ISO 639 Language Codes

ISO 639 is a set of international standards that defines codes for the representation of names of languages. It is widely used across various fields to ensure consistency and accuracy in the identification of languages. The standard is maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and helps facilitate the organization and exchange of linguistic data.

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PushEngage supports ISO 639-1 (Alpha-2) language codes.

Format

ISO 639 consists of several parts, each covering different aspects and providing different types of codes:

1. ISO 639-1: This part provides two-letter codes (alpha-2) for languages, often used where space is limited, such as in file formats or URL parameters.
2. ISO 639-2: This part provides three-letter codes (alpha-3) and includes more languages than ISO 639-1, including those not represented in the two-letter set.
3. ISO 639-3: It extends ISO 639-2 to provide comprehensive coverage of all known languages.
4. ISO 639-5: This part provides three-letter codes for language families and groups.

Breakdown

• ISO 639-1 (Alpha-2):

  • Format: Two lowercase letters.
  • Example: en for English, fr for French, es for Spanish.

• ISO 639-2 (Alpha-3):

  • Format: Three lowercase letters.
  • Example: eng for English, fre (or fra) for French, spa for Spanish.
  • Note: There are two sets of codes: a bibliographic set (ISO 639-2/B) and a terminological set (ISO 639-2/T). The two sets differ for certain languages (e.g., fre vs. fra for French).

• ISO 639-3 (Alpha-3):

  • Format: Three lowercase letters.
  • Example: eng for English, fra for French, spa for Spanish.
  • Provides a more exhaustive list of language codes, covering more than 7,000 languages.

• ISO 639-5 (Alpha-3):

  • Format: Three lowercase letters, representing language families or groups.
  • Example: afa for Afro-Asiatic languages, alg for Algonquian languages.

For more information, refer to the ISO 639 language codes.