Subject: Re: ISO 639 (Language Codes) update status

From: [email-masked] (John Clews)
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 10:51:55 GMT

In message <[email-masked]> [email-masked] writes:

> I was trying to keep track of what's going on with ISO 639-2.  Now that
> it is pushed aside, I am sad.  639-1 would not be able to contain all 
> the languages (if it ever intended to do so) for 26^2 = 676, and I 
> think that even with a definition of the strictest threshold, there 
> are more than 676 languages on this planet.

> ...

> Would anyone more familiar with the ongoings of ISO 639 (639-1 and
> 639-2) kindly inform us the status of these standards?

See my two emails (Subject: ISO 639 (Language Codes) and reality, 1 & 2)
on the ISO10646 list for more accurate details of what is going on here
under the auspices of ISO/TC46 committees.

You may also be interested in the work of another committee of ISO/TC46
which is working on another language- and script-related issue:
transliteration standards. Apologies to any who may have seen this
information before and who may have seen this notice more than once.

John Clews

        *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *

Transliteration standards

I am the new chair of the International Organization for Standardization
subcommittee responsible for transliteration (ISO/TC46/SC2: Conversion of
Written Languages). The new secretary (Evangelos Melagrakis from Greece) and
I hope to make it far more visible and far more relevant to end users than it
has been in the past.

To enable this, an electronic mailing list for ISO/TC46/SC2 ([email-masked])
has now been set up by ELOT (the Greek national standards body). We hope this
list will attract researchers and scientists who can add useful information
which might assist in developing standards on the Conversion of Written
Languages.

We also hope to have an emphasis on issues of using computers to do
appropriate transformations necessary in automated transliteration, and also
look forward to having regular contact with those on this list who are
interested in such issues.

There are quite a few with an interest in transliteration in library
catalogues on the list, but there are other potential users of
transliteration too. People are now begining to realist that
transliteration may have more indirect impact on other aspects of
multilingual computing than they had previously realised.

There are now over 200 subscribers to [email-masked], from 38 countries
and territories - one of the most international lists around.

One major advantage of email is the ability to involve far more people in
the development of a common purpose than were involved before, to get user
feedback, and expert opinion from various sources.

Subscribing to the mailing list for ISO/TC46/SC2

In order to join the list you should be actively involved in using
transliteration systems, or in developing transliteration systems, and should
be prepared to contribute to the list from time to time.

If you meet these criteria, and wish to join the list, send an email to
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        subscribe tc46sc2 [email-masked]

(but with your real email address replacing the string [email-masked]).
To find out further commands you can use, send the command "help" as the text
of an email either to [email-masked] or to: [email-masked]
To unsubscribe, send the command "unsubscribe" instead, omitting the "quotes"
marks in both cases. This will tell you how to obtain copies of past
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(pressing G on some email software) is the simplest way to achieve this.

Other members will also be interested to see who else is joining the list, so
it is useful to send a brief introduction (say, one or two short paragraphs)
to [email-masked] at the outset, saying what languages, scripts and other
things you are involved in. That is the most likely way to stimulate others
to write on the subjects you are interested in!

You should also inform your national standards body to express your interest
in participating in this list. I can provide some information on details of
your national member body of ISO, if you send me an email requesting this.

I look forward to seeing new participants on this list. Please feel free to
forward this to anyone else who may be interested in transliteration
standardisation issues, and to send any queries about the list to me.

                                   Yours sincerely

                                     John Clews
-- 
   John Clews (Chairman of ISO/TC46/SC2: Conversion of Written Languages)

SESAME Computer Projects, 8 Avenue Rd.  *  email: [email-masked]
Harrogate, HG2 7PG, United Kingdom      *     telephone: +44 (0) 1423 888 432