Re: Armenian (was: Re: ISO 639-3 changes, part 3)

John Cowan <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.ietf.languages
Message-ID <CAD2gp_QqWN-VBiC2k11=F9FYwTgbCxUMj=R-bAqSK8gPmHPQgg@mail.gmail.com>
On Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 5:14 PM, Doug Ewell <[email protected]> wrote:

Up to now we have had one language subtag for Armenian:
>
> Type: language
> Subtag: hy
> Description: Armenian
> Added: 2005-10-16
> Suppress-Script: Armn
>

This is true.  I believe, however, that this has always meant Standard
(i.e. Eastern) Armenian, the national language of Armenia.  Both the
proposers of 'hyw' and the RA appear to agree on this point, even though
the name associated with the code is simply "Armenian".  The request at <
http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/cr_files/2017-023.pdf> says "The code
elements "hy". "hye", and "arm" function primarily to identify the national
language of the Republic of Armenia, and for stability we do not request
that these codes be changed."  The response at <
http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/cr_files/PastComments/CR_Comments_2017-023.pdf>
similarly says: "The request to create the new code element [hyw] for
Western Armenian is accepted. When a similar request was submitted six
years ago (2011-176), the request was rejected on the grounds that the
linguistic differences between Western Armenian and standard Armenian were
not great enough to meet the criteria of the standard."

By the same token, 'de' is used to tag Standard German, not any random
German variety such as Bavarian, Swiss German, Low Saxon, or other Germanic
languages spoken in the German-speaking lands, even though its name is just
"German" and not "Standard German".

Therefore, I believe that with the hy/hyw distinction in place we should
deprecate both variant codes.

-- 
John Cowan          http://vrici.lojban.org/~cowan        [email protected]
We are lost, lost.  No name, no business, no Precious, nothing.  Only empty.
Only hungry: yes, we are hungry.  A few little fishes, nassty bony little
fishes, for a poor creature, and they say death.  So wise they are; so just,
so very just.  --Gollum

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