## Text Encoding Initiative

### The XML Version of the TEI Guidelines

# <language>

`<language>` | identifies the language being described in the writing system declaration.

Attributes

(In addition to global attributes)

`iso639` | gives the two-letter standard language code from ISO 639:1988 (or its revised version ISO 639-1 when that becomes standard), or a three-letter code from ISO 639-2: 1998.
| Datatype: CDATA
| Values: any two- or three-letter code included in ISO 639; if the language is not included in the list in ISO 639, the value should be given as the empty string.
| Default: #REQUIRED

Example

    <language iso639=''>Various</language>
    <language iso639="GRC">Classical Greek</language>

Note

In general, the `language' associated with a given writing system declaration will be a natural language; it may however be a dialect, an artificial language, or some other semiotic system conveniently treated as a language.

The content of the `<language>` element is a description in prose of what language the WSD describes. Usually this will simply be the conventional name of the language; more information may however be included as needed.

Specialized writing system declarations which document a public character set or entity set suitable for encoding several languages, and which are intended for use as a base component within other language-specific writing system declarations, should identify the `<language>` to which they apply as ‘Various’. Such writing systems should not be used directly by encoded texts; they should be named only in the `<baseWsd>` element of language-specific writing system declarations.

Module Declared in file teiwsd2; Auxiliary tag set for Writing System Declarations
Data Description May contain character data only.
May contain #PCDATA
May occur within langUsage
Declaration

    <!ELEMENT language %om.RO;  (#PCDATA)>
    <!ATTLIST language
          %a.global;
          iso639 CDATA #REQUIRED>

See further 25.2 Identifying the Language; 25.1 Overall Structure of Writing System Declaration

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