Collective Languages
See also: ISO 639-2#Collective language codes and ISO 639-5"A collective language code element is an identifier that represents a group of individual languages that are not deemed to be one language in any usage context." These codes do not precisely represent a particular language or macrolanguage.
While ISO 639-2 includes three-letter identifiers for collective languages, these codes are excluded from ISO 639-3. Hence ISO 639-3 is not a superset of ISO 639-2.
ISO 639-5 defines 3-letter collective codes for language families and groups.
Read more about this topic: ISO 639-3
Famous quotes containing the words collective and/or languages:
“For decades to come the spy world will continue to be the collective couch where the subconscious of each nation is confessed.”
—John le Carré (b. 1931)
“I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigree of nations.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)