IV.18. 546 : Language Note

Owned by Andrea Cawelti
Last updated: Apr 17, 2024 by Linda Isaac
1 min read

$a Language

Specifies the language(s) of the resource. **Language is a core element of RDA.**

Examples:

546 _ _ $$a In Greek.

546 _ _ $$a In French and Latin.


  • Include a 041 if a translation is present, or if more than one language is present:

Examples: 

041 0_ $$a hun $$b eng $$b ger $$b rus

546 _ _ $$a In Hungarian; summaries in English, German, or Russian.


041 1_ $$a ger $$a eng $$h ger

546 _ _ $$a German words with English translation.


  • For music, required if the work includes performed words (sung or spoken), including English.

Examples:

546 _ _ $$a English words.

546 _ _ $$a Italian and English words, also printed separately as text.


$b Information code or alphabet

Specifies the alphabet, script, or notation system that is used in the resource. This includes specialized codes, scripts, or typefaces (e.g., Arabic alphabet, Arabic numerals, ASCII, bar code, BCD, braille, ciphers, Cyrillic alphabet, EBCDIC, Fraktur, Greek alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, hieroglyphics, pictograms, Roman alphabet, Roman numerals, or logarithmic or semilogarithmic graphing, etc.).

Examples:

546 _ _ $$a In Russian; $$b Cyrillic.

546 _ _ $$a In German; $$b Fraktur.


For music resources

 $b Notation

Harvard local policy is to use the 546 $b for notation in addition to the required 348 $c. 

  • Do NOT use in same field as a 546 $a for language.

Examples:

546 _ _ $$a Latin words.

546 _ _ $$b Neumatic notation.

348 _ _ $$c neumatic notation $$2 rdafmn


RDA Form of Musical Notation terms

  • Staff notation
  • Tablature
  • Neumatic notation
  • Mensural notation
  • Graphic notation
  • Syllabic notation
  • Tonic sol-fa
  • Number notation
  • Letter notation


Examples of different types of music notation from the Loeb Music Library Score Cataloging Manual.