xml:lang

The xml:lang attribute specifies the primary language used in contents and attributes containing text content of particular elements.

It is a universal attribute allowed in all XML dialects to mark up the natural human language that an element contains.

There is also a lang attribute (without namespace). If both of them are defined, the one with namespace is used and the one without is ignored.

All elements are using this attribute.

<svg viewBox="0 0 200 100" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <text xml:lang="en-US">This is some English text</text>
</svg>

Usage notes

Value <language-tag>
Default value None
Animatable No
<language-tag>

This value specifies the language used for the element. The syntax of this value is defined in the BCP 47 specification.

The most common syntax is a value formed by a lowercase two-character part for the language and an uppercase two-character part for the region or country, separated by a minus sign, e.g. en-US for US English or de-AT for Austrian German.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2
The definition of 'xml:lang' in that specification.		 Candidate Recommendation Made the lang attribute (without namespace) available on all elements and defined the interaction between both.
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 (Second Edition)
The definition of 'xml:lang' in that specification.		 Recommendation Initial definition

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See also