Locale

While a language defines how text is written or spoken, a locale goes further – specifying how that language is used within a geographic or cultural context. For example, en-US (English – United States) and en-GB (English – United Kingdom) share a common language but differ in spelling, vocabulary and formatting standards.

Locales are defined using standardized language–region codes such as ISO 639 (language) and ISO 3166 (country), often combined into tags like fr-CA (Canadian French) or pt-BR (Brazilian Portuguese). These codes are essential for ensuring that localized software, websites and content display correctly for each target market. In RWS workflows, locale management ensures that translation memories (TM), terminology and automated workflows align with the right linguistic and cultural settings. This ensures not only linguistic accuracy but also cultural relevance and compliance with local standards.