ISO 15924

"ISO 15924"
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ISO 15924 is an international standard that provides codes for the representation of names of scripts. It is maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was first published in 2004. The standard assigns four-letter codes to scripts, which are used in various applications, including Unicode and IRIs.

Overview

ISO 15924 is part of a series of standards that deal with the representation of names and codes for various entities. It is specifically focused on scripts, which are sets of graphic characters used for the written form of one or more languages. The standard provides a unique four-letter code for each script, which facilitates the identification and classification of scripts in digital and non-digital contexts.

The codes are used in conjunction with other standards, such as ISO 639 for languages and ISO 3166 for countries, to provide a comprehensive system for the representation of linguistic and cultural data.

Structure of the Codes

Each script is assigned a four-letter code, which is derived from the name of the script. For example, the Latin script is assigned the code "Latn", the Cyrillic script is "Cyrl", and the Arabic script is "Arab". These codes are designed to be mnemonic and easily recognizable.

In addition to the four-letter codes, ISO 15924 also provides numeric codes for scripts. These numeric codes are three digits long and are used in situations where numeric representation is preferred or required.

Applications

ISO 15924 codes are widely used in various technological and linguistic applications. They are an integral part of the Unicode standard, which uses these codes to identify the script of each character. This is essential for the correct rendering and processing of text in different scripts.

The codes are also used in IRIs, which are an extension of URIs that allow the use of characters from the entire range of scripts defined by Unicode.

Maintenance and Updates

The ISO 15924 standard is maintained by the ISO 15924/RA (Registration Authority), which is responsible for the assignment of new codes and the updating of existing ones. The RA ensures that the standard remains up-to-date with the evolving landscape of scripts and writing systems.

Also see

• ISO 639 - Codes for the representation of names of languages
• ISO 3166 - Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions
• Unicode - A computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text
• Internationalized Resource Identifier

External links

• ISO 15924 at ISO.org
• ISO 15924 Registration Authority