copyright office Case postale 56 CH-1211 Geneva 20 Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11 Fax + 41 22 749 09 47 E-mail copyrightiso.org Web www.iso.org Published in Switzerland ii ISO 2
11、010 All rights reservedBS ISO 639-4:2010ISO 639-4:2010(E) ISO 2010 All rights reserved iiiContents Page Foreword iv Introduction.v 1 Scope1 2 Normative references1 3 Terms and definitions .2 4 Fundamental concepts of language coding .5 4.1 Language identifiers and languages .5 4.2 Individual languag
12、es .6 4.3 Macrolanguages 6 4.4 Linguistic norm7 4.5 Dialects.7 4.6 Collective language code elements and language groups.7 4.7 Extinct, ancient and historic languages8 4.8 Artificial languages .8 4.9 Writing systems and scripts.8 5 Relationship between the parts of ISO 639.8 5.1 Parts of ISO 639 .8
13、5.2 ISO 639 as one code space 8 5.3 Principles9 5.4 Common maintenance and language coding database 9 6 Implementation issues9 6.1 Applications .9 6.2 Subsets of the code table.10 6.3 Language groups 10 7 Combining language identifiers with other standards and codes .11 7.1 Combining ISO 639 with IS
14、O 3166 .11 7.2 Combining ISO 639 with ISO 19111 and ISO 19112 .11 7.3 Combining ISO 639 with ISO 15924 .12 7.4 Other code combinations .12 7.5 Formats of combined identifiers12 8 Language description format (LDF) 13 8.1 Compatibilities between the ISO 639 model and ISO 12620 .13 8.1.1 General .13 8.
15、1.2 Identification 15 8.1.3 Description of an ISO 639 language identifier16 8.2 Extensions to ISO 12620 for ISO 639 LDF.20 8.2.1 Representation 20 8.2.2 Documentation 21 8.3 Language information.23 Annex A (informative) Overall steering of ISO 63926 Bibliography28 BS ISO 639-4:2010ISO 639-4:2010(E)
16、iv ISO 2010 All rights reservedForeword ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body intere
17、sted in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical
18、Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization. International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2. The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards adopted by the tec
19、hnical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote. Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO
20、 shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. ISO 639-4 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 37, Terminology and other language and content resources, Subcommittee SC 2, Terminographical and lexicographical working methods. ISO 639 consists of the following part
21、s, under the general title Codes for the representation of names of languages: Part 1: Alpha-2 code Part 2: Alpha-3 code Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages Part 4: General principles of coding of the representation of names of languages and related entities, and application
22、 guidelines Part 5: Alpha-3 code for language families and groups Part 6: Alpha-4 code for comprehensive coverage of language variants BS ISO 639-4:2010ISO 639-4:2010(E) ISO 2010 All rights reserved vIntroduction ISO 639 provides codes for the identification and specification of individual languages
23、, language variants, and language groups. The identifiers may be used in a variety of applications, including specification of the language used in a text, the language of terms or words in a dictionary or terminological database, the language used in a spoken presentation, language proficiency, lan
24、guage capabilities of software, localization, etc. The various parts of ISO 639 are expected to be implemented in a number of environments. Parts 1, 2, 3, and 5 of ISO 639 all contain some information about implementation issues. However, it is deemed necessary to expand those descriptions, and to h
25、ave the implementation rules in a separate document. In future revisions of the other parts of ISO 639, it is expected that those standards will reference this part of ISO 639 rather than duplicating the information. BS ISO 639-4:2010BS ISO 639-4:2010INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 639-4:2010(E) ISO 2010
26、 All rights reserved 1Codes for the representation of names of languages Part 4: General principles of coding of the representation of names of languages and related entities, and application guidelines 1 Scope This part of ISO 639 gives the general principles of language coding using the codes that
27、 are specified in the other parts of ISO 639 and their combination with other codes. Furthermore, this part of ISO 639 lays down guidelines for the use of any combination of the parts of ISO 639. The terminology and general descriptions of this part of ISO 639 are intended to replace corresponding t
28、ext of other parts of ISO 639 as relevant in future revisions. Relevant metadata for the description of linguistic entities are also given, as a framework for databases of linguistic data to support the ISO 639 series of International Standards. 2 Normative references The following referenced docume
29、nts are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies. ISO 639-1:2002, Codes for the representation of names of languages Part 1: Alpha
30、-2 code ISO 639-2:1998, Codes for the representation of names of languages Part 2: Alpha-3 code ISO 639-3:2007, Codes for the representation of names of languages Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages ISO 639-5:2008, Codes for the representation of names of languages Part 5: A
31、lpha-3 code for language families and groups ISO 3166-1:2006, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions Part 1: Country codes ISO 3166-2:2007, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions Part 2: Country subdivision code ISO 3166-3:1999, C
32、odes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries ISO 8601:2004, Data elements and interchange formats Information interchange Representation of dates and times ISO/IEC 11179-1:2004, Information technology Metadata registries (
33、MDR) Part 1: Framework BS ISO 639-4:2010ISO 639-4:2010(E) 2 ISO 2010 All rights reservedISO/IEC 11179-2:2005, Information technology Metadata registries (MDR) Part 2: Classification ISO/IEC 11179-3:2003, Information technology Metadata registries (MDR) Part 3: Registry metamodel and basic attributes
34、 ISO/IEC 11179-4:2004, Information technology Metadata registries (MDR) Part 4: Formulation of data definitions ISO/IEC 11179-5:2005, Information technology Metadata registries (MDR) Part 5: Naming and identification principles ISO/IEC 11179-6:2005, Information technology Metadata registries (MDR) P
35、art 6: Registration ISO 12620:2009, Terminology and other language and content resources Specification of data categories and management of a Data Category Registry for language resources ISO 15924:2004, Information and documentation Codes for the representation of names of scripts ISO 19111:2007, G
36、eographic information Spatial referencing by coordinates ISO 19112:2003, Geographic information Spatial referencing by geographic identifiers 3 Terms and definitions For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply. In future versions of other parts of ISO 639, it is expe
37、cted that some or all of the terms and definitions will be replaced by a reference to the terms and definitions in this part of ISO 639. NOTE The definitions in this part of ISO 639 are intended for practical use within the context of the various parts of ISO 639 and their applications. For various
38、linguistic purposes, there are needs for more detailed, and possibly deviating, definitions. 3.1 code data transformed or represented in different forms according to a pre-established set of rules NOTE The usage of the term “code” is not uniform in all standardized coding systems. According to the u
39、sage that is defined in this part of ISO 639, a “code” is to be understood as a code table (3.2) and the set of rules relating to the code table. Each individual row in a code table is a code element (3.4) (e.g. “de - German - allemand - Deutsch” in Part 1 of ISO 639), while the item “de” is the lan
40、guage identifier (3.5). 3.2 code table table of code elements (3.4) as part of a code (3.1) 3.3 code space totality of possible values for a set of identifiers within a code (3.1) EXAMPLE All sequences of two letters (az) form the code space of the alpha-2 language code as specified in part 1 of ISO
41、 639. NOTE The alpha-3 language codes that are specified in parts 2, 3, and 5 of ISO 639 share the same code space, i.e. no language identifier assigned in one of the parts may be assigned to a different item in another part. BS ISO 639-4:2010ISO 639-4:2010(E) ISO 2010 All rights reserved 33.4 code
42、element individual entry in a code (3.1) NOTE In the language codes of ISO 639, each code element consists of a language identifier and the names of the language. 3.5 language identifier language symbol string of characters assigned to a linguistic entity for the purpose of uniquely representing it
43、NOTE 1 In the language codes of Parts 1, 2, 3, and 5 of ISO 639, each language identifier is composed of two or three letters. NOTE 2 See 4.1. 3.6 language systematic use of sounds, characters, symbols or signs to express or communicate meaning or a message between humans NOTE 1 This definition is i
44、ntended to serve as a working definition for the purpose of the ISO 639 series of International Standards, not as a universal definition of this concept. NOTE 2 See also 4.1 and 4.2. 3.7 individual language language (3.6) that is distinctly different from another language NOTE See 4.2. 3.8 dialect l
45、anguage variant (3.14) specific to a geographical region or a group of language users NOTE See 4.5. 3.9 macrolanguage language (3.6) that for some purpose may be subdivided into two or more individual languages (3.7) NOTE See 4.3. 3.10 language group two or more individual languages (3.7) that for a
46、 specific purpose may suitably be treated as a unit NOTE See 4.6. 3.11 language family two or more individual languages (3.7) that are related to each other through having common ancestry NOTE In exceptional cases, a language family may have only one individual language as a member. BS ISO 639-4:201
47、0ISO 639-4:2010(E) 4 ISO 2010 All rights reserved3.12 remainder group language group (3.10) with the explicit exclusion of specified languages NOTE See 4.6. 3.13 language variation continuous variation within and between individual languages (3.7) NOTE Language variation is seen and may be described
48、 as variation over time, space, cultural affiliation, etc. 3.14 language variant variant of an individual language (3.7) that may be identified and named 3.15 standard variant language variant (3.14) with a high degree of status and normalization NOTE A standard variant of a language may typically b
49、e used in official or public communication and in communication between users of different language variants. 3.16 writing system system for writing a language (3.6), including the script (3.17) and character set used NOTE See also 4.9. 3.17 script set of graphic characters used for the written form of one or more languages (3.6) ISO 15924:2004 and ISO/IEC 10646:2003 NOTE See also 4.9. 3.18 orthography set of rules for accepted spelling of words and text in one or more langu
