Adding a language not in the drop-down list

I am trying to add a book for which the original language is Middle Welsh, but the option does not appear in the (longer form) list of options.

Since Middle English, Middle French, Middle High German and Old Irish ARE listed, it is clear that we are meant to distinguish between modern languages and their ancestors.

So how do I enter Middle Welsh into the Original Languages field, please?

You don't. This is a set list that comes from outside LT.

You pick the closest that is on the list. Technically you can add a RSI and maybe one day (tomorrow or in 10 years) it will be added but LT has the standard list and adding other languages is not happening usually. The list is based on the ISO standards and they are not as ordered as you expect them to be - some of the middle versions are in that standard, some are in the much more comprehensive one which contain every single language under the Sun. Grabbing a language from that second set is not trivial if your implementation is based on the first (Or based on someone else’s implementation of it).

So for that specific book now - pick the closest language and use tags and notes to remind yourself that this one is different.

I don't really like that list either (I would like to be able to distinguish between Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom Egyptian, for instance), but as mentioned above it's not an LT derived thing.

>3 AnnieMod: Thank you that explanation.

Purely out of curiosity, could you point me towards any information on how the ISO list was formed?

Middle Welsh is wlm on ISO 639-3.

LT uses ISO 639-2 which is controlled by the Library of Congress and I guess that Middle Welsh is a massive oversight as there is quite a lot of extant Middle Welsh works.

I guess that Tim could fairly easily use ISO639-3* (all the codes are still 3 characters). The problem is the total list is approximately 20 times as long as the current one - which is obviously a huge list which would impact the usability of the simple dropdown we currently have. I think that changes to the UI could be made so that it isn't that painful** - but it would be a change and I guess UI/UX changes are being stored up for when the main core pages get redone as has been promised or after.

Adding languages on an ad-hoc basis from ISO639-3 would also be possible and maybe it might be worth raising an RSI for adding mwl.

* Controlled by SIL International
** I would keep a simple dropdown for the most common languages, but switch to a different UI component for all languages.

>5 -pilgrim-: 639-2 which LT uses has a bit under 500 languages. 639-3 which is the comprehensive one has about 8,000. Loading that kind of a list all of the time will kill performance if the code of LT is not built for it. Most sites, unless they are specifically dealing with linguistics use the 639-1 standard or -2 if they deal with more than the usual languages( libraries are usually on -2 for original language). Some add some manual changes from -3 but the whole standard is just too vast to be practical. The -3 standard aims to have every language under the sun - past and present but that is juts too wide for practical purposes.

>6 andyl: thanks for posting this. :)

As for how they got split that way - they were created by different organizations for different reasons. -2 was an extension of the previously existing -1 stand at that has about 185 languages and is enough for a lot of things, covering most major ones. Both -1 and -2 have curious gaps that make you scratch your head. :)

There are ways to code around that (manual additional of -3 codes a s lookup only if the code is typed for example). Or preload a small list. We need an RSI and maybe a solution will be found.

Wikipedia has good enough articles for both and they can get you to other sources. I can also look through my links and see what I can post alter if you are still curious.

One of the other problems with the current list is how hard it is to find what you want if you don't use it regularly. Most languages with a Middle are listed Language (middle), but for some reason Middle Irish is in M.

Would it be possible to have a free-text option in the current drop down?

>9 Crypto-Willobie: Open an RSI - only someone from LT can answer that :)

>6 andyl:, >7 AnnieMod: Thank you both for the detailed explanations. Much appreciated.