Ethnologue

[Mark A. Mandel]

As it happens, I am now working on this very issue for a spoken language, 
Mawukakan (ISO 639-3 code mxx), and so I have been reading the ISO 639-3 website 
(http://www.sil.org/ISO639-3/default.asp). (SIL International, which runs the 
Ethnologue site, is the official Registration Authority for ISO 639-3.)

One must submit a change request. The change being requested is of type 1, 
"modify the reference information for an existing code element", specifically 
"additional names". The process is specified on the ISO 639-3 website at 
(http://www.sil.org/ISO639-3/submit_changes.asp). It's rather bureaucratic, but 
really not very complicated.

Verena, have you submitted change requests and had them rejected? You write:

#My efforts over the past years to convince ethnologue that
#they must check and correct the entries on SLs have had no effect.

But it is not SIL's responsibility to do the research, nor would it be possible 
for them to do it. While many of the contributors are SIL staff, the Ethnologue 
and the standard are side activities to their main work. SIL is responsible for 
organizing and running the ISO 639-3 process, but only experts on the individual 
languages can do the research and write the requests -- and therefore asking the 
readers of this list to submit change requests on the languages of their own 
expertise is the best possible approach to correcting the errors about signed 
languages. The effort would be aided by coordination of submissions, to avoid 
conflicting or redundant change proposals. If that is your intention, I heartily 
applaud it.

The change requests run on a yearly cycle. Submissions for this year closed 
September 1, and are now open for review and discussion. New change requests 
received after September 1 will be deferred until the 2009 series of change 
requests, which will presumably be open from January through August 2009. So 
there's no rush, though we certainly shouldn't delay.

-- (Dr.) Mark A. Mandel
   Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania
 


# From: verena.krausneker at univie.ac.at
#To:  slling-l-owner at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
#Sent: 11/12/2008 6:59:53 A.M. Eastern  Standard Time
#Subj: ethnologue
#
#HI,
#
#Bencie Woll and I would like to post this  message below!
#Could you help? thank you, verena
#
#
#* * *
#Dear  collegues,
#
#the biggest resource on languages on the web - ethnologue,  http://  
#www.ethnologue.com/ - unfortunately contains some totally  outdated  
#information on national sign languages - in some cases even  serious  
#errors. My efforts over the past years to convince  ethnologue that  
#they must check and correct  the entries on SLs  have had no effect.
#
#So I think we should take action. Together with  Bencie Woll I have  
#come up with the following plan:
#Wer will  collect a list of errors to support our point.
#We will contact ethnologue  with that list and provide contact persons  
#that they can use as  ressources.
#
#For this we need your help:
#Please be so kind and take  5-10 Minutes.
#
#1. Find the Sign Language that you are expert for:  
#   http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=90008
#
#2. Read the  short info provided.
#
#3. Send an email to ME DIRECTLY   (verena.krausneker at univie.ac.at)
#with the following info:
#
#- Name of  sign language in Ethnologue that you checked.
#- Other names and  abbreviation used for that sign language.
#- Major errors in the entry (and  if you wish further comments on the  
#entry).
#- Name and email  address of one appropriate contact person for that SL.
#
#thank you very  much,
#
#verena krausneker
#(Dept. of Linguistics, University of  Vienna)
#
#
#*********
#Dr. phil. Verena Krausneker
#University of  Vienna/Austria
#Dept. of Linguistics
#Dept. of Education
#Vienna,  Austria
#
#www.univie.ac.at/sprachemachtwissen

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