Request for variant subtag: western

[Addison Phillips]

Here's my thought:

I'm downright leery of generic subtags. There is too much room of 
mischief, matching woes, and unnecessary tagging variation. To the 
extent that it is reasonable to do so, the community should restrict 
generic registrations in ways that guide users towards using tags in a 
systematic manner. I personally oppose completely generic registrations 
for that reason, especially by the bushel. Language tag choices are 
difficult enough.

I don't have a problem with separating "Western Armenian" from "Eastern 
Armenian", though. This appears to describe, to my untrained eye, a 
dialectical distinction, so the registration is in order. Thus, I'd be 
much happier if the registration form said:

  Type: variant
  Subtag: western
  Description: Western dialect
  Prefix: hy
  Comments: Prefix 'hy': Western Armenian, as distinct from
    the Eastern dialect.
  Comments: This subtag should only be used with the prefixes
    listed. When multiple prefixes are present, bear in mind
    that each is a distinct dialect of that language.

Addison

-- 
Addison Phillips
Globalization Architect -- Yahoo! Inc.

Internationalization is an architecture.
It is not a feature.