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Amacrolanguage is a group ofmutually intelligible speech varieties, ordialect continuum, that have no traditional name in common, and which may be considered distinct languages by their speakers. Macrolanguages are used as a book-keeping mechanism for theISO 639 international standard of language codes. Macrolanguages are established to assist mapping between different sets of ISO language codes. Specifically, there may be a many-to-one correspondence betweenISO 639-3, intended to identify all the thousands of languages of the world, and either of two other sets,ISO 639-1, established to identify languages in computer systems, andISO 639-2, which encodes a few hundred languages for library cataloguing and bibliographic purposes. When such many-to-one ISO 639-2 codes are included in an ISO 639-3 context, they are called "macrolanguages" to distinguish them from the corresponding individual languages of ISO 639-3.[1] According to the ISO,
Some existing code elements in ISO 639-2, and the corresponding code elements in ISO 639-1, are designated in those parts of ISO 639 as individual language code elements, yet are in a one-to-many relationship with individual language code elements in [ISO 639-3]. For purposes of [ISO 639-3], they are considered to be macrolanguage code elements.
— ISO 639-3: Relationship between ISO 639-3 and the other parts of ISO 639[2]
ISO 639-3 is curated bySIL International; ISO 639-2 is curated by theLibrary of Congress (USA).
The mapping often has the implication that it covers borderline cases where two language varieties may be considered strongly divergent dialects of the same language or very closely related languages (dialect continua); it may also encompass situations when there are language varieties that are considered to be varieties of the same language on the grounds of ethnic, cultural, and political considerations, rather than linguistic reasons. However, this is not its primary function and the classification is not evenly applied.
For example,Chinese is a macrolanguage encompassingmany languages that are not mutually intelligible, but the languages "Standard German", "Bavarian German", and other closely related languages do not form a macrolanguage, despite being more mutually intelligible. Other examples includeTajiki not being part of thePersian macrolanguage despite sharing much lexicon, andUrdu andHindi not forming a macrolanguage despite forminga mutually intelligible dialect continuum. All dialects of Hindi are consideredseparate languages. Basically, ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3 use different criteria for dividing language varieties into languages, 639-2 uses shared writing systems and literature more whereas 639-3 focuses on mutual intelligibility and shared lexicon. The macrolanguages exist within the ISO 639-3 code set to make mapping between the two sets easier.
The use of macrolanguages was applied inEthnologue, starting in the 16th edition.[3] The most recent registered macrolanguage isSanskrit with codesan, adopted in 15 December 2023, though it already existed as individual language for several years.[4]
As of 21 December 2023[update], there are fifty-nine language codes inISO 639-2 that are counted as macrolanguages in ISO 639-3.[5] Some of the macrolanguages had no individual language (as defined by 639-3) in ISO 639-2, e.g. "ara" (Arabic), but ISO 639-3 recognizes different varieties of Arabic as separate languages under some circumstances. Others, like "nor" (Norwegian) had their two individual parts (nnoNynorsk, nobBokmål) already in 639-2. That means some languages (e.g. "arb"Standard Arabic) that were considered by ISO 639-2 to be dialects of one language ("ara") are now in ISO 639-3 in certain contexts considered to be individual languages themselves. This is an attempt to deal with varieties that may be linguistically distinct from each other, but are treated by their speakers as forms of the same language, e.g. in cases ofdiglossia. For example,
ISO 639-2 also includes codes for collections of languages; these are not the same as macrolanguages. These collections of languages are excluded from ISO 639-3, because they never refer to individual languages. Most such codes are included inISO 639-5.
bnc,hbs,kln,luy)aka –twhbs –bs,hr,srmsa –idnor –nb,nnThis list only includes official data from SIL International.[8]
| ISO 639-1 Code | ISO 639-2 Code | English name of Language | French name of Language | Date Added or Changed | Category of Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [-sh] | (none) | Serbo-Croatian | serbo-croate | 2000-02-18 | Dep | This code was deprecated in 2000 because there were separate language codes for each individual language represented (Serbian, Croatian, and then Bosnian was added). It was published in a revision of ISO 639-1, but was never included in ISO 639-2. It is considered a macrolanguage (general name for a cluster of closely related individual languages) in ISO 639-3. Its deprecated status was reaffirmed by the ISO 639 JAC in 2005. |
| sr | srp [scc] | Serbian | serbe | 2008-06-28 | CC | ISO 639-2/B code deprecated in favor of ISO 639-2/T code |
| hr | hrv [scr] | Croatian | croate | 2008-06-28 | CC | ISO 639-2/B code deprecated in favor of ISO 639-2/T code |
This is a complete list of the individual language codes that comprise the macrolanguages in the ISO 639-3 code tables as of 6 March 2023[update].[8]
aka is theISO 639-3language code forAkan. ItsISO 639-1 code isak. There are two individual language codes assigned:
ara is theISO 639-3language code forArabic. ItsISO 639-1 code isar. There are twenty-eight individual language codes assigned:
The following codes were previously part ofara:
apc (formerly forthe North one) to be a single Levantine Arabic[9])aym is theISO 639-3language code forAymara. ItsISO 639-1 code isay. There are two individual language codes assigned:
aze is theISO 639-3language code forAzerbaijani. ItsISO 639-1 code isaz. There are two individual language codes assigned:
bal is theISO 639-3language code forBaluchi. There are three individual language codes assigned:
bik is theISO 639-3language code forBikol. There are eight individual language codes assigned:
The following code was previously part of bik:
bnc is theISO 639-3language code forBontok. There are five individual language codes assigned:
bua is theISO 639-3language code forBuriat. There are three individual language codes assigned:
chm is theISO 639-3language code forMari, a language located inRussia. There are two individual language codes assigned:
cre is theISO 639-3language code forCree. ItsISO 639-1 code iscr. There are six individual language codes assigned:
In addition, there are six closely associated individual codes:
In addition, there is one other language without individual codes closely associated, but not part of, this macrolanguage code:
del is theISO 639-3language code forDelaware. There are two individual language codes assigned:
den is theISO 639-3language code forSlave. There are two individual language codes assigned:
din is theISO 639-3language code forDinka. There are five individual language codes assigned:
doi is theISO 639-3language code forDogri. There are two individual language codes assigned:
est is theISO 639-3language code forEstonian. ItsISO 639-1 code iset. There are two individual language codes assigned:
fas is theISO 639-3language code forPersian. ItsISO 639-1 code isfa. There are two individual language codes assigned:
ful is theISO 639-2 andISO 639-3language code forFulah (also spelled Fula). ItsISO 639-1 code isff. There are nine individual language codes assigned for varieties of Fulah:
gba is theISO 639-3language code forGbaya located in theCentral African Republic. There are six individual language codes assigned:
The following code was previously part of gba:
gon is theISO 639-3language code forGondi. There are three individual language codes assigned:
The following code was previously part of gon:
grb is theISO 639-3language code forGrebo. There are five individual language codes assigned:
grn is theISO 639-3language code forGuarani. ItsISO 639-1 code isgn. There are five individual language codes assigned:
hai is theISO 639-3language code forHaida. There are two individual language codes assigned:
hbs is theISO 639-3language code forSerbo-Croatian. It formerly had an ISO 639-1 code sh but deprecated in 2000. There are four individual language codes assigned:
hmn is theISO 639-3language code forHmong. There are twenty-five individual language codes assigned:
The following code was previously part of hmn:
iku is theISO 639-3language code forInuktitut. ItsISO 639-1 code isiu. There are two individual language codes assigned:
ipk is theISO 639-3language code forInupiaq. ItsISO 639-1 code isik. There are two individual language codes assigned:
jrb is theISO 639-3language code forJudeo-Arabic. There are four individual language codes assigned:
The following code was previously part of jrb:
kau is theISO 639-2 andISO 639-3language code for theKanuri. ItsISO 639-1 code iskr. There are three individual language codes assigned in ISO 639-3 for varieties of Kanuri:
There are two other related languages that arenot considered part of the macrolanguage under ISO 639:
kln is theISO 639-3language code forKalenjin. There are nine individual language codes assigned:
kok is theISO 639-3language code forKonkani (macrolanguage). There are two individual language codes assigned:
Both languages are referred to as Konkani by their respective speakers.
kom is theISO 639-3language code forKomi. ItsISO 639-1 code iskv. There are two individual language codes assigned:
kon is theISO 639-3language code forKongo. ItsISO 639-1 code iskg. There are three individual language codes assigned:
kpe is theISO 639-3language code forKpelle. There are two individual language codes assigned:
kur is theISO 639-3language code forKurdish. ItsISO 639-1 code isku. There are three individual language codes assigned:
lah is theISO 639-3language code forLahnda. There are seven individual language codes assigned.
lah doesnot include Panjabi/Punjabi (pan).
The following code was previously part of lah:
lav is the ISO 639-3 language code forLatvian. Its ISO 639-1 code islv. There are two individual language codes assigned:
luy is theISO 639-3language code forLuyia. There are fourteen individual language codes assigned:
man is theISO 639-3language code forMandingo. There are six individual language codes assigned:
The following codes were previously part of man:
mlg is theISO 639-3language code forMalagasy. ItsISO 639-1 code ismg. There are eleven individual language codes assigned:
The following codes were previously part of mlg:
mon is theISO 639-3language code forMongolian. ItsISO 639-1 code ismn. There are two individual language codes assigned:
msa is theISO 639-3language code forMalay (macrolanguage). ItsISO 639-1 code isms. There are thirty-six individual language codes assigned:
The following code was previously part of msa:
In addition, there is an individual codenot part of this macrolanguage because it is categorized as ahistorical language:
mwr is theISO 639-3language code forMarwari. There are six individual language codes assigned:
nep is the ISO 639-3 language code for Nepali (macrolanguage). ItsISO 639-1 code isne. There are two individual language codes assigned:
nor is theISO 639-3language code forNorwegian. ItsISO 639-1 code isno. There are two individual language codes assigned:
oji is theISO 639-3language code forOjibwa. ItsISO 639-1 code isoj. There are seven individual language codes assigned:
In addition, there are three closely associated individual codes:
In addition, there are two other languages without individual codes closely associated, but not part of, this macrolanguage code:
ori is the ISO 639-3 language code for Oriya (macrolanguage). Its ISO 639-1 code isor. There are two individual language codes assigned:
orm is theISO 639-3language code forOromo. ItsISO 639-1 code isom. There are four individual language codes assigned:
pus is theISO 639-3language code forPashto. ItsISO 639-1 code isps. There are three individual language codes assigned:
que is theISO 639-3language code forQuechua. ItsISO 639-1 code isqu. There are forty-three individual language codes assigned:
The following code was previously part of que:
raj is theISO 639-3language code forRajasthani. There are six individual language codes assigned:
rom is theISO 639-3language code forRomany. There are seven individual language codes assigned:
In addition, there are nine individual codesnot part of this macrolanguage but they are categorized asmixed languages:
san is theISO 639-3language code forSanskrit. ItsISO 639-1 code issa. As of 2025, it's the only macrolanguage with language type as Historical. There are two individual language codes assigned:
sqi is theISO 639-3language code forAlbanian. ItsISO 639-1 code issq. There are four individual language codes assigned:
srd is theISO 639-3language code forSardinian. ItsISO 639-1 code issc. There are four individual language codes assigned:
swa is theISO 639-3language code forSwahili. ItsISO 639-1 code issw. There are two individual language codes assigned:
syr is theISO 639-3language code forSyriac. There are two individual language codes assigned:
tmh is theISO 639-3language code forTamashek. There are four individual language codes assigned:
uzb is theISO 639-3language code forUzbek. ItsISO 639-1 code isuz. There are two individual language codes assigned:
yid is theISO 639-3language code forYiddish. ItsISO 639-1 code isyi. There are two individual language codes assigned:
zap is theISO 639-3language code forZapotec. There are fifty-eight individual language codes assigned.
The following codes were previously part of zap:
In addition, there is an individual codenot part of this macrolanguage because it is categorized as ahistorical language:
zha is theISO 639-3language code forZhuang. ItsISO 639-1 code isza. There are sixteen individual language codes assigned:
The following codes were previously part of zha:
zho is theISO 639-3language code forChinese. ItsISO 639-1 code iszh. There are nineteen individual language codes assigned, most of which are not actually languages but rather groups ofSinitic languages distinguished byisoglosses:
Although theDungan language (dng) is a dialect of Mandarin, it is not listed under Chinese in ISO 639-3 due to separate historical and cultural development.[10]
ISO 639 also lists codes forOld Chinese (och) and LateMiddle Chinese (ltc)). They are not listed under Chinese in ISO 639-3 because they are categorized as ancient andhistorical languages, respectively.
zza is theISO 639-3language code forZaza. There are two individual language codes assigned: