ISO 639 is one of several international standards that lists short codes for language names. ISO 639 consists of different parts, of which two parts are currently published. The other parts are works in progress.
Parts of ISO 639
There are two items for ISO 639:
- ISO 639-1:2002 Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 1: Alpha-2 code
- ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 2: Alpha-3 code
In other words, there are two-letter codes and three-letter codes. Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes. For these languages, the first three-letter code is for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B), and the second three-letter code is for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T).
The follwing parts are still being developed:
- ISO 639-3:2006? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages [1] (http://xml.coverpages.org/Nx74Clews-part3.pdf)
- ISO 639-4:2007? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 4: Implementation guidelines and general principles for language coding
- ISO 639-5:2006? Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 5: Alpha-3 code for language families and groups
See also
List of language codes
The following incomplete list is sorted by language name in the third column.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z External links
A
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| abk | ab | Abkhazian
|
| ace | | Achinese
|
| ach | | Acholi
|
| ada | | Adangme
|
| ady | | Adyghe; Adygei
|
| aar | aa | Afar
|
| afh | | Afrihili
|
| afr | af | Afrikaans
|
| afa | | Afro-Asiatic languages (Other)
|
| aka | ak | Akan
|
| akk | | Akkadian
|
| alb/sqi | sq | Albanian
|
| ale | | Aleut
|
| alg | | Algonquian languages
|
| tut | | Altaic languages (Other)
|
| amh | am | Amharic
|
| apa | | Apache language
|
| ara | ar | Arabic
|
| arc | | Aramaic
|
| arg | an | Aragonese
|
| arn | | Araucanian
|
| arp | | Arapaho
|
| arw | | Arawak
|
| arm/hye | hy | Armenian
|
| art | | Artificial (Other)
|
| asm | as | Assamese
|
| ast | | Asturian
|
| ath | | Athapascan
|
| map | | Austronesian (Other)
|
| ava | av | Avar
|
| ave | ae | Avestan
|
| awa | | Awadhi
|
| aym | ay | Aymara
|
| aze | az | Azeri
|
B
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| ban | | Balinese
|
| bat | | Baltic (Other)
|
| bal | | Baluchi
|
| bam | bm | Bambara
|
| bai | | Bamileke languages
|
| bad | | Banda
|
| bnt | | Bantu (Other)
|
| bas | | Basa
|
| bak | ba | Bashkir
|
| baq/eus | eu | Basque
|
| bej | | Beja
|
| bem | | Bemba
|
| ben | bn | Bengali
|
| ber | | Berber (Other)
|
| bho | | Bhojpuri
|
| bih | bh | Bihari
|
| bik | | Bikol
|
| bin | | Bini
|
| bis | bi | Bislama; Biche-la-mer
|
| bnt | | Bikya
|
| byn | | Blin
|
| bra | | Braj
|
| bre | br | Breton
|
| bos | bs | Bosnian
|
| bug | | Buginese
|
| bul | bg | Bulgarian
|
| bua | | Buriat
|
| bur/mya | my | Burmese
|
| bel | be | Belarusian
|
C
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| cad | | Caddo
|
| car | | Carib
|
| cat | ca | Catalan
|
| cau | | Caucasian (Other)
|
| ceb | | Cebuano
|
| cel | | Celtic (Other)
|
| cai | | Central American Indian languages (Other)
|
| chg | | Chagatai
|
| cha | ch | Chamorro
|
| che | ce | Chechen
|
| chr | | Cherokee
|
| chy | | Cheyenne
|
| chb | | Chibcha
|
| nya | ny | Chichewa
|
| chi/zho | zh | Chinese
|
| chn | | Chinook jargon
|
| cho | | Choctaw
|
| chv | cv | Chuvash
|
| nwc | | Classical Newari
|
| cop | | Coptic
|
| cor | kw | Cornish
|
| cos | co | Corsican
|
| cre | cr | Cree
|
| mus | | Creek
|
| crp | | Creoles and Pidgins (Other)
|
| cpe | | Creoles and Pidgins, English-based (Other)
|
| cpf | | Creoles and Pidgins, French-based (Other)
|
| cpp | | Creoles and Pidgins, Portuguese-based (Other)
|
| cus | | Cushitic (Other)
|
| crh | | Crimean Tatar
|
| scr | hr | Croatian
|
| cze/ces | cs | Czech
|
D
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| dak | | Dakota
|
| dan | da | Danish
|
| dar | | Dargwa
|
| del | | Delaware
|
| din | | Dinka
|
| div | dv | Divehi
|
| doi | | Dogri
|
| dgr | | Dogrib
|
| dra | | Dravidian (Other)
|
| dua | | Duala
|
| dut/nld | nl | Dutch
|
| dum | | Dutch, Middle (ca. 1050-1350)
|
| dyu | | Dyula
|
| dzo | dz | Dzongkha
|
E
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| efi | | Efik
|
| egy | | Egyptian (Ancient)
|
| eka | | Ekajuk
|
| elx | | Elamite
|
| eng | en | English
|
| enm | | English, Middle (ca. 1100-1500)
|
| ang | | English, Old (ca. 450-1100)
|
| myv | | Erzya
|
| esk | | Eskimo (Other)
|
| epo | eo | Esperanto
|
| est | et | Estonian
|
| ewe | ee | Ewe
|
| ewo | | Ewondo
|
F
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| fan | | Fang
|
| fat | | Fanti
|
| fao | fo | Faroese
|
| fij | fj | Fijian
|
| fin | fi | Finnish
|
| fiu | | Finno-Ugric (Other)
|
| fon | | Fon
|
| fra/fre | fr | French
|
| frm | | French, Middle (ca. 1400-1600)
|
| fro | | French, Old (842- ca. 1400)
|
| fry | fy | Frisian
|
| fur | | Friulian
|
| ful | ff | Fulani
|
G
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| gaa | | Ga
|
| gla | gd | Scots Gaelic
|
| glg | gl | Galician
|
| lug | lg | Ganda
|
| gay | | Gayo
|
| gez | | Ge'ez
|
| geo/kat | ka | Georgian
|
| ger/deu | de | German
|
| gmh | | German, Middle High (ca. 1050-1500)
|
| goh | | German, Old High (ca. 750 - 1050)
|
| gem | | Germanic (Other)
|
| gil | | Kiribati/Gilbertese
|
| gon | | Gondi
|
| got | | Gothic
|
| grb | | Grebo
|
| grc | | Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
|
| gre/ell | el | Greek, Modern (1453 -)
|
| kal | kl | Greenlandic
|
| grn | gn | Guarani
|
| guj | gu | Gujarati
|
H
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| hai | | Haida
|
| hat | ht | Haitian Creole
|
| hau | ha | Hausa
|
| haw | | Hawaiian
|
| heb | he | Hebrew
|
| her | hz | Herero
|
| hil | | Hiligaynon
|
| him | | Himachali
|
| hin | hi | Hindi
|
| hmo | ho | Hiri Motu
|
| hun | hu | Hungarian
|
| hup | | Hupa
|
I
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| iba | | Iban
|
| ice/isl | is | Icelandic
|
| ido | io | Ido
|
| ibo | ig | Igbo
|
| ijo | | Ijo
|
| ilo | | Ilocano
|
| smn | | Inari Sami
|
| inc | | Indic (Other)
|
| ine | | Indo-European (Other)
|
| ind | id | Indonesian
|
| inh | | Ingush
|
| ina | ia | Interlingua (International Auxiliary language Association)
|
| ine | ie | Interlingue
|
| iku | iu | Inuktitut
|
| ipk | ik | Inupiak
|
| ira | | Iranian (Other)
|
| gle | ga | Irish
|
| sga | | Irish, Old (to 900)
|
| mga | | Irish, Middle (900 - 1200)
|
| iro | | Iroquoian languages
|
| ita | it | Italian
|
J
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| jpn | ja | Japanese
|
| jav | jv | Javanese
|
| jrb | | Judeo-Arabic
|
| jpr | | Judeo-Persian
|
K
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| kbd | | Kabardian
|
| kab | | Kabyle
|
| kac | | Kachin
|
| kal | kl | Greenlandic
|
| xal | | Kalmyk
|
| kam | | Kamba
|
| kan | kn | Kannada
|
| kau | kr | Kanuri
|
| kaa | | Kara-Kalpak
|
| krc | | Karachay-Balkar
|
| kar | | Karen
|
| kas | ks | Kashimiri
|
| csb | | Kashubian
|
| kaw | | Kawi
|
| kaz | kk | Kazakh
|
| kha | | Khasi
|
| khm | km | Khmer
|
| khi | | Khoisan (Other)
|
| kho | | Khotanese
|
| kik | ki | Gĩkũyũ
|
| kin | rw | Kinyarwanda
|
| kir | ky | Kirghiz
|
| tlh | | Klingon
|
| kom | kv | Komi
|
| kon | kg | Kongo
|
| kok | | Konkani
|
| kor | ko | Korean
|
| kpe | | Kpelle
|
| kro | | Kru
|
| kua | kj | Kuanyama
|
| kum | | Kumyk
|
| kur | ku | Kurdish
|
| kru | | Kurukh
|
| kus | | Kusaie
|
| kut | | Kutenai
|
L
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| lad | | Ladino
|
| lah | | Lahnda (Western Punjabi)
|
| lam | | Lamba
|
| lao | lo | Lao
|
| lat | la | Latin
|
| lav | lv | Latvian
|
| ltz | lb | Letzeburgesch
|
| lez | | Lezghian
|
| lim | li | Limburgish
|
| lin | ln | Lingala
|
| lit | lt | Lithuanian
|
| jbo | | Lojban
|
| nds | | Low Saxon
|
| dsb | | Lower Sorbian
|
| loz | | Lozi
|
| lub | lu | Luba-Katanga
|
| lui | | Luiseno
|
| smj | | Lule Sami
|
| lun | | Lunda
|
| luo | | Luo
|
M
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| mac/mkd | mk | Macedonian
|
| mad | | Madurese
|
| mag | | Magahi
|
| mai | | Maithili
|
| mak | | Makasar
|
| mlg | mg | Malagasy
|
| may/msa | ms | Malay
|
| mal | | Malayalam
|
| mlt | mt | Maltese
|
| mnc | | Manchu
|
| man | | Mandingo
|
| mni | | Manipuri
|
| mno | | Manobo
|
| glv | gv | Manx
|
| mao/mri | mi | Maori
|
| mar | mr | Marathi
|
| chm | | Mari
|
| mah | mh | Marshallese
|
| mwr | | Marwari
|
| mas | | Masai
|
| myn | | Mayan
|
| men | | Mende
|
| mic | | Mi'kmaq
|
| min | | Minangkabau
|
| mis | | Miscellaneous (Other)
|
| moh | | Mohawk
|
| mdf | | Moksha
|
| mol | mo | Moldavian
|
| mkh | | Austro-Asiatic (Other)
|
| lol | | Mongo
|
| mon | mn | Mongolian
|
| mos | | Mossi
|
| mul | | Multiple languages (several languages used)
|
| mun | | Munda
|
N
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| nah | | Nahuatl
|
| nau | na | Nauru
|
| nav | nv | Navajo
|
| nde | nd | Ndebele, North
|
| nbl | nr | Ndebele, South
|
| ndo | ng | Ndonga
|
| nap | | Neapolitan
|
| nep | ne | Nepali
|
| new | | Newari
|
| nic | | Niger-Kordofanian (Other)
|
| ssa | | Nilo-Saharan (Other)
|
| niu | | Niuean
|
| nog | | Nogai
|
| non | | Norse, Old
|
| nai | | North American Indian languages (Other)
|
| sme | se | Northern Sami
|
| nor | no | Norwegian
|
| nob | nb | Norwegian (Bokmål)
|
| nno | nn | Norwegian (Nynorsk)
|
| nub | | Nubian
|
| nym | | Nyamwezi
|
| nyn | | Nyankole
|
| nyo | | Nyoro
|
| nzi | | Nzima
|
O
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| oci | oc | Occitan (post 1500)
|
| oji | oj | Ojibwe
|
| chu | cu | Old Church Slavonic
|
| ori | or | Oriya
|
| orm | om | Oromo
|
| osa | | Osage
|
| oss | os | Ossetian
|
| oto | | Otomian
|
P
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| pal | | Pahlavi
|
| pau | | Palauan
|
| pli | pi | Pali
|
| pam | | Kapampangan
|
| pag | | Pangasinan
|
| pan | pa | Panjabi
|
| pap | | Papiamento
|
| paa | | Papuan-Australian (Other)
|
| per/fas | fa | Persian
|
| peo | | Persian, Old (ca 600 - 400 B.C.)
|
| phn | | Phoenician
|
| pol | pl | Polish
|
| pon | | Ponapean
|
| por | pt | Portuguese
|
| pra | | Prakrits
|
| pro | | Provencal, Old (to 1500)
|
| pus | ps | Pashto
|
Q
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| que | qu | Quechua
|
R
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| raj | | Rajasthani
|
| rap | | Rapanui
|
| rar | | Rarotongan
|
| roh | rm | Rhaeto-Romance
|
| roa | | Romance (Other)
|
| rum/ron | ro | Romanian
|
| rom | | Romany
|
| run | rn | Rundi
|
| rus | ru | Russian
|
S
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| sal | | Salishan
|
| sam | | Samaritan Aramaic
|
| smi | | Sami
|
| smo | sm | Samoan
|
| sad | | Sandawe
|
| sag | sg | Sango
|
| san | sa | Sanskrit
|
| srd | sc | Sardinian
|
| sco | | Scots
|
| sel | | Selkup
|
| sem | | Semitic (Other)
|
| scc/srp | sr | Serbian
|
| srr | | Serer
|
| shn | | Shan
|
| sna | sn | Shona
|
| sid | | Sidamo
|
| sgn | | Signed languages
|
| bla | | Siksika
|
| snd | sd | Sindhi
|
| sin | si | Sinhalese
|
| sit | | Sino-Tibetan (Other)
|
| sio | | Siouan
|
| sms | | Skolt Sami
|
| sla | | Slavic (Other)
|
| ssw | ss | Siswant (the same as Swati, see below)
|
| slk/slo | sk | Slovak
|
| slv | sl | Slovenian
|
| sog | | Sogdian
|
| som | so | Somali
|
| son | | Songhai
|
| wen | | Sorbian
|
| dsb | | Sorbian, Lower
|
| hsb | | Sorbian, Upper
|
| nso | | Sotho, Northern
|
| sot | st | Sotho, Southern
|
| sma | | Southern Sami
|
| sai | | South American Indian languages (Other)
|
| spa | es | Spanish
|
| suk | | Sukuma
|
| sux | | Sumerian
|
| sun | su | Sundanese
|
| sus | | Susu
|
| swa | sw | Swahili
|
| ssw | ss | Swati/Swazi
|
| swe | sv | Swedish
|
| syr | | Syriac
|
T
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| tgl | tl | Tagalog
|
| tah | ty | Tahitian
|
| tgk | tg | Tajik
|
| tmh | | Tamashek
|
| tam | ta | Tamil
|
| tat | tt | Tatar
|
| tel | te | Telugu
|
| ter | | Tereno
|
| tha | th | Thai
|
| tib/bod | bo | Tibetan
|
| tig | | Tigre
|
| tir | ti | Tigrinya; Tigrigna
|
| tem | | Timne
|
| tiv | | Tivi
|
| tli | | Tlingit
|
| tpi | | Tok Pisin
|
| tog | | Tonga
|
| ton | to | Tongan
|
| tru | | Trukese
|
| tsi | | Tsimshian
|
| tso | ts | Tsonga
|
| tsn | tn | Tswana
|
| tum | | Tumbuka
|
| tup | | Tupi
|
| tur | tr | Turkish
|
| ota | | Turkish, Ottoman (1500 - 1928)
|
| tuk | tk | Turkmen
|
| tyv | | Tuvinian
|
| twi | tw | Twi
|
U
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| udm | | Udmurt
|
| uga | | Ugaritic
|
| uig | ug | Uighur
|
| ukr | uk | Ukrainian
|
| umb | | Umbundu
|
| und | | Undetermined (language or languages cannot be identified)
|
| hsb | | Upper Sorbian
|
| urd | ur | Urdu
|
| uzb | uz | Uzbek
|
V
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| vai | | Vai
|
| ven | ve | Venda
|
| vie | vi | Vietnamese
|
| vol | vo | Volapük
|
| vot | | Votic
|
W
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| wak | | Wakashan
|
| wal | | Walamo
|
| wln | wa | Walloon
|
| war | | Waray
|
| was | | Washo
|
| wel/cym | cy | Welsh
|
| wol | wo | Wolof
|
X
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| xho | xh | Xhosa
|
Y
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| sah | | Yakut
|
| yao | | Yao
|
| yap | | Yapese
|
| iii | ii | Yi
|
| yid | yi | Yiddish
|
| yor | yo | Yoruba
|
Z
| Alpha-3 | Alpha-2 | Language name
|
| zap | | Zapotec
|
| zen | | Zenaga
|
| zha | za | Zhuang
|
| zul | zu | Zulu
|
| zun | | Zuni
|
External links