I guess this must be relevant for the DCMI, especially for the DCq...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Bird" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Quarta-feira, 16 de Agosto de 2000 15:13
Subject: Re: foreign language classifying
> The primary language identification schemes are:
>
> ISO 639-2: Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages
> http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/
> (There are two versions of the standard, one for bibliographic
> use, and one for terminological use, which differ on 5% of the codes.)
>
> and
>
> RFC 1766: Tags for the Identification of Languages
> http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1766.txt
>
> However, they only have a few hundred codes, while the world has over
> six thousand distinct languages.
>
> Another language identification scheme, which also includes language
> classification information (to the extent that it is known/agreed) and
> a definition of the linguistic denotation of each code (rather than
> just conventional language names), is the Ethnologue. The Ethnologue
> has been compiled over a period of more than 50 years, and will soon
> be out in its 14th edition.
>
> Ethnologue: Languages of the World
> http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/
>
> The ethnologue provides 3-letter codes for over 6,800 distinct
> languages. Ethnologue data can be accessed over the web for free.
> There is a search interface at: http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/search/
>
> ----
>
> For example, the language I work on (Dschang, Cameroon) does not get
> it's own code in ISO 639-2. It has to be identified as "nic -
> Niger-Kordofanian (Other)". But this groups it with other languages
> from all over sub-Saharan Africa for which ISO didn't assign distinct
> codes, and is quite useless from the standpoint of classification.
> Someone who wanted to find resources for Grassfields languages ought
> to be able to find my Dschang dictionary, but 99% of the languages
> covered by their search would be irrelevant.
>
> Using the ethnologue search interface I can quickly find the URL
> giving demographic and linguistic information for this language:
>
> http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/Came.html#BAN
>
> YEMBA (TCHANG, DSCHANG, BAFOU, ATSANG-BANGWA, BANGWA, BAMILEKE-YEMBA)
> [BAN] 300,000 or more (1992 SIL). Major part of Menoua Division,
> centered around Dschang, West Province. Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo,
> Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Wide Grassfields, Narrow
> Grassfields, Mbam-Nkam, Bamileke. Dialects: YEMBA, FOREKE DSCHANG
> (DSCHANG, TCHANG). Part of a language continuum which includes Ngwe
> and Ngyemboon. 15% to 25% literate.
>
> This data is in text form. I understand that an ethnologue client
> processing XML queries and returning XML data is planned.
>
> Steven Bird
>
> --
> [log in to unmask] http://www.ldc.upenn.edu/sb
> Assoc Director, LDC; Adj Assoc Prof, CIS & Linguistics
> Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania
> 3615 Market St, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2608
>
>
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>
>
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>
>
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