Nva-language NPM

nva-language-js

Javascript implementation of NVA (the Norwegian national research archive) language handling.

Languages in NVA are represented by URIs, this module allows users to find the correct URI for a language and find a name string in a given language for each URI without dereferencing the URI.

NVA-language also routes non-preferred representations to preferred representations.

Using the library

Install with either:

    const { <function(s)> } = require('nva-language)

    import { <function(s)> }  from 'nva-language'

(replace <function(s)> with the functions you actually use, see below).

Use with:

    const bokmaal = getLanguageByBokmaalName('Engelsk')
    const english = getLanguageByEnglishName("English")
    const iso6391 = getLanguageByIso6391Code("en")
    const iso6392 = getLanguageByIso6392Code("eng")
    const iso6393 = getLanguageByIso6393Code("eng")
    const nynorsk = getLanguageByNynorskName("Engelsk")
    const sami = getLanguageBySamiName("Eaŋgalsgiella")
    const uri = getLanguageByUri('http://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/eng')

The language object

All functions return a language object, which has the structure:

  {
    "uri": "http://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/deu",
    "iso6391Code": "de",
    "iso6392Codes": ["ger", "deu"],
    "iso6393Code": "deu",
    "eng": "German",
    "nob": "Tysk",
    "nno": "Tysk",
    "sme": "Duiskkagiella"
  }

The properties are structured as follows:

uri: a Lexvo ISO 639-3 uri
iso6391Code: an ISO 639-1, two-letter code
iso6392Codes: an array containing ISO 639-2 B/T three\letter codes (min one, max. two items)
iso6393Code: an ISO 639-3 code
eng: the English name of the language
nob: the Norwegian Bokmål name of the language
nno: the Norwegian Nynorsk name of the language
sme: the Northern Sami name of the language

Available functions

There are a number of methods provided by nva-language, all of which return a Language object, these have self-explanatory names:

getLanguageByBokmaalName

example: const english = getLanguageByBokmaalName('Engelsk')
Given a Norwegian Bokmål token for a language, say "Engelsk", returns a Language object that either matches the token, or is the Undefined language
Matching is not case sensitive

getLanguageByEnglishName

example: const english = getLanguageByEnglishName('English')
Given a Norwegian Bokmål token for a language, say "English", returns a Language object that either matches the token, or is the Undefined language
Matching is not case sensitive

getLanguageByIso6391Code

example: const english = getLanguageByIso6391Code('en')
Given an ISO 639-1 code, returns a Language object that either matches the token, or is the Undefined language
Matching is not case sensitive

getLanguageByIso6392Code

example: const english = getLanguageByIso6392Code('eng')
Given an ISO 639-2 code, returns a Language object that either matches the token, or is the Undefined language
Returns e.g. a Language object for German if either the B/T ("ger", "deu") variants are supplied
Matching is not case sensitive

getLanguageByIso6393Code

example: const english = getLanguageByIso6393Code('eng')
Given an ISO 639-1 code, returns a Language object that either matches the token, or is the Undefined language
Matching is not case sensitive

getLanguageByNynorskName

example: const english = getLanguageByNynorskName('Engelsk')
Given a Norwegian Nynorsk token for a language, say "Engelsk", returns a Language object that either matches the token, or is the Undefined language
Matching is not case sensitive
The only difference between getLanguageByNynorskName and getLanguageByBokmaalName is Bokmål "Flere språk", Nynorsk "Fleire språk"

getLanguageBySamiName

example: const english = getLanguageBySamiName('Eaŋgalsgiella')
Given a Northern Sami token for a language, say "Eaŋgalsgiella", returns a Language object that either matches the token, or is the Undefined language
Matching is not case sensitive

getLanguageByUri

example: const english = getLanguageByUri('http://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/eng')
Given a Lexvo ISO 639-3 URI, returns the corresponding language object or Undefined language (in the case that the URI is not in use)
Note: Lexvo does not use HTTPS

Notes

Valid and invalid languages

The languages supported in NVA are limited to the core languages used in Norwegian research publications, the list grows over time, but the list is still not long.

Thus, some valid languages will return Undefined Language not because they are invalid but because they are undefined in the context of NVA.

Norwegian

Since NVA is typically concerned with written language, codes and strings related to "Norwegian", as opposed to "Bokmål" and "Nynorsk" are not to be used.

Using a term associated with "Norwegian" will return "Bokmål". No offense is intended here, this mechanism fits better for the majority of cases where texts are marked as "Norwegian".

Sami

Since the primary source for the data for this module has been NSD DBH's publication channel data, a choice was made to map all "Samisk" to Northern Sami. This is unfortunate, but it solves the issue in view of a lack of Sami language skills. Sorry about that.