2 Letter Language Codes or ISO 639

2 Letter Language Codes or ISO 639

kenneth parnell ·

 

Ever wonder what the two digit means on the website your visiting, or need the code for a website project?  Your in luck the codes are all below in this handy chart! You might also find our Language to Country Chart or Country to Language chart helpful! 

ISO 639 is a standardized nomenclature used to classify languages. Each language is assigned a two-letter (639-1) and three-letter (639-2 and 639-3), lowercase abbreviation, amended in later versions of the nomenclature.

This table lists all of:

And some of:

  • ISO 639-2/T: three-letter codes, for the same languages as 639-1
  • ISO 639-2/B: three-letter codes, mostly the same as 639-2/T, but with some codes derived from English names rather than native names of languages (in the following table, these differing codes are highlighted in boldface)
  • ISO 639-3: three-letter codes, the same as 639-2/T for languages, but with distinct codes for each variety of an ISO 639 macrolanguage

Note: Colors on the leftmost column represent the language family mentioned in second column.

Language family ISO language name Native name (endonym) 639-1 639-2/T 639-2/B 639-3 Notes
Northwest Caucasian Abkhazian аҧсуа бызшәа, аҧсшәа ab abk abk abk also known as Abkhaz
Afro-Asiatic Afar Afaraf aa aar aar aar
Indo-European Afrikaans Afrikaans af afr afr afr
Niger–Congo Akan Akan ak aka aka aka + 2 macrolanguage, Twi is [tw/twi], Fanti is [fat]
Indo-European Albanian Shqip sq sqi alb sqi + 4 macrolanguage, "Albanian Phylozone" in 639-6
Afro-Asiatic Amharic አማርኛ am amh amh amh
Afro-Asiatic Arabic
العربية
ar ara ara ara + 30 macrolanguage, Standard Arabic is [arb]
Indo-European Aragonese aragonés an arg arg arg
Indo-European Armenian Հայերեն hy hye arm hye also known as Հայերէն; ISO 639-3 code "hye" is for Eastern Armenian, "hyw" is for Western Armenian, and "xcl" is for Classical Armenian
Indo-European Assamese অসমীয়া as asm asm asm
Northeast Caucasian Avaric авар мацӀ, магӀарул мацӀ av ava ava ava also known as Avar
Indo-European Avestan avesta ae ave ave ave ancient
Aymaran Aymara aymar aru ay aym aym aym + 2 macrolanguage
Turkic Azerbaijani azərbaycan dili az aze aze aze + 2 macrolanguage
Niger–Congo Bambara bamanankan bm bam bam bam
Turkic Bashkir башҡорт теле ba bak bak bak
Language isolate Basque euskara, euskera eu eus baq eus
Indo-European Belarusian беларуская мова be bel bel bel
Indo-European Bengali বাংলা bn ben ben ben also known as Bangla
Indo-European Bihari languages भोजपुरी bh bih bih collective language code for Bhojpuri, Magahi, and Maithili
Creole Bislama Bislama bi bis bis bis Language formed from English and Ni-Vanuatu, with some French influence.
Indo-European Bosnian bosanski jezik bs bos bos bos
Indo-European Breton brezhoneg br bre bre bre
Indo-European Bulgarian български език bg bul bul bul
Sino-Tibetan Burmese ဗမာစာ my mya bur mya
Indo-European Catalan, Valencian català, valencià ca cat cat cat
Austronesian Chamorro Chamoru ch cha cha cha
Northeast Caucasian Chechen нохчийн мотт ce che che che
Niger–Congo Chichewa, Chewa, Nyanja chiCheŵa, chinyanja ny nya nya nya
Sino-Tibetan Chinese 中文 (Zhōngwén), 汉语, 漢語 zh zho chi zho + 13 macrolanguage
Turkic Chuvash чӑваш чӗлхи cv chv chv chv
Indo-European Cornish Kernewek kw cor cor cor
Indo-European Corsican corsu, lingua corsa co cos cos cos
Algonquian Cree ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ cr cre cre cre + 6 macrolanguage
Indo-European Croatian hrvatski jezik hr hrv hrv hrv
Indo-European Czech čeština, český jazyk cs ces cze ces
Indo-European Danish dansk da dan dan dan
Indo-European Divehi, Dhivehi, Maldivian
ދިވެހި
dv div div div
Indo-European Dutch, Flemish Nederlands, Vlaams nl nld dut nld
Sino-Tibetan Dzongkha རྫོང་ཁ dz dzo dzo dzo
Indo-European English English en eng eng eng
Constructed Esperanto Esperanto eo epo epo epo constructed, initiated from L.L. Zamenhof, 1887
Uralic Estonian eesti, eesti keel et est est est + 2 macrolanguage
Niger–Congo Ewe Eʋegbe ee ewe ewe ewe
Indo-European Faroese føroyskt fo fao fao fao
Austronesian Fijian vosa Vakaviti fj fij fij fij
Uralic Finnish suomi, suomen kieli fi fin fin fin
Indo-European French français, langue française fr fra fre fra
Niger–Congo Fulah Fulfulde, Pulaar, Pular ff ful ful ful + 9 macrolanguage, also known as Fula
Indo-European Galician Galego gl glg glg glg
South Caucasian Georgian ქართული ka kat geo kat
Indo-European German Deutsch de deu ger deu
Indo-European Greek (modern) ελληνικά el ell gre ell
Tupian Guaraní Avañe'ẽ gn grn grn grn + 5 macrolanguage
Indo-European Gujarati ગુજરાતી gu guj guj guj
Creole Haitian, Haitian Creole Kreyòl ayisyen ht hat hat hat
Afro-Asiatic Hausa
(Hausa) هَوُسَ
ha hau hau hau
Afro-Asiatic Hebrew (modern)
עברית
he heb heb heb Changed in 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, iw[1]
Niger–Congo Herero Otjiherero hz her her her
Indo-European Hindi हिन्दी, हिंदी hi hin hin hin
Austronesian Hiri Motu Hiri Motu ho hmo hmo hmo
Uralic Hungarian magyar hu hun hun hun
Constructed Interlingua Interlingua ia ina ina ina constructed by International Auxiliary Language Association
Austronesian Indonesian Bahasa Indonesia id ind ind ind Covered by macrolanguage [ms/msa]. Changed in 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, in[1].
Constructed Interlingue Originally called Occidental; then Interlingue after WWII ie ile ile ile constructed by Edgar de Wahl, first published in 1922
Indo-European Irish Gaeilge ga gle gle gle
Niger–Congo Igbo Asụsụ Igbo ig ibo ibo ibo
Eskimo–Aleut Inupiaq Iñupiaq, Iñupiatun ik ipk ipk ipk + 2 macrolanguage
Constructed Ido Ido io ido ido ido constructed by De Beaufront, 1907, as variation of Esperanto
Indo-European Icelandic Íslenska is isl ice isl
Indo-European Italian Italiano it ita ita ita
Eskimo–Aleut Inuktitut ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ iu iku iku iku + 2 macrolanguage
Japonic Japanese 日本語 (にほんご) ja jpn jpn jpn
Austronesian Javanese ꦧꦱꦗꦮ, Basa Jawa jv jav jav jav
Eskimo–Aleut Kalaallisut, Greenlandic kalaallisut, kalaallit oqaasii kl kal kal kal
Dravidian Kannada ಕನ್ನಡ kn kan kan kan
Nilo-Saharan Kanuri Kanuri kr kau kau kau + 3 macrolanguage
Indo-European Kashmiri कश्मीरी, كشميري ks kas kas kas
Turkic Kazakh қазақ тілі kk kaz kaz kaz
Austroasiatic Central Khmer ខ្មែរ, ខេមរភាសា, ភាសាខ្មែរ km khm khm khm also known as Khmer or Cambodian
Niger–Congo Kikuyu, Gikuyu Gĩkũyũ ki kik kik kik
Niger–Congo Kinyarwanda Ikinyarwanda rw kin kin kin
Turkic Kirghiz, Kyrgyz Кыргызча, Кыргыз тили ky kir kir kir
Uralic Komi коми кыв kv kom kom kom + 2 macrolanguage
Niger–Congo Kongo Kikongo kg kon kon kon + 3 macrolanguage
Koreanic Korean 한국어 ko kor kor kor
Indo-European Kurdish Kurdî, کوردی ku kur kur kur + 3 macrolanguage
Niger–Congo Kuanyama, Kwanyama Kuanyama kj kua kua kua
Indo-European Latin latine, lingua latina la lat lat lat ancient
Indo-European Luxembourgish, Letzeburgesch Lëtzebuergesch lb ltz ltz ltz
Niger–Congo Ganda Luganda lg lug lug lug
Indo-European Limburgan, Limburger, Limburgish Limburgs li lim lim lim
Niger–Congo Lingala Lingála ln lin lin lin
Tai–Kadai Lao ພາສາລາວ lo lao lao lao
Indo-European Lithuanian lietuvių kalba lt lit lit lit
Niger–Congo Luba-Katanga Kiluba lu lub lub lub also known as Luba-Shaba
Indo-European Latvian latviešu valoda lv lav lav lav + 2 macrolanguage
Indo-European Manx Gaelg, Gailck gv glv glv glv
Indo-European Macedonian македонски јазик mk mkd mac mkd
Austronesian Malagasy fiteny malagasy mg mlg mlg mlg + 10 macrolanguage
Austronesian Malay Bahasa Melayu, بهاس ملايو ms msa may msa + 13 macrolanguage, Standard Malay is [zsm], Indonesian is [id/ind]
Dravidian Malayalam മലയാളം ml mal mal mal
Afro-Asiatic Maltese Malti mt mlt mlt mlt
Austronesian Maori te reo Māori mi mri mao mri also known as Māori
Indo-European Marathi मराठी mr mar mar mar also known as Marāṭhī
Austronesian Marshallese Kajin M̧ajeļ mh mah mah mah
Mongolic Mongolian Монгол хэл mn mon mon mon + 2 macrolanguage
Austronesian Nauru Dorerin Naoero na nau nau nau also known as Nauruan
Dené–Yeniseian Navajo, Navaho Diné bizaad nv nav nav nav
Niger–Congo North Ndebele isiNdebele nd nde nde nde also known as Northern Ndebele
Indo-European Nepali नेपाली ne nep nep nep
Niger–Congo Ndonga Owambo ng ndo ndo ndo
Indo-European Norwegian Bokmål Norsk Bokmål nb nob nob nob Covered by macrolanguage [no/nor]
Indo-European Norwegian Nynorsk Norsk Nynorsk nn nno nno nno Covered by macrolanguage [no/nor]
Indo-European Norwegian Norsk no nor nor nor + 2 macrolanguage, Bokmål is [nb/nob], Nynorsk is [nn/nno]
Sino-Tibetan Sichuan Yi, Nuosu ꆈꌠ꒿ Nuosuhxop ii iii iii iii Standard form of Yi languages
Niger–Congo South Ndebele isiNdebele nr nbl nbl nbl also known as Southern Ndebele
Indo-European Occitan occitan, lenga d'òc oc oci oci oci
Algonquian Ojibwa ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᒧᐎᓐ oj oji oji oji + 7 macrolanguage, also known as Ojibwe
Indo-European Church Slavic, Church Slavonic, Old Church Slavonic, Old Slavonic, Old Bulgarian ѩзыкъ словѣньскъ cu chu chu chu ancient, in use by Orthodox Church
Afro-Asiatic Oromo Afaan Oromoo om orm orm orm + 4 macrolanguage
Indo-European Oriya ଓଡ଼ିଆ or ori ori ori also known as Odia
Indo-European Ossetian, Ossetic ирон æвзаг os oss oss oss
Indo-European Panjabi, Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ pa pan pan pan
Indo-European Pali पाऴि pi pli pli pli ancient, also known as Pāli
Indo-European Persian
فارسی
fa fas per fas + 2 macrolanguage, also known as Farsi
Indo-European Polish język polski, polszczyzna pl pol pol pol
Indo-European Pashto, Pushto
پښتو
ps pus pus pus + 3 macrolanguage
Indo-European Portuguese Português pt por por por
Quechuan Quechua Runa Simi, Kichwa qu que que que + 44 macrolanguage
Indo-European Romansh Rumantsch Grischun rm roh roh roh
Niger–Congo Rundi Ikirundi rn run run run also known as Kirundi
Indo-European Romanian, Moldavian, Moldovan Română ro ron rum ron The identifiers mo and mol are deprecated, leaving ro and ron (639-2/T) and rum (639-2/B) the current language identifiers to be used for the variant of the Romanian language also known as Moldavian and Moldovan in English and moldave in French. The identifiers mo and mol will not be assigned to different items, and recordings using these identifiers will not be invalid.
Indo-European Russian русский ru rus rus rus
Indo-European Sanskrit संस्कृतम् sa san san san ancient, still spoken, also known as Saṃskṛta
Indo-European Sardinian sardu sc srd srd srd + 4 macrolanguage
Indo-European Sindhi सिन्धी, سنڌي، سندھی sd snd snd snd
Uralic Northern Sami Davvisámegiella se sme sme sme
Austronesian Samoan gagana fa'a Samoa sm smo smo smo
Creole Sango yângâ tî sängö sg sag sag sag
Indo-European Serbian српски језик sr srp srp srp The ISO 639-2/T code srp deprecated the ISO 639-2/B code scc[2]
Indo-European Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic Gàidhlig gd gla gla gla
Niger–Congo Shona chiShona sn sna sna sna
Indo-European Sinhala, Sinhalese සිංහල si sin sin sin
Indo-European Slovak Slovenčina, Slovenský Jazyk sk slk slo slk
Indo-European Slovene Slovenski Jezik, Slovenščina sl slv slv slv also known as Slovenian
Afro-Asiatic Somali Soomaaliga, af Soomaali so som som som
Niger–Congo Southern Sotho Sesotho st sot sot sot
Indo-European Spanish, Castilian Español es spa spa spa
Austronesian Sundanese Basa Sunda su sun sun sun
Niger–Congo Swahili Kiswahili sw swa swa swa + 2 macrolanguage
Niger–Congo Swati SiSwati ss ssw ssw ssw also known as Swazi
Indo-European Swedish Svenska sv swe swe swe
Dravidian Tamil தமிழ் ta tam tam tam
Dravidian Telugu తెలుగు te tel tel tel
Indo-European Tajik тоҷикӣ, toçikī, تاجیکی tg tgk tgk tgk
Tai–Kadai Thai ไทย th tha tha tha
Afro-Asiatic Tigrinya ትግርኛ ti tir tir tir
Sino-Tibetan Tibetan བོད་ཡིག bo bod tib bod also known as Standard Tibetan
Turkic Turkmen Türkmen, Түркмен tk tuk tuk tuk
Austronesian Tagalog Wikang Tagalog tl tgl tgl tgl Note: Filipino (Pilipino) has the code [fil]
Niger–Congo Tswana Setswana tn tsn tsn tsn
Austronesian Tongan (Tonga Islands) Faka Tonga to ton ton ton
Turkic Turkish Türkçe tr tur tur tur
Niger–Congo Tsonga Xitsonga ts tso tso tso
Turkic Tatar татар теле, tatar tele tt tat tat tat
Niger–Congo Twi Twi tw twi twi twi Covered by macrolanguage [ak/aka]
Austronesian Tahitian Reo Tahiti ty tah tah tah One of the Reo Mā`ohi (languages of French Polynesia)
Turkic Uighur, Uyghur ئۇيغۇرچە‎, Uyghurche ug uig uig uig
Indo-European Ukrainian Українська uk ukr ukr ukr
Indo-European Urdu
اردو
ur urd urd urd
Turkic Uzbek Oʻzbek, Ўзбек, أۇزبېك uz uzb uzb uzb + 2 macrolanguage
Niger–Congo Venda Tshivenḓa ve ven ven ven
Austroasiatic Vietnamese Tiếng Việt vi vie vie vie
Constructed Volapük Volapük vo vol vol vol constructed
Indo-European Walloon Walon wa wln wln wln
Indo-European Welsh Cymraeg cy cym wel cym
Niger–Congo Wolof Wollof wo wol wol wol
Indo-European Western Frisian Frysk fy fry fry fry also known as Frisian
Niger–Congo Xhosa isiXhosa xh xho xho xho
Indo-European Yiddish
ייִדיש
yi yid yid yid + 2 macrolanguage. Changed in 1989 from original ISO 639:1988, ji.[1]
Niger–Congo Yoruba Yorùbá yo yor yor yor
Tai–Kadai Zhuang, Chuang Saɯ cueŋƅ, Saw cuengh za zha zha zha + 16 macrolanguage
Niger–Congo Zulu isiZulu zu zul zul zul