ISO 15924
Encyclopedia
ISO
15924, Codes for the representation of names of scripts, defines two sets of codes for a number of writing system
s (scripts). Each script is given both a four-letter code and a numeric one.
Script is defined as "set of graphic characters used for the written form of one or more languages".
Where possible the codes are derived from ISO 639-2
where the name of a script and the name of a language using the script are identical (example: Gujarātī
ISO 639 guj, ISO 15924 Gujr). Preference is given to the 639-2 Bibliographical codes, which is different from the otherwise often favored use of the Terminological codes.
4-letter ISO 15924 codes are incorporated into the Language Subtag Registry for IETF language tags and so can be used in file formats that make use of such language tags. For example, they can be used in HTML
and XML
to help Web browser
s determine which typeface
to use for foreign text. This way one could differentiate, for example, between Serbian
written in the Cyrillic (
text as such.
as the Registration Authority (RA) for the standard. In 2004, the RA appointed Michael Everson
to act as Registrar. The Registrar works with a Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) in developing and implementing the standard. The JAC contains six members: the Registrar, 1 member from the Library of Congress, 1 from Standards Norway, 1 from the French Encyclopaedia Universalis, an officer of Unicode, and a member of Unicode. These individuals represent the interests of the ISO 15924 RA, the ISO 639-2 RA, ISO Technical Committee 37, ISO Technical Committee 46, and the ISO Coded Character Set Sub-Committee, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2.
For definition of font and glyph the standard refers to
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
15924, Codes for the representation of names of scripts, defines two sets of codes for a number of writing system
Writing system
A writing system is a symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that the reader must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
s (scripts). Each script is given both a four-letter code and a numeric one.
Script is defined as "set of graphic characters used for the written form of one or more languages".
Where possible the codes are derived from ISO 639-2
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-2:1998, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code, is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. The three-letter codes given for each language in this part of the standard are referred to as...
where the name of a script and the name of a language using the script are identical (example: Gujarātī
Gujarati script
The Gujarati script , which like all Nāgarī writing systems is strictly speaking an abugida rather than an alphabet, is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages...
ISO 639 guj, ISO 15924 Gujr). Preference is given to the 639-2 Bibliographical codes, which is different from the otherwise often favored use of the Terminological codes.
4-letter ISO 15924 codes are incorporated into the Language Subtag Registry for IETF language tags and so can be used in file formats that make use of such language tags. For example, they can be used in HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
and XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
to help Web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
s determine which typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
to use for foreign text. This way one could differentiate, for example, between Serbian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
written in the Cyrillic (
sr-Cyrl) or Latin (sr-Latn) script, or mark romanizedRomanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...
text as such.
Maintenance
ISO has appointed the Unicode ConsortiumUnicode Consortium
The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization that coordinates the development of the Unicode standard. Its stated goal is to eventually replace existing character encoding schemes with Unicode and its standard Unicode Transformation Format schemes, claiming that many of the existing...
as the Registration Authority (RA) for the standard. In 2004, the RA appointed Michael Everson
Michael Everson
Michael Everson is a linguist, script encoder, typesetter, and font designer. His central area of expertise is with writing systems of the world, specifically in the representation of these systems in formats for computer and digital media...
to act as Registrar. The Registrar works with a Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) in developing and implementing the standard. The JAC contains six members: the Registrar, 1 member from the Library of Congress, 1 from Standards Norway, 1 from the French Encyclopaedia Universalis, an officer of Unicode, and a member of Unicode. These individuals represent the interests of the ISO 15924 RA, the ISO 639-2 RA, ISO Technical Committee 37, ISO Technical Committee 46, and the ISO Coded Character Set Sub-Committee, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2.
Numeric ranges
- 000–099 Hieroglyphic and cuneiform scripts
- 100–199 Right-to-left alphabetic scripts
- 200–299 Left-to-right alphabetic scripts
- 300–399 Alphasyllabic scripts
- 400–499 Syllabic scripts
- 500–599 Ideographic scripts
- 600–699 Undeciphered scripts
- 700–799 Shorthands and other notations
- 800–899 (unassigned)
- 900–999 Private use, alias, special codes
Special codes
- Qaaa—Qabx (900—949): 50 Codes reserved for private use.
- Zinh 994 : Code for inherited script
- Zmth 995 : Mathematical notationMathematical notationMathematical notation is a system of symbolic representations of mathematical objects and ideas. Mathematical notations are used in mathematics, the physical sciences, engineering, and economics...
- Zsym 996 : Symbols
- Zxxx 997 : Code for unwritten languages
- Zyyy 998 : Code for undetermined script
- Zzzz 999 : Code for uncoded script
Relations to other standards
The following standards are referred to as indispensable by ISO 15924.- ISO 639-2ISO 639-2ISO 639-2:1998, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code, is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. The three-letter codes given for each language in this part of the standard are referred to as...
:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code - ISO/IEC 9541-1:1991 Information technology — Font information interchange — Part 1: Architecture
- ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000 Information technology — Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS)
For definition of font and glyph the standard refers to
- ISO/IEC 9541-1:1991
External links
- ISO 15924:2004
- ISO 15924 Registration Authority (UnicodeUnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
) - Official ISO 15924 code lists
- Overview of changes in time