IDN Language Tag FAQ

Questions:

What is an IDN language tag?
Why are language tags required?
How is a language tag used during registration?
Can I use a default language tag in my registration process?

Answers:

What is an IDN language tag?
ICANN Registry Implementation Committee (RIC) guidelines require that each Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) be associated with a specific language using a "language tag". The registrant selects the IDN language tag during the registration process. If an IDN combines more than one language, the registrant must select the most appropriate language.

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Why are language tags required?
Language tags allow appropriate language rules to be applied to the domain name to prevent the registration of domain names that may confuse IDN users. Learn more about Character Variants and Language Tags.

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How is a language tag used during registration?
The language tag is checked against a list of languages that have character inclusion tables or character variant mapping tables. These tables are applied to the Unicode code points that make up a registration and determine whether the registration is valid for a specific language. If a registration fails for one language, the character set may still be available with a different language tag.

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Can I use a default language tag in my registration process?
A default language tag may be used, however, registrants seeking domain names in a different language may be rejected because appropriate language rules have not been applied. For example, if a registrant submitted a registration using Cyrillic characters and the default tag set by the registrar was Chinese, the registration would be rejected because Cyrillic characters are not permitted under the Chinese character inclusion table.

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