On 09/17/2000 11:39:14 AM Doug Ewell wrote:
>What names are I supposed to associate with codes like SHU, MKJ, and
>SRC in my (possibly hypothetical) application that deals with language
>tags? Such associations are normally expected to be one-to-one.
>
>If Ethnologue codes are going to be regarded as a standard outside the
>confines of SIL, each code needs to be associated with a single,
>normative name.
A universally "politically correct" name in every case is insoluable.
Simply picking on as a default *for the purposes of implementation of the
system of identifiers* is reasonable, and is a problem we have to be able
to solve if we are going to present a view of the data that is organised
first by language - at the least, you have to list one name first. This is
certainly going to happen.
>But for the code
>GSW, the Ethnologue staff created separate entries for "Allemanisch,"
>"Alsatian," and "Schwyzerdütsch," which *may* appease nationalistic
>preferences but definitely *does* result in inconsistency and
>confusion.
I explained the reason for this earlier. I agree that it can result in
confusion. The solution will be to provide better views into the data,
which we intend to do.
- Peter
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Constable
Non-Roman Script Initiative, SIL International
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas, TX 75236, USA
Tel: +1 972 708 7485
E-mail: <peter_constable@sil.org>
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