Request of new variant subtag for kichwa (inside qu)

[Anthony Aristar]

There are a number of such "Standard Languages" in the 639-3 system, 
where the Standard language is exactly that: "a particular variation or 
flavor".  One of them in fact, is Standard German, though this is 
certainly hallowed by a long tradition; but there are very few people 
who would call this their native language, though almost all Germans of 
course speak it.  This is also true for languages like "standard" 
Lithuanian, which is built on a set of dialects.  I could name quite a 
few more if you want.

Anyway:  whatever you decide about a tag, it seems this is a clearly 
distinct variety of Kichwa, and therefore deserves an ISO 639-3 code, 
just like all the other "standard" languages.

All the best
Anthony



On 6/7/2011 11:53 AM, Phillips, Addison wrote:
>> A question... Since Unified Kichwa is not just an orthography but represents a
>> unified grammar as well, isn't a language code more appropriate than a sub
>> tag?
>>
> I wouldn't think so: it isn't a separate language but rather a particular variation or flavor of Quechua, although ISO 639 is welcome to make a different conclusion ;-).
>
> I'm not sure that registering a subtag is necessary if the region code 'EC' already covers the particular need. Wikimedia's allergy to region codes could be considered perverse because, if taken to its logical extreme, it would require the registration of many more variant subtags to represent specific regional, official, or standardized forms that would otherwise be well identified by and associated with a given region. Greater diversity of tags that mean the same thing is actually a bad thing because it gives rise to interoperability problems.
>
> However, usually a distinction is maintained between specific language variations (especially when formally defined that thus may need to be separately identified) from general variations within a language. So I don't oppose this registration.
>
> Addison
>
> Addison Phillips
> Globalization Architect (Lab126)
> Chair (W3C I18N WG)
>
> Internationalization is not a feature.
> It is an architecture.
>
>

-- 
       **************************************
Anthony Aristar, Director, Institute for Language information&
                            Technology
Professor of Linguistics            Moderator, LINGUIST
Linguistics Program
Dept. of English                    aristar at linguistlist.org
Eastern Michigan University         2000 Huron River Dr, Suite 104
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
U.S.A.

URL: http://linguistlist.org/aristar/