[Ltru] Re: Finishing off #1026 (Was: Re: status? last call?)

John.Cowan jcowan at reutershealth.com
Sun Jul 10 03:49:36 CEST 2005


Doug Ewell scripsit:

> However, I did a bit of checking, and can't figure out a way
> to tag Dgèrnésiais (the Norman language of Guernsey) or Jèrriais (the
> Norman language of Jersey).  There doesn't seem to be an ISO 639-1 or -2
> code element (and therefore a language subtag) for Norman languages in
> general, and definitely not for these two specifically.  ISO/DIS 639-3
> has only a single code element "xno" for "Anglo-Norman," which may or
> may not fit the description of either Dgèrnésiais or Jèrriais; but even
> if it is, and even if RFC 3066ter includes "xno" as a language subtag,
> there is no way to use it to differentiate between "Anglo-Norman used in
> Guernsey" (i.e. Dgèrnésiais) and "Anglo-Norman used in Jersey" (i.e.
> Jèrriais) unless region subtags exist for Guernsey and Jersey.

Quite right.  In fact, 'xno' is apparently meant for the now extinct
Norman French once spoken in England, and does not cover Dgèrnésiais
and Jèrriais at all.  Rather, the Ethnologue (and *a fortiori* ISO
639-3) considers them varieties of "fr", like all the *langues d'oïl*
except Walloon and Picard (probably because those two have some official
status in Belgium).

So either they need to be registered as variants, or the semi-official
GG and JE codes need to be made official by the ISO 3166/MA, or the
U.N. codes need to be used.

I think the second of these is the best option, but apparently BSI and
only BSI can press for it.  Is there any one here from BSI who is willing
to do so?

Since this affects current as well as future status, I have cross-posted
to ietf-languages at iana.org and ltru at ietf.org.

-- 
The first thing you learn in a lawin' family	John Cowan
is that there ain't no definite answers		jcowan at reutershealth.com
to anything.  --Calpurnia in To Kill A Mockingbird


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