New language identifier in ISO 639 - Classical Newari

[Peter Constable]

> From: ietf-languages-bounces at alvestrand.no [mailto:ietf-languages-
> bounces at alvestrand.no] On Behalf Of Harald Tveit Alvestrand


> I'm sure everyone knows but me, but I'm insatiably curious:
> 
> what's Newari, and what's the difference between classical Newari and
> colloquial Newari?

Naturally, the Ethnologue can give you some info about Newari:

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=NEW

Classical Newari, of course, is a historic language from which the
modern language is derived, comparable to Old or Middle English vs.
Modern English. The request submitted to the ISO 639-2/RA included this
bit of info:

"Classical Newari is the pre-1850 literary form of Modern Newari. It is
no longer spoken or written, but it is an important source language for
historians and philologists."

While it is no longer written there are existing documents written in
this variety.



Peter Constable