I approve the registration of es-419 (Latin American Spanish)

Karen_Broome at spe.sony.com Karen_Broome at spe.sony.com
Wed Jul 6 22:26:34 CEST 2005


Edits below.... I guess my bigger question is why was the additional text 
with errors in it was appended to a registration with my name on it 
without asking me? It was introduced by someone on the list for 
clarification, but I did not include it on my registration. 

I had read the text prior to my registration and felt it dug too deep into 
system details. In some cases, I could see conflicts with the text and my 
own expected implementations of the tag so I intentionally kept my 
registration to just the identification issues.

Karen Broome





"Peter Constable" <petercon at microsoft.com>
Sent by: ietf-languages-bounces at alvestrand.no
07/06/2005 11:57 AM

 
        To:     "IETF Languages Discussion" <ietf-languages at iana.org>
        cc: 
        Subject:        RE: I approve the registration of es-419 (Latin American Spanish)


> From: ietf-languages-bounces at alvestrand.no [mailto:ietf-languages-
> bounces at alvestrand.no] On Behalf Of Karen_Broome at spe.sony.com


> This is not the registration form as I submitted it...

> Added text:
> 
> This tag is intended primarily for cataloguing of localized content
> and resources, *rather than for specifying language preference on
> retrieval*.

Hmmm... I didn't notice that addition, and I'm not sure I'm happy with 
that. (I may actually have been the original drafter of that text, though 
hopefully am wiser in addition to being older.) I don't have a problem if 
it says, 

"In many applications, it may be appropriate to match requests for 
country-specific Spanish varieties, such as es-AR, with content tagged as 
es-419."

But to say in effect that applications should never *request* es-419 
content or present "Spanish (Latin America)" as a option to users is going 
too far, IMO.

<KAREN>
I think that was my point, but I'd also say this: Language tags should 
never be used with content users as a means of specifying language 
preference for retrieval. Few people except for the members of this list 
would feel comfortable seeing language codes in a selection drop-down. 

Now if we're talking application specifics for language *names* in a 
dropdown, *I* might say the names of languages should be in title caps in 
English, follow conventions such as the variant name in parentheses as you 
indicated in your reply, localized on localized pages, etc. But those are 
style and appdev issues, aren't they? And those issues vary by language 
while the codes do not. 
</KAREN>


> *Ideally, a system should be able to deliver content
> labelled with this tag in response to requests for any specific Latin
> American Spanish variety...

Make such a general recommendation that applies to all applications may 
not be a problem, but I'd be happier with the weaker wording I gave above.

<KAREN>I think this text is confusing and prefer your substituted text. 
But still I'm not sure system specifications belong here.</KAREN>


> *Of course, systems can also be implemented to offer this tag as a
> user-preference option, and a server should deliver content labelled
> with this tag when requested for the same.

This would seem to contradict the not-intended-for statement made earlier.

<KAREN>Again, in 99.875% of cases, a user should not see a language tag as 
a localization preference option. But yes, I agree.</KAREN>

<snip>

<KAREN>

I would like this text, which incorporates some of the added text but 
deletes the more controversial and problematic system specifics. An 
additional error in the added text is that it identifies the audience as 
Spanish, which is in many ways the exact opposite of the intention of this 
tag. It is a Spanish-speaking audience. I think anything beyond this text 
is open to interpretation depending on the type of system and the business 
or cataloguing requirement, and I feel that's really up to whoever wishes 
to use this tag. 


Text:

It is a common practice to create and localize content in a form of 
Spanish designed to serve all or most Spanish-speaking regions in Latin 
America. This code is intended to identify this neutral variant of Latin 
American Spanish and distinguish it from more specific Latin American 
variants, as well as Castilian Spanish found in Europe.

Authors of Latin American Spanish content make choices in vocabulary, 
grammar, and spelling that make the content reasonably acceptable 
throughout Spanish-speaking Latin America. This tag does not imply any 
further details regarding those choices.

</KAREN>









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