Language X within scope of language Y

[John Cowan]

Peter Constable scripsit:
> I would agree that "en-IT" expresses "English as written/spoken in
> Italy", but I think it is going too far to say that <foo
> xml:lang="en-IT"> is what should be used for English content that is
> expected to be reproduced by a text-to-speech processor with an Italian
> accent.

I agree, although I have been known to write "<span xml:lang="en-TH">etcetera
etcetera</span>" in an email or two.

> I would say that they semantics for xml:lang="ll-CC" should be based on
> normal usage, which would be "language ll as written/spoken by a
> native-speaking community in country CC". 

"Native" may be too strong, especially in languages of wider communication
that cross country boundaries.  Swahili is probably a case of this:
six out of seven speakers are non-native, and it is heavily used in
several countries.

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