# ISO 639 - Codes for the representation of names of languages

These codes are widely used in many different disciplines, for example for 
bibliographic purposes, in the library community, as well as for computerized 
systems, and the representation of different language versions on websites.

Using a code rather than the name of a language has many benefits as some 
languages are referred to by different groups in different ways, and two 
unrelated languages may share the same or similar name.

* Part 1 (ISO 639-1:2002) provides a 2 letter code that has been designed 
  to represent most of the major languages of the world.
* Part 2 (ISO 639-2:1998) provides a 3 letter code, which gives more possible 
  combinations, so ISO 639-2:1998 can cover more languages.
* Part 3 (ISO 639-3:2007) provides a 3 letter code and aims to give as complete 
  a listing of languages as possible, including living, extinct and ancient languages.
* Part 4 (ISO 639-4:2010) gives the general principles of language coding and 
  lays down guidelines for the use of ISO 639.
* Part 5 (ISO 639-5:2008) provides a 3 letter code for language families 
  and groups (living and extinct).

The data files `iso-639-3*.tab` were sourced from
[SIL International](https://iso639-3.sil.org/code_tables/download_tables).

See also: [native names for languages](https://www.omniglot.com/language/names.htm).