ISO 639-2 Language Code List

What Is ISO 639-2?

ISO 639-2 is the three-letter-code tier of the ISO 639 language-code family, sitting between the compact two-letter ISO 639-1 tier, which only covers major languages, and the exhaustive ISO 639-3 registry, which documents every known language. It defines 487 codes covering both individual languages and language collections, groupings like "Slavic languages" or "Niger-Kordofanian languages" that ISO 639-1 has no room for. ISO 639-2 was developed for, and is still primarily used by, library and archival cataloging systems, most notably MARC bibliographic records, where the Library of Congress is the registration authority.

A quirk unique to this part of the standard is that some languages have two different three-letter codes: a "bibliographic" (639-2/B) code historically used in library catalogs, and a "terminology" (639-2/T) code that matches the code used in ISO 639-3. Most languages' codes are identical between the two; exactly 20, including French, German, Chinese, and Persian, have two distinct codes. This page lists every ISO 639-2 code with both variants shown where they differ, along with its ISO 639-1 two-letter equivalent where one exists. Like the ISO 639-1 table, every entry here also carries both an English and a French name.

ISO 639-2 Code Table

wdt_ID ISO 639-2 Code (Bibliographic) ISO 639-2 Code (Terminologic) English Name French Name
5357 abk Abkhazian abkhaze
5358 ace Achinese aceh
5359 ach Acoli acoli
5360 ada Adangme adangme
5361 ady Adyghe; Adygei adyghé
5362 aar Afar afar
5363 afh Afrihili afrihili
5364 afr Afrikaans afrikaans
5365 afa Afro-Asiatic languages afro-asiatiques, langues
5366 ain Ainu aïnou
5367 aka Akan akan
5368 akk Akkadian akkadien
5369 alb sqi Albanian albanais
5370 ale Aleut aléoute
5371 alg Algonquian languages algonquines, langues
5372 tut Altaic languages altaïques, langues
5373 amh Amharic amharique
5374 anp Angika angika
5375 apa Apache languages apaches, langues
5376 ara Arabic arabe
5377 arg Aragonese aragonais
5378 arp Arapaho arapaho
5379 arw Arawak arawak
5380 arm hye Armenian arménien
5381 rup Aromanian; Arumanian; Macedo-Romanian aroumain; macédo-roumain
5382 art Artificial languages artificielles, langues
5383 asm Assamese assamais
5384 ast Asturian; Bable; Leonese; Asturleonese asturien; bable; léonais; asturoléonais
5385 ath Athapascan languages athapascanes, langues
5386 aus Australian languages australiennes, langues
5387 map Austronesian languages austronésiennes, langues
5388 ava Avaric avar
5389 ave Avestan avestique
5390 awa Awadhi awadhi
5391 aym Aymara aymara
5392 aze Azerbaijani azéri
5393 ban Balinese balinais
5394 bat Baltic languages baltes, langues
5395 bal Baluchi baloutchi
5396 bam Bambara bambara
5397 bai Bamileke languages bamiléké, langues
5398 bad Banda languages banda, langues
5399 bnt Bantu languages bantou, langues
5400 bas Basa basa
5401 bak Bashkir bachkir
5402 baq eus Basque basque
5403 btk Batak languages batak, langues
5404 bej Beja; Bedawiyet bedja
5405 bel Belarusian biélorusse
5406 bem Bemba bemba
5407 ben Bengali bengali
5408 ber Berber languages berbères, langues
5409 bho Bhojpuri bhojpuri
5410 bih Bihari languages langues biharis
5411 bik Bikol bikol
5412 bin Bini; Edo bini; edo
5413 bis Bislama bichlamar
5414 byn Blin; Bilin blin; bilen
5415 zbl Blissymbols; Blissymbolics; Bliss symboles Bliss; Bliss
5416 bos Bosnian bosniaque
5417 bra Braj braj
5418 bre Breton breton
5419 bug Buginese bugi
5420 bul Bulgarian bulgare
5421 bua Buriat bouriate
5422 bur mya Burmese birman
5423 cad Caddo caddo
5424 cat Catalan; Valencian catalan; valencien
5425 cau Caucasian languages caucasiennes, langues
5426 ceb Cebuano cebuano
5427 cel Celtic languages celtiques, langues; celtes, langues
5428 cai Central American Indian languages amérindiennes de L'Amérique centrale, langues
5429 khm Central Khmer khmer central
5430 chg Chagatai djaghataï
5431 cmc Chamic languages chames, langues
5432 cha Chamorro chamorro
5433 che Chechen tchétchène
5434 chr Cherokee cherokee
5435 chy Cheyenne cheyenne
5436 chb Chibcha chibcha
5437 nya Chichewa; Chewa; Nyanja chichewa; chewa; nyanja
5438 chi zho Chinese chinois
5439 chn Chinook jargon chinook, jargon
5440 chp Chipewyan; Dene Suline chipewyan
5441 cho Choctaw choctaw
5442 chu Church Slavic; Old Slavonic; Church Slavonic; Old Bulgarian; Old Church Slavonic slavon d'église; vieux slave; slavon liturgique; vieux bulgare
5443 chk Chuukese chuuk
5444 chv Chuvash tchouvache
5445 nwc Classical Newari; Old Newari; Classical Nepal Bhasa newari classique
5446 syc Classical Syriac syriaque classique
5447 cop Coptic copte
5448 cor Cornish cornique
5449 cos Corsican corse
5450 cre Cree cree
5451 mus Creek muskogee
5452 crp Creoles and pidgins créoles et pidgins
5453 cpe Creoles and pidgins, English based créoles et pidgins basés sur l'anglais
5454 cpf Creoles and pidgins, French-based créoles et pidgins basés sur le français
5455 cpp Creoles and pidgins, Portuguese-based créoles et pidgins basés sur le portugais
5456 crh Crimean Tatar; Crimean Turkish tatar de Crimé
5457 hrv Croatian croate
5458 cus Cushitic languages couchitiques, langues
5459 cze ces Czech tchèque
5460 dak Dakota dakota
5461 dan Danish danois
5462 dar Dargwa dargwa
5463 del Delaware delaware
5464 din Dinka dinka
5465 div Divehi; Dhivehi; Maldivian maldivien
5466 doi Dogri dogri
5467 dra Dravidian languages dravidiennes, langues
5468 dua Duala douala
5469 dum Dutch, Middle (ca.1050-1350) néerlandais moyen (ca. 1050-1350)
5470 dut nld Dutch; Flemish néerlandais; flamand
5471 dyu Dyula dioula
5472 dzo Dzongkha dzongkha
5473 frs Eastern Frisian frison oriental
5474 efi Efik efik
5475 egy Egyptian (Ancient) égyptien
5476 eka Ekajuk ekajuk
5477 elx Elamite élamite
5478 eng English anglais
5479 enm English, Middle (1100-1500) anglais moyen (1100-1500)
5480 ang English, Old (ca.450-1100) anglo-saxon (ca.450-1100)
5481 myv Erzya erza
5482 epo Esperanto espéranto
5483 est Estonian estonien
5484 ewe Ewe éwé
5485 ewo Ewondo éwondo
5486 fan Fang fang
5487 fat Fanti fanti
5488 fao Faroese féroïen
5489 fij Fijian fidjien
5490 fil Filipino; Pilipino filipino; pilipino
5491 fin Finnish finnois
5492 fiu Finno-Ugrian languages finno-ougriennes, langues
5493 fon Fon fon
5494 fre fra French français
5495 frm French, Middle (ca.1400-1600) français moyen (1400-1600)
5496 fro French, Old (842-ca.1400) français ancien (842-ca.1400)
5497 fur Friulian frioulan
5498 ful Fulah peul
5499 gaa Ga ga
5500 gla Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic gaélique; gaélique écossais
5501 car Galibi Carib karib; galibi; carib
5502 glg Galician galicien
5503 lug Ganda ganda
5504 gay Gayo gayo
5505 gba Gbaya gbaya
5506 gez Geez guèze
5507 geo kat Georgian géorgien
5508 ger deu German allemand
5509 gmh German, Middle High (ca.1050-1500) allemand, moyen haut (ca. 1050-1500)
5510 goh German, Old High (ca.750-1050) allemand, vieux haut (ca. 750-1050)
5511 gem Germanic languages germaniques, langues
5512 gil Gilbertese kiribati
5513 gon Gondi gond
5514 gor Gorontalo gorontalo
5515 got Gothic gothique
5516 grb Grebo grebo
5517 grc Greek, Ancient (to 1453) grec ancien (jusqu'à 1453)
5518 grn Guarani guarani
5519 guj Gujarati goudjrati
5520 gwi Gwich'in gwich'in
5521 hai Haida haida
5522 hat Haitian; Haitian Creole haïtien; créole haïtien
5523 hau Hausa haoussa
5524 haw Hawaiian hawaïen
5525 heb Hebrew hébreu
5526 her Herero herero
5527 hil Hiligaynon hiligaynon
5528 him Himachali languages; Western Pahari languages langues himachalis; langues paharis occidentales
5529 hin Hindi hindi
5530 hmo Hiri Motu hiri motu
5531 hit Hittite hittite
5532 hmn Hmong; Mong hmong
5533 hun Hungarian hongrois
5534 hup Hupa hupa
5535 iba Iban iban
5536 ice isl Icelandic islandais
5537 ido Ido ido
5538 ibo Igbo igbo
5539 ijo Ijo languages ijo, langues
5540 ilo Iloko ilocano
5541 smn Inari Sami sami d'Inari
5542 inc Indic languages indo-aryennes, langues
5543 ine Indo-European languages indo-européennes, langues
5544 ind Indonesian indonésien
5545 inh Ingush ingouche
5546 ina Interlingua (International Auxiliary Language Association) interlingua (langue auxiliaire internationale)
5547 ile Interlingue; Occidental interlingue
5548 iku Inuktitut inuktitut
5549 ipk Inupiaq inupiaq
5550 ira Iranian languages iraniennes, langues
5551 gle Irish irlandais
5552 mga Irish, Middle (900-1200) irlandais moyen (900-1200)
5553 sga Irish, Old (to 900) irlandais ancien (jusqu'à 900)
5554 iro Iroquoian languages iroquoises, langues
5555 ita Italian italien
5556 jpn Japanese japonais
5557 jav Javanese javanais
5558 jrb Judeo-Arabic judéo-arabe
5559 jpr Judeo-Persian judéo-persan
5560 kbd Kabardian kabardien
5561 kab Kabyle kabyle
5562 kac Kachin; Jingpho kachin; jingpho
5563 kal Kalaallisut; Greenlandic groenlandais
5564 xal Kalmyk; Oirat kalmouk; oïrat
5565 kam Kamba kamba
5566 kan Kannada kannada
5567 kau Kanuri kanouri
5568 kaa Kara-Kalpak karakalpak
5569 krc Karachay-Balkar karatchai balkar
5570 krl Karelian carélien
5571 kar Karen languages karen, langues
5572 kas Kashmiri kashmiri
5573 csb Kashubian kachoube
5574 kaw Kawi kawi
5575 kaz Kazakh kazakh
5576 kha Khasi khasi
5577 khi Khoisan languages khoïsan, langues
5578 kho Khotanese; Sakan khotanais; sakan
5579 kik Kikuyu; Gikuyu kikuyu
5580 kmb Kimbundu kimbundu
5581 kin Kinyarwanda rwanda
5582 kir Kirghiz; Kyrgyz kirghiz
5583 tlh Klingon; tlhIngan-Hol klingon
5584 kom Komi kom
5585 kon Kongo kongo
5586 kok Konkani konkani
5587 kor Korean coréen
5588 kos Kosraean kosrae
5589 kpe Kpelle kpellé
5590 kro Kru languages krou, langues
5591 kua Kuanyama; Kwanyama kuanyama; kwanyama
5592 kum Kumyk koumyk
5593 kur Kurdish kurde
5594 kru Kurukh kurukh
5595 kut Kutenai kutenai
5596 lad Ladino judéo-espagnol
5597 lah Lahnda lahnda
5598 lam Lamba lamba
5599 day Land Dayak languages dayak, langues
5600 lao Lao lao
5601 lat Latin latin
5602 lav Latvian letton
5603 lez Lezghian lezghien
5604 lim Limburgan; Limburger; Limburgish limbourgeois
5605 lin Lingala lingala
5606 lit Lithuanian lituanien
5607 jbo Lojban lojban
5608 nds Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low bas allemand; bas saxon; allemand, bas; saxon, bas
5609 dsb Lower Sorbian bas-sorabe
5610 loz Lozi lozi
5611 lub Luba-Katanga luba-katanga
5612 lua Luba-Lulua luba-lulua
5613 lui Luiseno luiseno
5614 smj Lule Sami sami de Lule
5615 lun Lunda lunda
5616 luo Luo (Kenya and Tanzania) luo (Kenya et Tanzanie)
5617 lus Lushai lushai
5618 ltz Luxembourgish; Letzeburgesch luxembourgeois
5619 mac mkd Macedonian macédonien
5620 mad Madurese madourais
5621 mag Magahi magahi
5622 mai Maithili maithili
5623 mak Makasar makassar
5624 mlg Malagasy malgache
5625 may msa Malay malais
5626 mal Malayalam malayalam
5627 mlt Maltese maltais
5628 mnc Manchu mandchou
5629 mdr Mandar mandar
5630 man Mandingo mandingue
5631 mni Manipuri manipuri
5632 mno Manobo languages manobo, langues
5633 glv Manx manx; mannois
5634 mao mri Maori maori
5635 arn Mapudungun; Mapuche mapudungun; mapuche; mapuce
5636 mar Marathi marathe
5637 chm Mari mari
5638 mah Marshallese marshall
5639 mwr Marwari marvari
5640 mas Masai massaï
5641 myn Mayan languages maya, langues
5642 men Mende mendé
5643 mic Mi'kmaq; Micmac mi'kmaq; micmac
5644 min Minangkabau minangkabau
5645 mwl Mirandese mirandais
5646 gre ell Modern Greek (1453-) grec moderne (1453-)
5647 moh Mohawk mohawk
5648 mdf Moksha moksa
5649 mkh Mon-Khmer languages môn-khmer, langues
5650 lol Mongo mongo
5651 mon Mongolian mongol
5652 cnr Montenegrin monténégrin
5653 mos Mossi moré
5654 mul Multiple languages multilingue
5655 mun Munda languages mounda, langues
5656 nqo N'Ko n'ko
5657 nah Nahuatl languages nahuatl, langues
5658 nau Nauru nauruan
5659 nav Navajo; Navaho navaho
5660 ndo Ndonga ndonga
5661 nap Neapolitan napolitain
5662 new Nepal Bhasa; Newar; Newari nepal bhasa; néwar; newari
5663 nep Nepali népalais
5664 nia Nias nias
5665 nic Niger-Kordofanian languages nigéro-kordofaniennes, langues
5666 ssa Nilo-Saharan languages nilo-sahariennes, langues
5667 niu Niuean niué
5668 zxx No linguistic content; Not applicable pas de contenu linguistique; non applicable
5669 nog Nogai nogaï; nogay
5670 non Norse, Old norrois, vieux
5671 nai North American Indian languages nord-amérindiennes, langues
5672 nde North Ndebele ndébélé du Nord
5673 frr Northern Frisian frison septentrional
5674 sme Northern Sami sami du Nord
5675 nor Norwegian norvégien
5676 nob Norwegian Bokmål norvégien bokmål
5677 nno Norwegian Nynorsk norvégien nynorsk
5678 nub Nubian languages nubiennes, langues
5679 nym Nyamwezi nyamwezi
5680 nyn Nyankole nyankolé
5681 nyo Nyoro nyoro
5682 nzi Nzima nzema
5683 oci Occitan (post 1500) occitan (après 1500)
5684 arc Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE); Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE) araméen d'empire (700-300 BCE)
5685 oji Ojibwa ojibwa
5686 ori Oriya oriya
5687 orm Oromo galla
5688 osa Osage osage
5689 oss Ossetian; Ossetic ossète
5690 oto Otomian languages otomi, langues
5691 pal Pahlavi pahlavi
5692 pau Palauan palau
5693 pli Pali pali
5694 pam Pampanga; Kapampangan pampangan
5695 pag Pangasinan pangasinan
5696 pan Panjabi; Punjabi pendjabi
5697 pap Papiamento papiamento
5698 paa Papuan languages papoues, langues
5699 nso Pedi; Sepedi; Northern Sotho pedi; sepedi; sotho du Nord
5700 per fas Persian persan
5701 peo Persian, Old (ca.600-400 B.C.) perse, vieux (ca. 600-400 av. J.-C.)
5702 phi Philippine languages philippines, langues
5703 phn Phoenician phénicien
5704 pon Pohnpeian pohnpei
5705 pol Polish polonais
5706 por Portuguese portugais
5707 pra Prakrit languages prâkrit, langues
5708 pro Provençal, Old (to 1500); Occitan, Old (to 1500) provençal ancien (jusqu'à 1500); occitan ancien (jusqu'à 1500)
5709 pus Pushto; Pashto pachto
5710 que Quechua quechua
5711 raj Rajasthani rajasthani
5712 rap Rapanui rapanui
5713 rar Rarotongan; Cook Islands Maori rarotonga; maori des îles Cook
5714 qaa-qtz Reserved for local use réservée à l'usage local
5715 roa Romance languages romanes, langues
5716 rum ron Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan roumain; moldave
5717 roh Romansh romanche
5718 rom Romany tsigane
5719 run Rundi rundi
5720 rus Russian russe
5721 sal Salishan languages salishennes, langues
5722 sam Samaritan Aramaic samaritain
5723 smi Sami languages sames, langues
5724 smo Samoan samoan
5725 sad Sandawe sandawe
5726 sag Sango sango
5727 san Sanskrit sanskrit
5728 sat Santali santal
5729 srd Sardinian sarde
5730 sas Sasak sasak
5731 sco Scots écossais
5732 sel Selkup selkoupe
5733 sem Semitic languages sémitiques, langues
5734 srp Serbian serbe
5735 srr Serer sérère
5736 shn Shan chan
5737 sna Shona shona
5738 iii Sichuan Yi; Nuosu yi de Sichuan
5739 scn Sicilian sicilien
5740 sid Sidamo sidamo
5741 sgn Sign Languages langues des signes
5742 bla Siksika blackfoot
5743 snd Sindhi sindhi
5744 sin Sinhala; Sinhalese singhalais
5745 sit Sino-Tibetan languages sino-tibétaines, langues
5746 sio Siouan languages sioux, langues
5747 sms Skolt Sami sami skolt
5748 den Slave (Athapascan) esclave (athapascan)
5749 sla Slavic languages slaves, langues
5750 slo slk Slovak slovaque
5751 slv Slovenian slovène
5752 sog Sogdian sogdien
5753 som Somali somali
5754 son Songhai languages songhai, langues
5755 snk Soninke soninké
5756 wen Sorbian languages sorabes, langues
5757 sot Sotho, Southern sotho du Sud
5758 sai South American Indian languages sud-amérindiennes, langues
5759 nbl South Ndebele ndébélé du Sud
5760 alt Southern Altai altai du Sud
5761 sma Southern Sami sami du Sud
5762 spa Spanish; Castilian espagnol; castillan
5763 srn Sranan Tongo sranan tongo
5764 zgh Standard Moroccan Tamazight amazighe standard marocain
5765 suk Sukuma sukuma
5766 sux Sumerian sumérien
5767 sun Sundanese soundanais
5768 sus Susu soussou
5769 swa Swahili swahili
5770 ssw Swati swati
5771 swe Swedish suédois
5772 gsw Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian suisse alémanique; alémanique; alsacien
5773 syr Syriac syriaque
5774 tgl Tagalog tagalog
5775 tah Tahitian tahitien
5776 tai Tai languages tai, langues
5777 tgk Tajik tadjik
5778 tmh Tamashek tamacheq
5779 tam Tamil tamoul
5780 tat Tatar tatar
5781 tel Telugu télougou
5782 ter Tereno tereno
5783 tet Tetum tetum
5784 tha Thai thaï
5785 tib bod Tibetan tibétain
5786 tig Tigre tigré
5787 tir Tigrinya tigrigna
5788 tem Timne temne
5789 tiv Tiv tiv
5790 dgr Tlicho; Dogrib tlicho; dogrib
5791 tli Tlingit tlingit
5792 tpi Tok Pisin tok pisin
5793 tkl Tokelau tokelau
5794 tog Tonga (Nyasa) tonga (Nyasa)
5795 ton Tonga (Tonga Islands) tongan (Îles Tonga)
5796 tsi Tsimshian tsimshian
5797 tso Tsonga tsonga
5798 tsn Tswana tswana
5799 tum Tumbuka tumbuka
5800 tup Tupi languages tupi, langues
5801 tur Turkish turc
5802 ota Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) turc ottoman (1500-1928)
5803 tuk Turkmen turkmène
5804 tvl Tuvalu tuvalu
5805 tyv Tuvinian touva
5806 twi Twi twi
5807 udm Udmurt oudmourte
5808 uga Ugaritic ougaritique
5809 uig Uighur; Uyghur ouïgour
5810 ukr Ukrainian ukrainien
5811 umb Umbundu umbundu
5812 mis Uncoded languages langues non codées
5813 und Undetermined indéterminée
5814 hsb Upper Sorbian haut-sorabe
5815 urd Urdu ourdou
5816 uzb Uzbek ouszbek
5817 vai Vai vaï
5818 ven Venda venda
5819 vie Vietnamese vietnamien
5820 vol Volapük volapük
5821 vot Votic vote
5822 wak Wakashan languages wakashanes, langues
5823 wln Walloon wallon
5824 war Waray waray
5825 was Washo washo
5826 wel cym Welsh gallois
5827 fry Western Frisian frison occidental
5828 wal Wolaitta; Wolaytta wolaitta; wolaytta
5829 wol Wolof wolof
5830 xho Xhosa xhosa
5831 sah Yakut iakoute
5832 yao Yao yao
5833 yap Yapese yapois
5834 yid Yiddish yiddish
5835 yor Yoruba yoruba
5836 ypk Yupik languages yupik, langues
5837 znd Zande languages zandé, langues
5838 zap Zapotec zapotèque
5839 zza Zaza; Dimili; Dimli; Kirdki; Kirmanjki; Zazaki zaza; dimili; dimli; kirdki; kirmanjki; zazaki
5840 zen Zenaga zenaga
5841 zha Zhuang; Chuang zhuang; chuang
5842 zul Zulu zoulou
5843 zun Zuni zuni
ISO 639-2 Code (Bibliographic) ISO 639-2 Code (Terminologic) English Name French Name

Source: Library of Congress – ISO 639-2 Registration Authority, ISO-639-2_utf-8.txt. Retrieved 2026-09-11.

How ISO 639-2 Relates to ISO 639-1 and ISO 639-3

ISO 639-2 sits in the middle of the ISO 639 hierarchy: ISO 639-1 uses two-letter codes for around 183 major languages, ISO 639-2 uses three-letter codes for 487 languages and language collections, and ISO 639-3 comprehensively registers more than 7,900 languages, living and extinct. Most of those 487 codes exist only at this three-letter tier, often as language-collection codes, groupings like the Slavic or Bantu languages, that ISO 639-1 was never designed to hold. Unlike ISO 639-1 and ISO 639-3, which continue to see new codes added as languages are documented or gain broader digital use, ISO 639-2 is effectively closed to new individual-language codes. New additions are now handled through ISO 639-3, and ISO 639-2 is retained mainly so that legacy library, archival, and bibliographic systems built around it keep working.

Where ISO 639-2 Codes Are Used

Mainly libraries, archives, and cataloging systems. ISO 639-2 codes are embedded throughout MARC records and other bibliographic metadata used by the Library of Congress and library systems worldwide. That's a different audience from ISO 639-1, which is the standard web browsers, operating systems, and localization tooling reach for instead.

ISO 639-1 is the tier built for web and software localization, and ISO 639-3 is the tier built for comprehensive language identification. ISO 639-2 matters specifically when integrating with, or supplying metadata to, a library or archival system that still expects its three-letter codes, and occasionally its bibliographic/terminologic distinction. That includes language-services and localization vendors whenever they connect to a library, museum, or academic client's existing cataloging systems.

Related ISO 639 Code Resources

Each tier of the ISO 639 family fits a different use case. These companion pages cover the other three:

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the Difference Between the Bibliographic (639-2/B) and Terminology (639-2/T) Codes?

For most languages the two are identical, but 20 languages have two distinct three-letter codes. The classic example is Persian: its bibliographic (639-2/B) code is per, while its terminology (639-2/T) code is fas, which is also the code used at the ISO 639-3 tier. French shows the same split, fre bibliographic versus fra terminology, as does German (ger/deu) and Chinese (chi/zho). The bibliographic code was historically used by library cataloging systems; the terminology code is the one favored for newer, terminology-focused applications. This page shows the terminologic code only where it differs from the bibliographic one; when they're identical, the terminologic column is left blank rather than repeating the same value.

Is ISO 639-2 Still Being Updated with New Codes?

Not with new individual-language codes. ISO 639-3 is now the actively maintained, comprehensive registry for new and newly documented languages, so ISO 639-2 is kept largely stable and retained mainly to support legacy library and bibliographic systems that were built around its three-letter codes.

Is ISO 639-2 the Same as BCP 47 or ISO 3166 Country Codes?

No to both. ISO 3166-1 codes identify countries and regions, not languages. A three-letter ISO 639-2 code like fre for French has nothing to do with a country code. BCP 47 is a language-tagging format that combines an ISO 639 language subtag with optional script and region subtags, as in en-US. ISO 639-2 codes can in principle supply the language part of such a tag, but in practice BCP 47 tags almost always use the shorter ISO 639-1 code when one is available.

How Many ISO 639-2 Codes Have a Matching ISO 639-1 Two-Letter Equivalent, and How Many Don't?

Of the 487 codes in ISO 639-2, 183 have a matching two-letter ISO 639-1 equivalent, shown in this table's ISO 639-1 Code column. The remaining 304 exist only at the three-letter tier or higher, at ISO 639-3. Some are individual languages ISO 639-1 never got around to covering, and others are language-collection codes, groupings like the Slavic or Niger-Kordofanian languages, that ISO 639-1 was never designed to hold in the first place.

Why Does This Table Show Language Names in English and French?

Every entry in this table carries a name in both English and French because those are ISO's two official languages for publishing its standards, not because the underlying language set is limited to those two. The Library of Congress, which maintains the source file this page is built from, publishes ISO 639-2 names bilingually as a matter of ISO convention. The 487 codes themselves still cover major and minor languages, and entire language families, from every region of the world, regardless of what language their labels happen to be written in.

Do I Need an ISO 639-2 Code to Use Boostlingo's List of Supported Languages?

No. Boostlingo's list of supported languages is organized by language name, not by ISO code.