Intl.Locale.prototype.language
Baseline Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2020.
The language
accessor property of Intl.Locale
instances returns the language associated with this locale.
Description
Language is one of the core attributes of a locale. The Unicode specification treats the language identifier of a locale as the language and the region together (to make a distinction between dialects and variations, e.g. British English vs. American English). The language
property of a Intl.Locale
returns strictly the locale's language subtag. The language
property's value is set at construction time, either through the language
subtag (first part) of the locale identifier or through the language
option of the Intl.Locale()
constructor. The latter takes priority if they are both present.
The set accessor of language
is undefined
. You cannot change this property directly.
Examples
Like other locale subtags, the language can be added to the Intl.Locale
object via the locale string, or a configuration object argument to the constructor.
Setting the language via the locale string
In order to be a valid Unicode locale identifier, a string must start with the language subtag. The main argument to the Intl.Locale()
constructor must be a valid Unicode locale identifier, so whenever the constructor is used, it must be passed an identifier with a language subtag.
const locale = new Intl.Locale("en-Latn-US");
console.log(locale.language); // Prints "en"
Overriding language via the configuration object argument
While the language subtag must be specified, the Intl.Locale()
constructor has an optional configuration object argument, which can override the language subtag.
const locale = new Intl.Locale("en-Latn-US", { language: "es" });
console.log(locale.language); // Prints "es"
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript Internationalization API Specification # sec-Intl.Locale.prototype.language |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
Intl.Locale
- Unicode language subtag in the Unicode locale data markup language spec