Michael E wrote:
>There is no user requirement for unique codes for all of the
world's Sign Languages. The users are satisfied with "sgn" with
extensions.
That depends upon how you define "user requirement". I note
that the document containing the proposed ISO 639-2 code (http:
//www.indigo.ie/egt/standards/iso639/sign-language.html) gave a
list of languages each of which had a unique SIL language ID.
There are a set of users - in particular, researchers and
international organisations such as UNESCO - that depend upon
the SIL language codes precisely because they give a unique ID
to each distinct language. Granted, these users are users of
information and are distinct from the users of the language.
But, after all, we are talking here about tagging information.
(Note that these comments are applicable to any languages, not
just signed languages. It is purely coincidence that they arose
within the context of signed languages.)
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