The 3-letter code for Sign Languages

[Michael Everson]

Dear colleagues,

Last month the Registration Authority for ISO 639-2 (Code for the
representations of names of scripts) accepted the proposed three letter
code for Sign Languages, "sgn". I am grateful to the DAC for sending me as
envoy to the RA-JAC meeting in Washington. See
http://www.egt.ie/standards/iso639/iso639-en.html

We are now working on extensions to this code for registration under RFC
1766 to specify individual Sign Languages. Four of these have already been
proposed, but remain provisional until the RFC is revised (currently it
only allows ISO 639-1, not ISO 639-2). However, it is under revision. See
http://www.egt.ie/standards/iso639/sgn.html for these and the list of other
Sign Languages which are potential candidates for registration.

If you have specific comments about that document or any of the Sign
Languages there, please get in touch with me directly. You have to be
specific. Assertions like "there are 11 different Sign Languages in South
Africa" don't immediately help us improve the taxonomy, but they are a
place to start.

Best regards,

Michael Everson  **  Everson Gunn Teoranta  **   http://www.egt.ie
15 Port Chaeimhghein Íochtarach; Baile Átha Cliath 2; Éire/Ireland
Vox +353 1 478 2597 ** Fax +353 1 478 2597 ** Mob +353 86 807 9169
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