Appeal to ISO 639 RA in support of Elfdalian

[Luc Pardon]

On 25-04-16 21:08, Michael Everson wrote:
> On 25 Apr 2016, at 19:21, Shawn Steele <Shawn.Steele at microsoft.com> wrote:
>>
>> If I were the one requesting this, I would do both:
>> 1)     Ask this group to submit a letter similar to what we have (honest, yet not antagonistic) as soon as is convenient.  That may, somehow, be faster than #2.  At the very least it should help get people at the RA used to the idea for #2.
> 
> That’s what I’m going to do. We have four signatories. 
> 

Make that five, if you are really going to send that letter, and if you
think my signature would help in any way.

My reasons to support the appeal are as follows:

1. I am not a linguist, so am not competent to judge Elfdalian myself,
but I have seen competent people of the group stating that they are
convinced that it actually qualifies for a language subtag. That is
enough for me to decide the case has merit.

2. I have not examined the 639-3 "paperwork", but others on this list
have, and from what they reported, I am convinced that the case did not
get a proper hearing.

Adding 1. and 2. together is enough for me to think we're justified in
asking the RA to reconsider.


I am also supportive of the wording that "[we] strongly request that the
language code be added to ISO 639 within two months of the receipt of
this mail".

The reasons are:

a. Because of 1 and 2 above, I am of the opinion that an unbiased review
of the case will result in the code being added, as requested.

b. As to the "two months", here I am finally on my own ground. In my
capacity as a technician, and seeing somebody who has documents on hand
and needs a tag for them, I am fully aware of the urgency of the case.
Two months seem a reasonable compromise to me.

And if the RA thinks otherwise, he is free to respond in any way he wants.

Besides, while I agree that it would be easier (at least short time) for
everybody if Elfdalian got a proper 639-3 code, I have no problem with a
5-letter BCP47-only code at all.

Therefore, I am willing to give the "appeal letter" approach a chance,
but not indefinitely. We have a formal request for a 5-letter code
pending since February 29, that is two months already. We can't afford
to postpone our own decision on it forever.

Not that I think my signature will make any difference, except that five
is more that four.

But if you want it, Michael, you can take it.

Luc Pardon