No ISO Code for a Language

Question

I’m not sure if this is a bug I should report, or what the expected behavior is. Here’s the question we received:

"The language I’m working in (Banwaon) does not have a language code listed in the language box in the Online Registration form.

In my local project I just left the language as English (eng) and that seemed to work okay, but that doesn’t seem right for the Online Registration. In the language box in the online Register Project form, a related language (Higaonon) has a code (MBA). I also saw that that another related language (Talaandig/TANT, which also doesn’t have a language code in Register Project) has listed Higaonon as it’s language in the Projects Registry. I’m a bit nervous to use Higaonon for the Banwaon Project because it is a different language, even though it is related. I’d feel better if I knew that the language listed could be edited later – is that possible? Or can you suggest a better solution?"

The user has started pursuing this with the Ethnologue, but the process is not completed yet.

I was going to suggest they use the qaa-x-banwaon identifier (suggested here), but it doesn’t seem to be including the qaa properly in the full language code (including the variant) in Paratext (the “qaa” seems to be missing):

image710×549 37.8 KB

And when I go to register this project, the Language field comes up empty and I cannot seem to find a “private” or “language not listed” option:

However, if I use UND (Undetermined language), it seems to work better in Paratext:

image463×819 69.3 KB

And in the Registry:

Thoughts for what to suggest for this translator?

Is this a bug with the qaa language code?

Thanks,

james_post

Answer 1

For the record, languages that do not have an ISO code should use the mis code with some variant, such as mis-x-banwaon. qaa is one of the codes in the private use area and should not be used unless there is a system for registering and disambiguating codes within the private use area, which there is not, so the Registry does not allow entering qaa.

Answer 2

james_post,

According to People Groups web site, the Banwaon of Philippines ‘s language is Manobo, Agusan with a code MSM.

kent_schroeder

Comments

Thank you @kent_schroeder.

A related question. If this ends up not being the correct language code, would there be any issues changing the language code later (e.g., would language settings, wordlist, Biblical terms, interlinearizer, etc be able to be transferred to a new language code?).

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this process for the Interlinearizer, but I’m not sure about other areas.

james_post