Wiktionary:Languages

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According to our Criteria for inclusion, Wiktionary is intended to include all words in all languages.

Languages may be differentiated through their names, or by codes formed by a few letters.

See Wiktionary:Dialects and Wiktionary:Families for discussions of dialects and of language families, respectively.

Language codes

Language codes are found in topical categories, language-exclusive templates, etymologies, among other pages. There are also situations where language names are used instead.

Each language code is stored in a different template, the name being the code itself. When the template is called, the result is the language name, which may or not be automatically linked to the related Wiktionary entry. For example, when called, the template {{vot}} returns Votic. All language code templates are at Category:Language templates. The space of three letter templates is reserved, with a few exceptions, for language code templates as they do change through time. .

Code assignment

• Wiktionary language codes come primarily from ISO 639-1, a series of two-letter codes which covers 136 major languages. For other languages, we use ISO 639-3, a series of three-letter codes which grew out of the Ethnologue codes and covers thousands of languages. When, according to our criteria for inclusion, a language is constructed and merits to be defined only in appendices, its template is prefixed with conl:. When a language is a reconstructed ancestor of all languages of a family, its template is prefixed with proto:.

  Examples:

  en is stored at {{en}} and represents English.

  fa is stored at {{fa}} and represents Persian.

  ang is stored at {{ang}} and represents Old English.

  cmn is stored at {{cmn}} and represents Mandarin.

  sjn is stored at {{conl:sjn}} and represents Sindarin.

  gem=pro is stored at {{proto:gem-pro}} and represents Proto-Germanic.

• An exceptional language code may simply come from ISO 639-2, from deprecated ISO 639-1, from deprecated ISO 639-3 or from the Wikimedia language codes.

  Examples:

  cbk-zam is stored at {{cbk-zam}} and represents Zamboanga Chavacano.

  mo is stored at {{mo}} and represents Template:mo.

  nah is stored at {{nah}} and represents Nahuatl.

  nds-nl is stored at {{nds-nl}} and represents Dutch Low Saxon.

  sh is stored at {{sh}} and represents Serbo-Croatian.

• Otherwise, the exceptional language code must start with a related ISO 639-5 code. Then, it must be followed by - (an ordinary hyphen) and an extension formed by a few lower case letters. (Therefore, no digits, upper case letters, etc; IANA tags allow these, case independent, but Mediawiki software is more restrictive.)

  Examples:

  cpe-spp is stored at {{cpe-spp}} and represents Samoan Plantation Pidgin.

  roa-gal is stored at {{roa-gal}} and represents Gallo.

  zls-mon is stored at {{zls-mon}} and represents Montenegrin.

• Any specific code derived from community consensus and not directly from ISO, is an exceptional code.

  Examples:

  zh is stored at {{zh}} and represents Mandarin (not Chinese, due to consensus).

  zhx-zho is stored at {{zhx-zho}} and represents Chinese.

Finding the code for a language

If you don't know the code for a language, you can look it up at Wiktionary:Index to templates/languages. That page lists all possible language codes used on Wiktionary, along with their names. The page is very long, however, and it may be very slow to load on less powerful computers. It is also not possible to automate it in this way using templates.

For that reason the template {{langrev}} can be used instead. It takes one parameter, which is the name of the language, and it returns the code if there is one, or nothing if it can't find any code for that language. So, for example, {{langrev|English}} becomes en, which is the language code for English. To use it, you can either include it on a page and preview or submit it (preferably in the Sandbox), or you can go to Special:ExpandTemplates and type it in there.

Language names

Language names are found in entry translations, lexical categories, appendices, rhymes, among other pages. There are also situations where language codes are used instead.

• All language names should be defined as English words in their respective Wiktionary entries.
• Each language is consistently referred by only one name, to be used in translations, etymologies and elsewhere. When there are two or more possible names, one of them is chosen.
• The name is chosen by consensus. Common guidelines are to avoid abbreviations, the words "Modern" and "Standard", diacritics and parentheses when possible.
• Multiple names of languages should also eventually be listed in the sections synonyms or alternative forms at each entry.
• Language names from language codes may be linked, to become easier to find information about these languages as Wiktionary entries. Most of them are linked by default, except for those listed at Wiktionary:Translations/Wikification.

List of languages

List of languages with exceptional codes

Name	Wikipedia article	Wiktionary code	Comments
!Kung	w:!Kung language	khi-kun {{khi-kun}}	!Kung may be considered a group of dialects or related languages.
Ammonite	w:Ammonite language	sem-amm {{sem-amm}}
Banyumasan	w:Banyumasan language	map-bms {{map-bms}}
Bunurong	w:Bunurong language	aus-bun {{aus-bun}}
Chinese	w:Chinese language	zhx-zho {{zhx-zho}}	The code zh is ISO 639-1 for Chinese, though recognized as Mandarin due to consensus.
Darkinjung	w:Darkinjung language	aus-dar {{aus-dar}}
Dutch Low Saxon	w:Dutch Low Saxon	nds-nl {{nds-nl}}	Wikimedia uses the code nds-nl for Dutch Low Saxon language projects.
Gabi	w:Pama-Nyungan languages#Classification and Languages	aus-gab {{aus-gab}}
Gallo	w:Gallo language	roa-gal {{roa-gal}}	Gallo may be considered a dialect of French or an individual language.
Gaulish	w:Gaulish language	cel-gau {{cel-gau}}
Greenlandic Eskimo Pidgin	w:Indigenous languages of the Americas#Pidgins, mixed languages and trade languages	crp-gep {{crp-gep}}
Guernésiais	w:Guernésiais	roa-grn {{roa-grn}}	Guernésiais may be considered a dialect of Norman, a dialect of French or an individual language.
Gunai	w:Gunai language	aus-gun {{aus-gun}}	Gunai may be considered a group of dialects or related languages.
Gutnish	w:Modern Gutnish	gmq-gut {{gmq-gut}}	Gutnish is the modern version of Old Gutnish.
Jèrriais	w:Jèrriais	roa-jer {{roa-jer}}	Jèrriais may be considered a dialect of Norman, a dialect of French or an individual language.
Leonese	w:Leonese language	roa-leo {{roa-leo}}
Mandarin	w:Mandarin Chinese	zh {{zh}}	There is the ISO 639-1 code cmn for Mandarin. The code cmn should be used always; zh is merely an alternative to be avoided. The code zh is ISO 639-1 for Chinese, though recognized as Mandarin due to consensus.
Maroon Spirit Language	w:Jamaican Maroon Spirit Possession Language	cpe-mar {{cpe-mar}}
Middle Chinese	w:Middle Chinese	zhx-mid {{zhx-mid}}
Middle Norwegian	w:Norwegian language#From Old Norse to distinct Scandinavian languages	gmq-mno {{gmq-mno}}
Mingo	w:Mingo	iro-min {{iro-min}}
Moldavian	w:Moldovan language	mo {{mo}}	Moldavian may be considered a dialect of Romanian or an individual language. The ISO 639-1 code mo and the ISO 639-3 code mol for Moldavian are no longer active.
Montenegrin	w:Montenegrin language	zls-mon {{zls-mon}}	Montenegrin may be considered a dialect of Serbian, a dialect of Serbo-Croatian or an individual language. Montenegrin is currently in the process of being standardized, has an official orthography, and a request for its own ISO code has been submitted.
Nahuatl	w:Nahuatl	nah {{nah}}	Nahuatl may be considered a group of dialects or related languages. There is the ISO 639-2 or ISO 639-5 code nah for Nahuatl. Wikimedia uses the code nah for Nahuatl language projects. The result of a RFDO discussion [1] was to keep the language category.
Norfuk	w:Norfuk language	cpe-nor {{cpe-nor}}	Norfuk and Pitkern may be considered related languages or a single language.
Norman	w:Norman language	roa-nor {{roa-nor}}	Norman may be considered a dialect of French or an individual language. Wikimedia uses the code nrm for Norman language projects, but the ISO 639-3 code nrm is assigned to Narom language instead.
Old Danish	w:Old Danish	gmq-oda {{gmq-oda}}
Old Novgorod dialect	w:Old Novgorod dialect	zle-nov {{zle-nov}}
Old Polish	w:Old Polish language	zlw-opl {{zlw-opl}}
Old Portuguese	w:Galician Portuguese	roa-ptg {{roa-ptg}}
Old Swedish	w:Swedish language#Old Swedish	gmq-osw {{gmq-osw}}
Phuthi	w:Phuthi language	bnt-phu {{bnt-phu}}
Picuris	w:Picuris language	nai-pic {{nai-pic}}
Pitkern	w:Pitkern	cpe-pit {{cpe-pit}}	Norfuk and Pitkern may be considered related languages or a single language.
Pomeranian	w:Pomeranian language	zlw-pom {{zlw-pom}}
Russenorsk	w:Russenorsk	crp-rsn {{crp-rsn}}
Samoan Plantation Pidgin	w:Samoan Plantation Pidgin	cpe-spp {{cpe-spp}}
Serbo-Croatian	w:Serbo-Croatian language	sh {{sh}}	Serbo-Croatian may be considered a group of languages (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian; Montenegrin may also be included) or an individual language. The ISO 639-1 code sh for Serbo-Croatian is no longer active. There is the ISO 639-3 code hbs for Serbo-Croatian. Wikimedia uses the code sh for Serbo-Croatian language projects.
Slovincian	w:Slovincian	zlw-slv {{zlw-slv}}	Slovincian may be considered a dialect of Kashubian, a dialect of Pomeranian, a dialect of Polish or an individual language.
Sydney	w:Sydney language	aus-syd {{aus-syd}}	Sydney language is also known by several other names (see Wiktionary:Language names), including "Dharuk".
Syrian Arabic	w:Syrian Arabic	sem-syr {{sem-syr}}
Taimyr Pidgin Russian		crp-tpr {{crp-tpr}}
Tarantino	w:Tarantino language	roa-tar {{roa-tar}}
Wemba-Wemba	w:Wemba-Wemba	aus-wem {{aus-wem}}
Woiwurrung	w:Woiwurrung language	aus-wwg {{aus-wwg}}
Zamboanga Chavacano	w:Chavacano language#Zamboangueño	cbk-zam {{cbk-zam}}	Wikimedia uses the code cbk-zam for Zamboanga Chavacano language projects.

List of appendix-only constructed languages

Name	Wikipedia article	Wiktionary code	Comments
A Programming Language	w:APL (programming language)	art-apl {{conl:art-apl}}
Eloi language	w:Eloi language	art-elo {{conl:art-elo}}
Hyper Text Markup Language	w:HTML	art-html {{conl:art-html}}
Klingon	w:Klingon language	tlh {{conl:tlh}}
Láadan	w:Láadan	ldn {{conl:ldn}}
Lapine	w:Lapine language	art-lap {{conl:art-lap}}
Mandalorian	w:Mandalorian#Language	art-man {{conl:art-man}}
Mundolinco	w:Mundolinco	art-mun {{conl:art-mun}}
Na'vi	w:Na'vi language	art-nav {{conl:art-nav}}
Neo	w:Neo (constructed language)	art-neo {{conl:art-neo}}
Quenya	w:Quenya	qya {{conl:qya}}
Sindarin	w:Sindarin	sjn {{conl:sjn}}
Toki Pona	w:Toki Pona	art-top {{conl:art-top}}

See also

• Wiktionary:Dialects
• Wiktionary:Families