ISO 15924

ISO 15924, Codes for the representation of names of scripts, defines two sets of codes for a number of writing systems (scripts). Each script is given both a four-letter code and a numeric one.[1] Script is defined as "set of graphic characters used for the written form of one or more languages".[1]

Where possible the codes are derived from ISO 639-2 where the name of a script and the name of a language using the script are identical (example: Gujarātī ISO 639 guj, ISO 15924 Gujr). Preference is given to the 639-2 Bibliographical codes, which is different from the otherwise often preferred use of the Terminological codes.[1]

4-letter ISO 15924 codes are incorporated into the Language Subtag Registry for IETF language tags and so can be used in file formats that make use of such language tags. For example, they can be used in HTML and XML to help Web browsers determine which typeface to use for foreign text. This way one could differentiate, for example, between Serbian written in the Cyrillic (sr-Cyrl) or Latin (sr-Latn) script, or mark romanized text as such.

Maintenance

ISO has appointed the Unicode Consortium as the Registration Authority (RA) for the standard. In 2004, the RA appointed Michael Everson to act as Registrar. The Registrar works with a Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) in developing and implementing the standard.[2] The JAC contains six members: the Registrar, one member from the Library of Congress, one from Standards Norway, one from the French Encyclopaedia Universalis, an officer of Unicode, and a member of Unicode. These individuals represent the interests of the ISO 15924 RA, the ISO 639-2 RA, ISO Technical Committee 37, ISO Technical Committee 46, and the ISO Coded Character Set Sub-Committee, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2.[3]

Script codes

Numeric ranges

• 000–099 Hieroglyphic and cuneiform scripts
• 100–199 Right-to-left alphabetic scripts
• 200–299 Left-to-right alphabetic scripts
• 300–399 Alphasyllabic scripts
• 400–499 Syllabic scripts
• 500–599 Ideographic scripts
• 600–699 Undeciphered scripts
• 700–799 Shorthands and other notations[4]
• 800–899 (unassigned)
• 900–999 Private use, alias, special codes[5]

Special codes

• Qaaa–Qabx (900–949): 50 Codes reserved for private use.
• Zsye 993: Emoji
• Zinh 994: Code for inherited script
• Zmth 995: Mathematical notation
• Zsym 996: Symbols
• Zxxx 997: Code for unwritten languages
• Zyyy 998: Code for undetermined script
• Zzzz 999: Code for uncoded script

Exceptionally reserved codes

Two four letter codes are reserved at the request of the Common Locale Data Repository Project (CLDR):[6]

• Root: Reserved for the language-neutral base of the CLDR locale tree
• True: Reserved for the boolean value "true"

List of codes

This list of codes is from the ISO 15924 standard.[6]

v t e ISO 15924 script codes[a][b] and Unicode[c][d]
ISO 15924			Script in Unicode[e]
Code	No.	Name	Alias[f]	Direc­tion	Ver­sion	Char­acters	Remark
Adlm	166	Adlam	Adlam	R-to-L	9.0	87
Afak	439	Afaka		Varies			Not in Unicode, proposal under review by the Unicode Technical Committee[7][8]
Aghb	239	Caucasian Albanian	Caucasian Albanian	L-to-R	7.0	53	Ancient/historic
Ahom	338	Ahom, Tai Ahom	Ahom	L-to-R	8.0	57	Ancient/historic
Arab	160	Arabic	Arabic	R-to-L	1.0	1,280
Aran	161	Arabic (Nastaliq variant)		R-to-L			Typographic variant of Arabic
Armi	124	Imperial Aramaic	Imperial Aramaic	R-to-L	5.2	31	Ancient/historic
Armn	230	Armenian	Armenian	L-to-R	1.0	93
Avst	134	Avestan	Avestan	R-to-L	5.2	61	Ancient/historic
Bali	360	Balinese	Balinese	L-to-R	5.0	121
Bamu	435	Bamum	Bamum	L-to-R	5.2	657
Bass	259	Bassa Vah	Bassa Vah	L-to-R	7.0	36	Ancient/historic
Batk	365	Batak	Batak	L-to-R	6.0	56
Beng	325	Bengali (Bangla)	Bengali	L-to-R	1.0	95
Bhks	334	Bhaiksuki	Bhaiksuki	L-to-R	9.0	97	Ancient/historic
Blis	550	Blissymbols		Varies			Not in Unicode, proposal in initial/exploratory stage[7]
Bopo	285	Bopomofo	Bopomofo	L-to-R	1.0	71
Brah	300	Brahmi	Brahmi	L-to-R	6.0	109	Ancient/historic
Brai	570	Braille	Braille	L-to-R	3.0	256
Bugi	367	Buginese	Buginese	L-to-R	4.1	30
Buhd	372	Buhid	Buhid	L-to-R	3.2	20
Cakm	349	Chakma	Chakma	L-to-R	6.1	67
Cans	440	Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics	Canadian Aboriginal	L-to-R	3.0	710
Cari	201	Carian	Carian	L-to-R	5.1	49	Ancient/historic
Cham	358	Cham	Cham	L-to-R	5.1	83
Cher	445	Cherokee	Cherokee	L-to-R	3.0	172
Cirt	291	Cirth		Varies			Not in Unicode
Copt	204	Coptic	Coptic	L-to-R	1.0	137	Ancient/historic, Disunified from Greek in 4.1
Cpmn	402	Cypro-Minoan		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Cprt	403	Cypriot syllabary	Cypriot	R-to-L	4.0	55	Ancient/historic
Cyrl	220	Cyrillic	Cyrillic	L-to-R	1.0	443
Cyrs	221	Cyrillic (Old Church Slavonic variant)		Varies			Ancient/historic, typographic variant of Cyrillic
Deva	315	Devanagari (Nagari)	Devanagari	L-to-R	1.0	154
Dogr	328	Dogra		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Dsrt	250	Deseret (Mormon)	Deseret	L-to-R	3.1	80
Dupl	755	Duployan shorthand, Duployan stenography	Duployan	L-to-R	7.0	143
Egyd	070	Egyptian demotic		R-to-L			Not in Unicode
Egyh	060	Egyptian hieratic		R-to-L			Not in Unicode
Egyp	050	Egyptian hieroglyphs	Egyptian Hieroglyphs	L-to-R	5.2	1,071	Ancient/historic
Elba	226	Elbasan	Elbasan	L-to-R	7.0	40	Ancient/historic
Ethi	430	Ethiopic (Geʻez)	Ethiopic	L-to-R	3.0	495
Geok	241	Khutsuri (Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri)	Georgian	Varies			Unicode groups Geok and Geor together as "Georgian"
Geor	240	Georgian (Mkhedruli and Mtavruli)	Georgian	L-to-R	1.0	127	For Unicode, see also Geok
Glag	225	Glagolitic	Glagolitic	L-to-R	4.1	132	Ancient/historic
Gong	312	Gunjala Gondi		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Gonm	313	Masaram Gondi	Masaram Gondi	L-to-R	10.0	75
Goth	206	Gothic	Gothic	L-to-R	3.1	27	Ancient/historic
Gran	343	Grantha	Grantha	L-to-R	7.0	85	Ancient/historic
Grek	200	Greek	Greek	L-to-R	1.0	518	Sometimes expressed as boustrophedon (mirroring of alternate lines rather than purely left-to-right)
Gujr	320	Gujarati	Gujarati	L-to-R	1.0	91
Guru	310	Gurmukhi	Gurmukhi	L-to-R	1.0	79
Hanb	503	Han with Bopomofo (alias for Han + Bopomofo)		Varies			See Hani, Bopo
Hang	286	Hangul (Hangŭl, Hangeul)	Hangul	L-to-R	1.0	11,739	Hangul syllables relocated in 2.0
Hani	500	Han (Hanzi, Kanji, Hanja)	Han	L-to-R	1.0	89,228
Hano	371	Hanunoo (Hanunóo)	Hanunoo	L-to-R	3.2	21
Hans	501	Han (Simplified variant)		Varies			Subset Hani
Hant	502	Han (Traditional variant)		Varies			Subset Hani
Hatr	127	Hatran	Hatran	R-to-L	8.0	26	Ancient/historic
Hebr	125	Hebrew	Hebrew	R-to-L	1.0	133
Hira	410	Hiragana	Hiragana	L-to-R	1.0	376
Hluw	080	Anatolian Hieroglyphs (Luwian Hieroglyphs, Hittite Hieroglyphs)	Anatolian Hieroglyphs	L-to-R	8.0	583	Ancient/historic
Hmng	450	Pahawh Hmong	Pahawh Hmong	L-to-R	7.0	127
Hmnp	451	Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Hrkt	412	Japanese syllabaries (alias for Hiragana + Katakana)	Katakana or Hiragana	Varies			See Hira, Kana
Hung	176	Old Hungarian (Hungarian Runic)	Old Hungarian	R-to-L	8.0	108	Ancient/historic
Inds	610	Indus (Harappan)		R-to-L			Not in Unicode, proposal in initial/exploratory stage[7]
Ital	210	Old Italic (Etruscan, Oscan, etc.)	Old Italic	L-to-R	3.1	39	Ancient/historic
Jamo	284	Jamo (alias for Jamo subset of Hangul)		Varies			Subset Hang
Java	361	Javanese	Javanese	L-to-R	5.2	90
Jpan	413	Japanese (alias for Han + Hiragana + Katakana)		Varies			See Hani, Hira and Kana
Jurc	510	Jurchen		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Kali	357	Kayah Li	Kayah Li	L-to-R	5.1	47
Kana	411	Katakana	Katakana	L-to-R	1.0	300
Khar	305	Kharoshthi	Kharoshthi	R-to-L	4.1	65	Ancient/historic
Khmr	355	Khmer	Khmer	L-to-R	3.0	146
Khoj	322	Khojki	Khojki	L-to-R	7.0	62	Ancient/historic
Kitl	505	Khitan large script		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Kits	288	Khitan small script		T-to-B			Not in Unicode
Knda	345	Kannada	Kannada	L-to-R	1.0	88
Kore	287	Korean (alias for Hangul + Han)		L-to-R			See Hani and Hang
Kpel	436	Kpelle		L-to-R			Not in Unicode, proposal in initial/exploratory stage[7]
Kthi	317	Kaithi	Kaithi	L-to-R	5.2	66	Ancient/historic
Lana	351	Tai Tham (Lanna)	Tai Tham	L-to-R	5.2	127
Laoo	356	Lao	Lao	L-to-R	1.0	67
Latf	217	Latin (Fraktur variant)		Varies			Typographic variant of Latin
Latg	216	Latin (Gaelic variant)		L-to-R			Typographic variant of Latin
Latn	215	Latin	Latin	L-to-R	1.0	1,350	See Latin script in Unicode
Leke	364	Leke		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Lepc	335	Lepcha (Róng)	Lepcha	L-to-R	5.1	74
Limb	336	Limbu	Limbu	L-to-R	4.0	68
Lina	400	Linear A	Linear A	L-to-R	7.0	341	Ancient/historic
Linb	401	Linear B	Linear B	L-to-R	4.0	211	Ancient/historic
Lisu	399	Lisu (Fraser)	Lisu	L-to-R	5.2	48
Loma	437	Loma		L-to-R			Not in Unicode, proposal in initial/exploratory stage[7]
Lyci	202	Lycian	Lycian	L-to-R	5.1	29	Ancient/historic
Lydi	116	Lydian	Lydian	R-to-L	5.1	27	Ancient/historic
Mahj	314	Mahajani	Mahajani	L-to-R	7.0	39	Ancient/historic
Maka	366	Makasar		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Mand	140	Mandaic, Mandaean	Mandaic	R-to-L	6.0	29
Mani	139	Manichaean	Manichaean	R-to-L	7.0	51	Ancient/historic
Marc	332	Marchen	Marchen	L-to-R	9.0	68	Ancient/historic
Maya	090	Mayan hieroglyphs					Not in Unicode
Medf	265	Medefaidrin (Oberi Okaime, Oberi Ɔkaimɛ)		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Mend	438	Mende Kikakui	Mende Kikakui	R-to-L	7.0	213
Merc	101	Meroitic Cursive	Meroitic Cursive	R-to-L	6.1	90	Ancient/historic
Mero	100	Meroitic Hieroglyphs	Meroitic Hieroglyphs	R-to-L	6.1	32	Ancient/historic
Mlym	347	Malayalam	Malayalam	L-to-R	1.0	117
Modi	324	Modi, Moḍī	Modi	L-to-R	7.0	79	Ancient/historic
Mong	145	Mongolian	Mongolian	T-to-B	3.0	166	Includes Clear, Manchu scripts
Moon	218	Moon (Moon code, Moon script, Moon type)					Not in Unicode, proposal in initial/exploratory stage[7]
Mroo	264	Mro, Mru	Mro	L-to-R	7.0	43
Mtei	337	Meitei Mayek (Meithei, Meetei)	Meetei Mayek	L-to-R	5.2	79
Mult	323	Multani	Multani	L-to-R	8.0	38	Ancient/historic
Mymr	350	Myanmar (Burmese)	Myanmar	L-to-R	3.0	223
Narb	106	Old North Arabian (Ancient North Arabian)	Old North Arabian	R-to-L	7.0	32	Ancient/historic
Nbat	159	Nabataean	Nabataean	R-to-L	7.0	40	Ancient/historic
Newa	333	Newa, Newar, Newari, Nepāla lipi	Newa	L-to-R	9.0	92
Nkdb	085	Naxi Dongba (na²¹ɕi³³ to³³ba²¹, Nakhi Tomba)		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Nkgb	420	Nakhi Geba (na²¹ɕi³³ gʌ²¹ba²¹, 'Na-'Khi ²Ggŏ-¹baw, Nakhi Geba)		L-to-R			Not in Unicode, proposal in initial/exploratory stage[7]
Nkoo	165	N’Ko	NKo	R-to-L	5.0	59
Nshu	499	Nüshu	Nushu	L-to-R	10.0	397
Ogam	212	Ogham	Ogham		3.0	29	Ancient/historic
Olck	261	Ol Chiki (Ol Cemet’, Ol, Santali)	Ol Chiki	L-to-R	5.1	48
Orkh	175	Old Turkic, Orkhon Runic	Old Turkic	R-to-L	5.2	73	Ancient/historic
Orya	327	Oriya (Odia)	Oriya	L-to-R	1.0	90
Osge	219	Osage	Osage	L-to-R	9.0	72
Osma	260	Osmanya	Osmanya	L-to-R	4.0	40
Palm	126	Palmyrene	Palmyrene	R-to-L	7.0	32	Ancient/historic
Pauc	263	Pau Cin Hau	Pau Cin Hau	L-to-R	7.0	57
Perm	227	Old Permic	Old Permic	L-to-R	7.0	43	Ancient/historic
Phag	331	Phags-pa	Phags-pa	T-to-B	5.0	56	Ancient/historic
Phli	131	Inscriptional Pahlavi	Inscriptional Pahlavi	R-to-L	5.2	27	Ancient/historic
Phlp	132	Psalter Pahlavi	Psalter Pahlavi	R-to-L	7.0	29	Ancient/historic
Phlv	133	Book Pahlavi		R-to-L			Not in Unicode
Phnx	115	Phoenician	Phoenician	R-to-L	5.0	29	Ancient/historic
Piqd	293	Klingon (KLI pIqaD)		L-to-R			Rejected for inclusion in the Unicode Standard[9][10]
Plrd	282	Miao (Pollard)	Miao	L-to-R	6.1	133
Prti	130	Inscriptional Parthian	Inscriptional Parthian	R-to-L	5.2	30	Ancient/historic
Qaaa	900	Reserved for private use (start)					Not in Unicode
Qaai	908	(Private use)					Not in Unicode (Before version 5.2, this was used instead of Zinh)
Qabx	949	Reserved for private use (end)					Not in Unicode
Rjng	363	Rejang (Redjang, Kaganga)	Rejang	L-to-R	5.1	37
Rohg	167	Hanifi Rohingya		R-to-L			Not in Unicode
Roro	620	Rongorongo					Not in Unicode, proposal in initial/exploratory stage[7]
Runr	211	Runic	Runic	L-to-R	3.0	86	Ancient/historic
Samr	123	Samaritan	Samaritan	R-to-L	5.2	61
Sara	292	Sarati					Not in Unicode
Sarb	105	Old South Arabian	Old South Arabian	R-to-L	5.2	32	Ancient/historic
Saur	344	Saurashtra	Saurashtra	L-to-R	5.1	82
Sgnw	095	SignWriting	SignWriting	T-to-B	8.0	672
Shaw	281	Shavian (Shaw)	Shavian	L-to-R	4.0	48
Shrd	319	Sharada, Śāradā	Sharada	L-to-R	6.1	94
Shui	530	Shuishu		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Sidd	302	Siddham, Siddhaṃ, Siddhamātṛkā	Siddham	L-to-R	7.0	92	Ancient/historic
Sind	318	Khudawadi, Sindhi	Khudawadi	L-to-R	7.0	69
Sinh	348	Sinhala	Sinhala	L-to-R	3.0	110
Sogd	141	Sogdian		R-to-L			Not in Unicode
Sogo	142	Old Sogdian		R-to-L			Not in Unicode
Sora	398	Sora Sompeng	Sora Sompeng	L-to-R	6.1	35
Soyo	329	Soyombo	Soyombo	L-to-R	10.0	80	Ancient/historic
Sund	362	Sundanese	Sundanese	L-to-R	5.1	72
Sylo	316	Syloti Nagri	Syloti Nagri	L-to-R	4.1	44
Syrc	135	Syriac	Syriac	R-to-L	3.0	88
Syre	138	Syriac (Estrangelo variant)		R-to-L			Typographic variant of Syriac
Syrj	137	Syriac (Western variant)		R-to-L			Typographic variant of Syriac
Syrn	136	Syriac (Eastern variant)		R-to-L			Typographic variant of Syriac
Tagb	373	Tagbanwa	Tagbanwa	L-to-R	3.2	18
Takr	321	Takri, Ṭākrī, Ṭāṅkrī	Takri	L-to-R	6.1	66
Tale	353	Tai Le	Tai Le	L-to-R	4.0	35
Talu	354	New Tai Lue	New Tai Lue	L-to-R	4.1	83
Taml	346	Tamil	Tamil	L-to-R	1.0	72
Tang	520	Tangut	Tangut	L-to-R	9.0	6,881	Ancient/historic
Tavt	359	Tai Viet	Tai Viet	L-to-R	5.2	72
Telu	340	Telugu	Telugu	L-to-R	1.0	96
Teng	290	Tengwar		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Tfng	120	Tifinagh (Berber)	Tifinagh	L-to-R	4.1	59
Tglg	370	Tagalog (Baybayin, Alibata)	Tagalog	L-to-R	3.2	20
Thaa	170	Thaana	Thaana	R-to-L	3.0	50
Thai	352	Thai	Thai	L-to-R	1.0	86
Tibt	330	Tibetan	Tibetan	L-to-R	2.0	207	Added in 1.0, removed in 1.1 and reintroduced in 2.0
Tirh	326	Tirhuta	Tirhuta	L-to-R	7.0	82
Ugar	040	Ugaritic	Ugaritic	L-to-R	4.0	31	Ancient/historic
Vaii	470	Vai	Vai	L-to-R	5.1	300
Visp	280	Visible Speech		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Wara	262	Warang Citi (Varang Kshiti)	Warang Citi	L-to-R	7.0	84
Wcho	283	Wancho		L-to-R			Not in Unicode
Wole	480	Woleai		R-to-L			Not in Unicode, proposal in initial/exploratory stage[7]
Xpeo	030	Old Persian	Old Persian	L-to-R	4.1	50	Ancient/historic
Xsux	020	Cuneiform, Sumero-Akkadian	Cuneiform	L-to-R	5.0	1,234	Ancient/historic
Yiii	460	Yi	Yi	L-to-R	3.0	1,220
Zanb	339	Zanabazar Square (Zanabazarin Dörböljin Useg, Xewtee Dörböljin Bicig, Horizontal Square Script)	Zanabazar Square	L-to-R	10.0	72	Ancient/historic
Zinh	994	Code for inherited script	Inherited	Inherited		568
Zmth	995	Mathematical notation		L-to-R			Not a 'script' in Unicode
Zsym	996	Symbols					Not a 'script' in Unicode
Zsye	993	Symbols (emoji variant)					Not a 'script' in Unicode
Zxxx	997	Code for unwritten documents					Not a 'script' in Unicode
Zyyy	998	Code for undetermined script	Common			7,363
Zzzz	999	Code for uncoded script	Unknown			977,357	All other code points
Notes ^ ISO 15924 publications 21 නොවැම්බර් 2017 වන විට^[update] ^ ISO 15924 Normative text file 21 නොවැම්බර් 2017 වන විට^[update] ^ ISO 15924 Changes (including Aliases for Unicode; 21 නොවැම්බර් 2017 වන විට^[update]) ^ Unicode version 10.0 ^ Unicode charts ^ Unicode uses the "Property Value Alias" (Alias) as the script-name. These Alias names are part of Unicode and are published informatively next to ISO 15924

Relations to other standards

The following standards are referred to as indispensable by ISO 15924.

• ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code
• ISO/IEC 9541-1:1991 Information technology — Font information interchange — Part 1: Architecture
• ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000 Information technology — Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS)

For definition of font and glyph the standard refers to

• ISO/IEC 9541-1:1991

Around 140 scripts are defined in Unicode. Through a linkpin called "Property Value Alias", Unicode has made a 1:1 connection between a script defined, and its ISO 15924 standard. See Script (Unicode).

References

1. Everson, Michael. "ISO 15924:2004". සම්ප්‍රවේශය 2011-06-21.
2. Unicode - ISO 15924 Registration Authority
3. "Joint Advisory Committee ISO 15924 /RA-JAC". ISO, Unicode, Inc. & Evertype. සම්ප්‍රවේශය 2011-06-24.
4. In July, 2010, Duployan shorthand was assigned code 755, even though the 700-799 range still carried its original designation of (unassigned). Shortly thereafter, Revision 1.1 clarified that codes in the 700s were reserved for "Shorthands and other notations", although that revision is only provisional until it can be confirmed by governing committees.
5. Everson, Michael (2004-01-09). "ISO 15924:2004 Information and documentation — Codes for the representation of names of scripts". Unicode Consortium.
6. "ISO 15924:2004 – Codes for the representation of names of scripts". Unicode. 2017.
7. "Proposed New Scripts". Unicode Consortium. 2015-06-12. සම්ප්‍රවේශය 2015-07-16.
8. "Roadmap to the SMP". Unicode Consortium. 2015-03-26. සම්ප්‍රවේශය 2015-05-22.
9. Michael Everson (1997-09-18). "Proposal to encode Klingon in Plane 1 of ISO/IEC 10646-2".
10. The Unicode Consortium (2001-08-14). "Approved Minutes of the UTC 87 / L2 184 Joint Meeting".

External links

• ISO 15924:2004
• ISO 15924 Registration Authority (Unicode)
• Official ISO 15924 code lists
• Overview of changes in time