Re: [Ietf-languages] Proposal for variant language subtags for German dialects

[Doug Ewell <[e-mail]>]

It sounds like your recommendations are for Lisa to:

(a) propose some of these to ISO 639-3/RA as full language codes, instead of here;

(b) for the remaining variants, identify those that should have a Prefix field of ʼnds’ or ‘gsw’ and change them accordingly; and

(c) change the Subtag field of those subtags in (b) above which currently start with “ger” so that they start with “deu” or “nds” or “gsw” as appropriate.

Is that correct? These questions are for both John and Michael. If these were my proposals, I would be more than a little unclear exactly what changes are being requested.

--
Doug Ewell, CC, ALB | Lakewood, CO, US | ewellic.org


-----Original Message-----
From: Ietf-languages <[e-mail]> On Behalf Of Michael Everson
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2023 15:59
To: IETF Languages Discussion <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [Ietf-languages] Proposal for variant language subtags for German dialects

My understanding is similar to John’s.

Michael Everson

> On 12 Sep 2023, at 15:54, John Cowan <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> In my opinion:
> 
> For the Central and Upper German varieties, you don't make clear whether you are talking about the various Mundarten (e.g. Austrobavarian)  or their counterpart regionalects of Standard German (e.g. Austrian and Bavarian Standard German respectively).  If the former, you should probably apply to the ISO 639-3 Registration Authority to get 3-letter language tags assigned, at least for as many varieties as are clearly not mutually intelligible with each other or with Standard German.  This is a slower process but produces a result more in line with the rest of the world's languages. 
> 
> Varieties that are not separated from Standard German by mutually unintelligibility should have the kind of tags you have used, although I recommend using "deu" as a prefix rather than the obsolescent "ger".
> 
> My understanding is that Low German is (still) a dialect continuum, and so it is appropriate to use variant tags beginning with "nds".  High and Highest Alemannic variant tags should be prefixed with "gsw".  Whether Low Alemannic should also have "gsw" is a question.