xsd:language

The type xsd:language represents a natural language identifier, generally used to indicate the language of a document or a part of a document. Before creating a new attribute of type xsd:language, consider using the xml:lang attribute that is intended to indicate the natural language of the element and its content.

Values of the xsd:language type conform to RFC 3066, Tags for the Identification of Languages. The three most common formats are:

• For ISO-recognized languages, the format is a two- or three-letter, (usually lowercase) language code that conforms to ISO 639, optionally followed by a hyphen and a two-letter, (usually uppercase) country code that conforms to ISO 3166. For example, en or en-US.

• For languages registered by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the format is i-langname, where langname is the registered name. For example, i-navajo.

• For unofficial languages, the format is x-langname, where langname is a name of up to eight characters agreed upon by the two parties sharing the document. For example, x-Newspeak.

Any of these three formats may have additional parts, each preceded by a hyphen, which identify additional countries or dialects. Schema processors will not verify that values of the xsd:language type conform to the above rules. They will simply validate based on the pattern specified for this type.