ISO 639 Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

ISO 639 is one of several international standards that lists short codes for language names. ISO 639 consists of different parts, of which two parts are currently published. The other parts are works in progress.

Parts of ISO 639

There are two items for ISO 639:

• ISO 639-1:2002 Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 1: Alpha-2 code
• ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 2: Alpha-3 code

In other words, there are two-letter codes and three-letter codes. Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes. For these languages, the first three-letter code is for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B), and the second three-letter code is for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T).

The following parts are still being developed:

• ISO 639-3:2006? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages [1]
• ISO 639-4:2007? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 4: Implementation guidelines and general principles for language coding
• ISO 639-5:2006? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 5: Alpha-3 code for language families and groups

See also

• language families and languages
• list of languages
• list of official languages

List of language codes

The following incomplete list is sorted by language name in the third column.

External links

A

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
abk	ab	Abkhazian
ace		Achinese
ach		Acholi
ada		Adangme
ady		Adyghe; Adygei
aar	aa	Afar
afh		Afrihili
afr	af	Afrikaans
afa		Afro-Asiatic languages (Other)
aka	ak	Akan
akk		Akkadian
alb/sqi	sq	Albanian
ale		Aleut
alg		Algonquian languages
tut		Altaic languages (Other)
amh	am	Amharic
apa		Apache language
ara	ar	Arabic
arc		Aramaic
arg	an	Aragonese
arn		Araucanian
arp		Arapaho
arw		Arawak
arm/hye	hy	Armenian
art		Artificial (Other)
asm	as	Assamese
ast		Asturian
ath		Athapascan
map		Austronesian (Other)
ava	av	Avar
ave	ae	Avestan
awa		Awadhi
aym	ay	Aymara
aze	az	Azeri

B

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
ban		Balinese
bat		Baltic (Other)
bal		Baluchi
bam	bm	Bambara
bai		Bamileke languages
bad		Banda
bnt		Bantu (Other)
bas		Basa
bak	ba	Bashkir
baq/eus	eu	Basque
bej		Beja
bem		Bemba
ben	bn	Bengali
ber		Berber (Other)
bho		Bhojpuri
bih	bh	Bihari
bik		Bikol
bin		Bini
bis	bi	Bislama; Biche-la-mer
bnt		Bikya
byn		Blin
bra		Braj
bre	br	Breton
bos	bs	Bosnian
bug		Buginese
bul	bg	Bulgarian
bua		Buryat
bur/mya	my	Burmese
bel	be	Belarusian

C

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
cad		Caddo
car		Carib
cat	ca	Catalan, Valencian
cau		Caucasian (Other)
ceb		Cebuano
cel		Celtic (Other)
cai		Central American Indian languages (Other)
chg		Chagatai
cha	ch	Chamorro
che	ce	Chechen
chr		Cherokee
chy		Cheyenne
chb		Chibcha
nya	ny	Chichewa
chi/zho	zh	Chinese
chn		Chinook jargon
cho		Choctaw
chv	cv	Chuvash
nwc		Classical Newari
cop		Coptic
cor	kw	Cornish
cos	co	Corsican
cre	cr	Cree
mus		Creek
crp		Creoles and Pidgins (Other)
cpe		Creoles and Pidgins, English-based (Other)
cpf		Creoles and Pidgins, French-based (Other)
cpp		Creoles and Pidgins, Portuguese-based (Other)
cus		Cushitic (Other)
crh		Crimean Tatar
scr	hr	Croatian
cze/ces	cs	Czech

D

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
dak		Dakota
dan	da	Danish
dar		Dargwa
del		Delaware
din		Dinka
div	dv	Divehi
doi		Dogri
dgr		Dogrib
dra		Dravidian (Other)
dua		Duala
dut/nld	nl	Dutch
dum		Dutch, Middle (ca. 1050-1350)
dyu		Dyula
dzo	dz	Dzongkha

E

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
efi		Efik
egy		Egyptian (Ancient)
eka		Ekajuk
elx		Elamite
eng	en	English
enm		English, Middle (ca. 1100-1500)
ang		English, Old (ca. 450-1100)
myv		Erzya
esk		Eskimo (Other)
epo	eo	Esperanto
est	et	Estonian
ewe	ee	Ewe
ewo		Ewondo

F

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
fan		Fang
fat		Fanti
fao	fo	Faroese
fij	fj	Fijian
fin	fi	Finnish
fiu		Finno-Ugric (Other)
fon		Fon
fra/fre	fr	French
frm		French, Middle (ca. 1400-1600)
fro		French, Old (842- ca. 1400)
fry	fy	Frisian
fur		Friulian
ful	ff	Fulani

G

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
gaa		Ga
gla	gd	Scots Gaelic
glg	gl	Galician
lug	lg	Ganda
gay		Gayo
gez		Ge'ez
geo/kat	ka	Georgian
ger/deu	de	German
gmh		German, Middle High (ca. 1050-1500)
goh		German, Old High (ca. 750 - 1050)
gem		Germanic (Other)
gil		Kiribati/Gilbertese
gon		Gondi
got		Gothic
grb		Grebo
grc		Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
gre/ell	el	Greek, Modern (1453 -)
kal	kl	Greenlandic
grn	gn	Guarani
guj	gu	Gujarati

H

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
hai		Haida
hat	ht	Haitian Creole
hau	ha	Hausa
haw		Hawaiian
heb	he	Hebrew
her	hz	Herero
hil		Hiligaynon
him		Himachali
hin	hi	Hindi
hmo	ho	Hiri Motu
hun	hu	Hungarian
hup		Hupa

I

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
iba		Iban
ice/isl	is	Icelandic
ido	io	Ido
ibo	ig	Igbo
ijo		Ijo
ilo		Ilocano
smn		Inari Sami
inc		Indic (Other)
ine		Indo-European (Other)
ind	id	Indonesian
inh		Ingush
ina	ia	Interlingua (International Auxiliary language Association)
ine	ie	Interlingue
iku	iu	Inuktitut
ipk	ik	Inupiak
ira		Iranian (Other)
gle	ga	Irish
sga		Irish, Old (to 900)
mga		Irish, Middle (900 - 1200)
iro		Iroquoian languages
ita	it	Italian

J

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
jpn	ja	Japanese
jav	jv	Javanese
jrb		Judeo-Arabic
jpr		Judeo-Persian

K

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
kbd		Kabardian
kab		Kabyle
kac		Kachin
kal	kl	Greenlandic
xal		Kalmyk
kam		Kamba
kan	kn	Kannada
kau	kr	Kanuri
kaa		Kara-Kalpak
krc		Karachay-Balkar
kar		Karen
kas	ks	Kashimiri
csb		Kashubian
kaw		Kawi
kaz	kk	Kazakh
kha		Khasi
khm	km	Khmer
khi		Khoisan (Other)
kho		Khotanese
kik	ki	Kikuyu
kin	rw	Kinyarwanda
kir	ky	Kirghiz
tlh		Klingon
kom	kv	Komi
kon	kg	Kongo
kok		Konkani
kor	ko	Korean
kpe		Kpelle
kro		Kru
kua	kj	Kuanyama
kum		Kumyk
kur	ku	Kurdish
kru		Kurukh
kus		Kusaie
kut		Kutenai

L

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
lad		Ladino
lah		Lahnda (Western Punjabi)
lam		Lamba
lao	lo	Lao
lat	la	Latin
lav	lv	Latvian
ltz	lb	Lëtzebuergesch;
lez		Lezghian
lim	li	Limburgish
lin	ln	Lingala
lit	lt	Lithuanian
jbo		Lojban
nds		Low Saxon
dsb		Lower Sorbian
loz		Lozi
lub	lu	Luba-Katanga
lui		Luiseno
smj		Lule Sami
lun		Lunda
luo		Luo

M

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
mac/mkd	mk	Macedonian
mad		Madurese
mag		Magahi
mai		Maithili
mak		Makasar
mlg	mg	Malagasy
may/msa	ms	Malay
mal		Malayalam
mlt	mt	Maltese
mnc		Manchu
man		Mandingo
mni		Manipuri
mno		Manobo
glv	gv	Manx
mao/mri	mi	Maori
mar	mr	Marathi
chm		Mari
mah	mh	Marshallese
mwr		Marwari
mas		Masai
myn		Mayan
men		Mende
mic		Mi'kmaq
min		Minangkabau
mis		Miscellaneous (Other)
moh		Mohawk
mdf		Moksha
mol	mo	Moldavian
mkh		Austro-Asiatic (Other)
lol		Mongo
mon	mn	Mongolian
mos		Mossi
mul		Multiple languages (several languages used)
mun		Munda

N

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
nah		Nahuatl
nau	na	Nauru
nav	nv	Navajo
nde	nd	Ndebele, North
nbl	nr	Ndebele, South
ndo	ng	Ndonga
nap		Neapolitan
nep	ne	Nepali
new		Newari
nic		Niger-Kordofanian (Other)
ssa		Nilo-Saharan (Other)
niu		Niuean
nog		Nogai
non		Norse, Old
nai		North American Indian languages (Other)
sme	se	Northern Sami
nor	no	Norwegian
nob	nb	Norwegian (Bokmål)
nno	nn	Norwegian (Nynorsk)
nub		Nubian
nym		Nyamwezi
nyn		Nyankole
nyo		Nyoro
nzi		Nzima

O

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
oci	oc	Occitan (post 1500)
oji	oj	Ojibwe
chu	cu	Old Church Slavonic
ori	or	Oriya
orm	om	Oromo
osa		Osage
oss	os	Ossetian
oto		Otomian

P

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
pal		Pahlavi
pau		Palauan
pli	pi	Pali
pam		Kapampangan
pag		Pangasinan
pan	pa	Panjabi
pap		Papiamento
paa		Papuan-Australian (Other)
per/fas	fa	Persian
peo		Persian, Old (ca 600 - 400 B.C.)
phn		Phoenician
pol	pl	Polish
pon		Ponapean
por	pt	Portuguese
pra		Prakrits
pro		Provencal, Old (to 1500)
pus	ps	Pashto

Q

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
que	qu	Quechua

R

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
raj		Rajasthani
rap		Rapanui
rar		Rarotongan
roh	rm	Rhaeto-Romance
roa		Romance (Other)
rum/ron	ro	Romanian
rom		Romany
run	rn	Rundi
rus	ru	Russian

S

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
sal		Salishan
sam		Samaritan Aramaic
smi		Sami
smo	sm	Samoan
sad		Sandawe
sag	sg	Sango
san	sa	Sanskrit
srd	sc	Sardinian
sco		Scots
sel		Selkup
sem		Semitic (Other)
scc/srp	sr	Serbian
srr		Serer
shn		Shan
sna	sn	Shona
sid		Sidamo
sgn		Signed languages
bla		Siksika
snd	sd	Sindhi
sin	si	Sinhalese
sit		Sino-Tibetan (Other)
sio		Siouan
sms		Skolt Sami
sla		Slavic (Other)
ssw	ss	Siswant (the same as Swati, see below)
slk/slo	sk	Slovak
slv	sl	Slovenian
sog		Sogdian
som	so	Somali
son		Songhai
wen		Sorbian
dsb		Sorbian, Lower
hsb		Sorbian, Upper
nso		Sotho, Northern
sot	st	Sotho, Southern
sma		Southern Sami
sai		South American Indian languages (Other)
spa	es	Spanish
suk		Sukuma
sux		Sumerian
sun	su	Sundanese
sus		Susu
swa	sw	Swahili
ssw	ss	Swati/Swazi
swe	sv	Swedish
syr		Syriac

T

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
tgl	tl	Tagalog
tah	ty	Tahitian
tgk	tg	Tajik
tmh		Tamashek
tam	ta	Tamil
tat	tt	Tatar
tel	te	Telugu
ter		Tereno
tha	th	Thai
tib/bod	bo	Tibetan
tig		Tigre
tir	ti	Tigrinya; Tigrigna
tem		Timne
tiv		Tivi
tli		Tlingit
tpi		Tok Pisin
tog		Tonga
ton	to	Tongan
tru		Trukese
tsi		Tsimshian
tso	ts	Tsonga
tsn	tn	Tswana
tum		Tumbuka
tup		Tupi
tur	tr	Turkish
ota		Turkish, Ottoman (1500 - 1928)
tuk	tk	Turkmen
tyv		Tuvinian
twi	tw	Twi

U

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
udm		Udmurt
uga		Ugaritic
uig	ug	Uighur
ukr	uk	Ukrainian
umb		Umbundu
und		Undetermined (language or languages cannot be identified)
hsb		Upper Sorbian
urd	ur	Urdu
uzb	uz	Uzbek

V

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
vai		Vai
ven	ve	Venda
vie	vi	Vietnamese
vol	vo	Volapük
vot		Votic

W

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
wak		Wakashan
wal		Walamo
wln	wa	Walloon
war		Waray
was		Washo
wel/cym	cy	Welsh
wol	wo	Wolof

X

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
xho	xh	Xhosa

Y

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
sah		Yakut
yao		Yao
yap		Yapese
iii	ii	Yi
yid	yi	Yiddish
yor	yo	Yoruba

Z

Alpha-3	Alpha-2	Language name
zap		Zapotec
zen		Zenaga
zha	za	Zhuang
zul	zu	Zulu
zun		Zuni

External links

• ISO 639-2/RA Homepage
• ISO 639-2/RA Change Notice
• http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/normtext.html
• RFC 3066, Tags for the Identification of Languages, Best Current Practice, January 2001
• ISO 639 and the Ethnologue

This is an Article on ISO 639. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About ISO 639

	Web www.E-paranoids.com