What are the ISO 639 standards?
ISO 639 provides two sets of language codes, one as a two-character code set (639-1) and another as a three-character code set (639-2) for the representation of names of languages. ISO 639-1, Codes for the representation of names of languages–Part 1: Alpha-2 code, was devised primarily for use in terminology, and includes identifiers for major languages of the world for which specialized terminologies have been developed. The maintenance agency for ISO 639-1 is the International Information Centre for Terminolocy (Infoterm). ISO 639-2, Codes for the representation of names of languages–Part 2: Alpha-3 code, was devised primarily for use in bibliographic documentation and terminology. It includes identifiers for all of the languages represented in part 1, as well as for many other languages that have significant bodies of literature. It also provides identifiers for groups of languages, such as language families, that together indirectly cover most or all languages of the world. The m
