Re: [edict-jmdict] iso639 codes

[Jim Breen <Jim.Breen@**********************>]

[phil_ronan ([edict-jmdict] iso639 codes) writes:]
>> It looks like this needs its own thread.
>> 
>> I already mentioned the problem with "阿吽" (="Om"/"Aun") -- the
>> iso639 code for sanskrit is "sa", not "sanskr"

Got that one. Thanks. Fixed.

>> There also seems to be a problem with the entry for "海驢" (="Ashika",
>> "hair seal"). I'm guessing that <lang>ai:</lang> is a reference to
>> "Ainu". 

No need to guess. It's in the documentation. 8-)}
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/edict_doc.html#IREF11

>> However, there is actually no two-letter (iso639-1) code for Ainu:
>> 
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes

I know. That's why I made it up.

>> If anything, it stands for "Aari" (an Afro-Asiatic Omotic language of
>> Ethiopia):

>> http://www.geez.org/iso639/

Too late. I picked "ai" for Ainu about 10 years ago. I can't help it if
ISO is slow.

>> So perhaps it would be a good idea to change all the language codes to
>> their three-letter equivalents (iso639-2 or iso639-3):
>> 
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-2_codes
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-3_codes

At this stage, pass. The two-letter codes are fine in almost all cases.
If ISO ever accepts "ai" as a code for something other than Ainu, I'd
recommend just putting "ainu".

Jim

-- 
Jim Breen                                http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/
Clayton School of Information Technology,               Tel: +61 3 9905 9554
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia                  Fax: +61 3 9905 5146
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