The lang global attribute participates in defining the language of the element, the language that its non-editable elements are written in or the language that the editable elements should be written in. The tag contains one single entry value in the format defined in the Tags for Identifying Languages (BCP47) IETF document. If the tag content is the empty string the language is set to unknown; if the tag content is not valid, regarding BCP47, it is set to invalid.
Even if the lang attribute is set, it may not be taken into account, as the xml:lang attribute has priority.
For the CSS pseudo-class :lang, two invalid language names are different if their names are different.
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| WHATWG HTML Living Standard The definition of 'lang' in that specification. |
Living Standard | No change from latest snapshot, HTML5.1 |
| HTML5.1 The definition of 'lang' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Snapshot of WHATWG HTML Living Standard, no change from HTML5 |
| HTML5 The definition of 'lang' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Snapshot of WHATWG HTML Living Standard, behavior with xml:lang and language determination algorithm defined. It also is a true global attribute. |
| HTML 4.01 Specification The definition of 'lang' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Supported on all elements but <applet>, <base>, <basefont>, <br>, <frame>, <frameset>, <iframe>, <param>, and <script>. |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |
| Feature | Android | Chrome for Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |
See also
- All global attributes.