Fwd: Change "Bengali" language name to "Bangla"

Mats Blakstad mats.gbproject at gmail.com
Mon Nov 23 12:43:51 CET 2015


Is it possible to change the language name of Bengali within IANA language
tag registry? Or does it need to be changed within ISO 639-3 first?

"Bengali" is the English name used on Bangla language in colonial period.

"Bangla" is the name used by most native speaker.

In a project I work on I made a group named "Bengali" but I noticed that
the translators used the name "Bangla". I asked and I got this answer:

Bengali VS Bangali VS Bangla >>

Bengali = It is the way English language speakers say. It can meant in two
ways.
(i) Addressing the people of either Bangladesh or West Bengal (India).
Example: "Are you Bengali" ? -> Means, "Are you Bangali" ?

(ii) Indicating the Language.
Example: "Do you speak Bengali" ? -> means "Do you speak Bangla" ?

Bangali = Indicates the ethnic group. It is the way people of this
Sub-continent say.
Now, traditionally,
People from Bangladesh call themselves 'Bangladeshi', 'Bangali' and
People from West Bengal (Kolkata), India call themselves 'Bangali'
but the meaning of the word 'Bangali' is same, that is 'Who speaks the
language Bangla' (basic form).

Bangla = Indicates The Language spoken by people from Bangladesh and West
Bengal (India)


Bangla is also the name used for the language in the constitution of
Bangladesh:
http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=367 (Click on "The state
language")

An issue with intense discussion about this can be read at launchpad:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/language-selector/+bug/991002
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