ISO 639-5:2008 "Codes for the representation of names of languages—Part 5: Alpha-3 code for language families and groups" is an international standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It was developed by ISO Technical Committee 37, Subcommittee 2, and first published on May 15, 2008. It is part of the ISO 639 series of standards.
Collective codes
This is a list of ISO 639-5 codes, including the code hierarchy as given in the ISO 639-5 registry. The code und (undetermined) from ISO 639-2 can be seen as top of the hierarchy (for example, und:aav, und:euq:eu). The hierarchy is not a complete genetic hierarchy; some of the collection codes are based on geography (like nai) or category (like crp) instead.
ISO 639-5 defines alpha-3 (3-letter) codes, called "collective codes", that identify language families and groups. As of the February 11, 2013, update to ISO 639-5, the standard defines 115 collective codes. The United States Library of Congress maintains the list of Alpha-3 codes that comprise ISO 639-5.
The standard does not cover all language families used by linguists. The languages covered by a group code need not be linguistically related, but may have a geographic relation, or category relation (such as Creoles).
Hierarchy 639-5 639-2 Language collection name Notes aav aav Austro-Asiatic languages South-Asiatic languages, not related to Australian languages afa afa afa Afro-Asiatic languages nai:aql:alg alg alg Algonquian languages nic:alv alv Atlantic-Congo languages nai:xnd:ath:apa apa apa Apache languages sai:aqa aqa Alacalufan languages nai:aql aql Algic languages art art art Artificial languages nai:xnd:ath ath ath Athapascan languages sai:awd:auf auf Arauan languages aus aus aus Australian languages sai:awd awd Arawakan languages nai:azc azc Uto-Aztecan languages nic:alv:bad bad bad Banda languages nic:alv:bai bai bai Bamileke languages ine:bat bat bat Baltic languages afa:ber ber ber Berber languages ine:iir:inc:bih bih bih Bihari languages nic:alv:bnt bnt bnt Bantu languages map:poz:pqw:btk btk btk Batak languages cai cai cai Central American Indian languages cau cau cau Caucasian languages sai:cba cba Chibchan languages cau:ccn ccn North Caucasian languages cau:ccs ccs South Caucasian languages afa:cdc cdc Chadic languages nai:cdd cdd Caddoan languages ine:cel cel cel Celtic languages map:poz:pqw:cmc cmc cmc Chamic languages crp:cpe cpe cpe Creoles and pidgins, English-based crp:cpf cpf cpf Creoles and pidgins, French-based crp:cpp cpp cpp Creoles and pidgins, Portuguese-based crp crp crp Creoles and pidgins ssa:csu csu Central Sudanic languages afa:cus cus cus Cushitic languages map:poz:pqw:day day day Land Dayak languages not to be confused with Dayak languages, which is a larger group nic:dmn dmn Mande languages dra dra dra Dravidian languages afa:egx egx Egyptian languages esx esx Eskimo-Aleut languages euq euq Basque (family) Basque (eu/eus/baq) is an individual language covered by this collection code urj:fiu fiu fiu Finno-Ugrian languages map:fox fox Formosan languages ine:gem gem gem Germanic languages ine:gem:gme gme East Germanic languages ine:gem:gmq gmq North Germanic languages ine:gem:gmw gmw West Germanic languages ine:grk grk Greek languages ine:iir:inc:him him Western Pahari languages hmx hmx Hmong-Mien languages nai:hok hok Hokan languages ine:hyx hyx Armenian (family) Armenian (hy/hye/arm) is an individual language covered by this collection code ine:iir iir Indo-Iranian languages nic:ijo ijo ijo Ijo languages ine:iir:inc inc inc Indic languages ine ine ine Indo-European languages ine:iir:ira ira ira Iranian languages nai:iro iro iro Iroquoian languages ine:itc itc Italic languages jpx jpx Japanese (family) Japanese (ja/jpn) is an individual language covered by this collection code sit:tbq:kar kar kar Karen languages nic:kdo kdo Kordofanian languages khi khi khi Khoisan languages nic:alv:kro kro kro Kru languages map map map Austronesian languages aav:mkh mkh mkh Mon-Khmer languages map:poz:pqw:phi:mno mno mno Manobo languages aav:mun mun mun Munda languages cai:myn myn myn Mayan languages nai:azc:nah nah nah Nahuatl languages nai nai nai North American Indian languages paa:ngf ngf Trans-New Guinea languages nic nic nic Niger-Kordofanian languages ssa:sdv:nub nub nub Nubian languages cai:omq omq Oto-Manguean languages afa:omv omv Omotic languages cai:omq:oto oto oto Otomian languages paa paa paa Papuan languages map:poz:pqw:phi phi phi Philippine languages map:poz:plf plf Central Malayo-Polynesian languages map:poz poz Malayo-Polynesian languages map:poz:pqe pqe Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages map:poz:pqw pqw ine:iir:inc:pra pra pra Prakrit languages sai:qwe qwe Quechuan (family) Quechua (qu/que) is a macrolanguage covered by this collection code ine:itc:roa roa roa Romance languages sai sai sai South American Indian languages nai:sal sal sal Salishan languages ssa:sdv sdv Eastern Sudanic languages afa:sem sem sem Semitic languages sgn sgn sgn sign languages nai:sio sio sio Siouan languages sit sit sit Sino-Tibetan languages ine:sla sla sla Slavic languages urj:fiu:smi smi smi Sami languages ssa:son son son Songhai languages ine:sqj sqj Albanian languages Albanian (sq/sqi/alb) is a macrolanguage covered by this collection code ssa ssa ssa Nilo-Saharan languages urj:syd syd Samoyedic languages tai tai tai Tai languages Thai (th/tha) is an individual language covered by this collection code sit:tbq tbq Tibeto-Burman languages tut:trk trk Turkic languages Turkish (tr/tur) is an individual language covered by this collection code sai:tup tup tup Tupi languages tut tut tut Altaic languages tut:tuw tuw Tungus languages urj urj Uralic languages nai:wak wak wak Wakashan languages ine:sla:zlw:wen wen wen Sorbian languages tut:xgn xgn Mongolian languages Mongolian (mn/mon) is a macrolanguage covered by this collection code nai:xnd xnd Na-Dene languages esx:ypk ypk ypk Yupik languages sit:zhx zhx Chinese (family) Chinese (zh/zho/chi) is a macrolanguage covered by this collection code ine:sla:zle zle East Slavic languages ine:sla:zls zls South Slavic languages ine:sla:zlw zlw West Slavic languages nic:alv:znd znd znd Zande languages Zande (individual language) (zne) is an individual language covered by this collection code
Relationship to other parts of ISO 639
Some of the codes in ISO 639-5 codes are also found in the ISO 639-2 "Alpha-3 code" standard. ISO 639-2 contains codes for some individual languages, some ISO 639 macrolanguage codes, and some collective codes; any code found in ISO 639-2 is also found in either ISO 639-3 or ISO 639-5.
Languages, families, or group codes in ISO 639-2 can be of type "group" (g) or "remainder group" (r). A "group" consists of several related languages; a "remainder group" is a group of several related languages from which some specific languages have been excluded. However, in ISO 639-5, the "remainder groups" do not exclude any languages. Because ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-5 use the same Alpha-3 codes, but do not always refer to the same list of languages for any given code, the languages an Alpha-3 code refers to can not be determined unless it is known whether the code is used in the context of ISO 639-2 or ISO 639-5. +Examples of ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-5 code relationships Alpha-3 code ISO 639-2 type ISO 639-2 definition ISO 639-5 definition remainder group (r) Afro-Asiatic languages all Afro-Asiatic languages normal group (g) all Algonquian languages all Algonquian languages not defined not defined Albanian languages
History The committee draft of ISO 639-5 was issued on February 23, 2005. Voting on the draft terminated on July 5, 2005; the draft was approved.
In 2006, the target publication date for the final standard was set at October 30, 2007. During the approval stage for the standard, the ISO final draft international standard ballot was not initiated until February 8, 2008. Voting ended on April 10, 2008 ("stage 50.60").
The standard was published on May 15, 2008.
Updates were made in August 2008, February 2009, and February 2013.
Notes
References
External links
ISO website for purchasing a copy of the ISO 639-5 standard ISO 639-5 Registration Authority - Library of Congress