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javascript instance method

Intl.Locale.prototype.minimize()

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The minimize() method of Locale instances attempts to remove information about this locale that would be added by calling maximize().

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.
const english = new Intl.Locale("en-Latn-US");
const korean = new Intl.Locale("ko-Kore-KR");
const arabic = new Intl.Locale("ar-Arab-EG");

console.log(english.minimize().baseName);
// Expected output: "en"

console.log(korean.minimize().baseName);
// Expected output: "ko"

console.log(arabic.minimize().baseName);
// Expected output: "ar"

Syntax

minimize()

Parameters

None.

Return value

An Locale instance whose baseName property returns the result of the Remove Likely Subtags algorithm executed against locale.baseName.

Description

This method carries out the reverse of maximize(), removing any language, script, or region subtags from the locale language identifier (essentially the contents of baseName). This is useful when there are superfluous subtags in the language identifier; for instance, “en-Latn” can be simplified to “en”, since “Latn” is the only script used to write English. minimize() only affects the main subtags that comprise the language identifier: language, script, and region subtags. Other subtags after the “-u” in the locale identifier are called extension subtags and are not affected by the minimize() method. Examples of these subtags include hourCycle, calendar, and numeric.

Examples

Using minimize

const myLocale = new Intl.Locale("fr-Latn-FR", {
  hourCycle: "h12",
  calendar: "gregory",
});
console.log(myLocale.baseName); // Prints "fr-Latn-FR"
console.log(myLocale.toString()); // Prints "fr-Latn-FR-u-ca-gregory-hc-h12"

const myLocMinimized = myLocale.minimize();

// Prints "fr", since French is only written in the Latin script
// and is most likely to be spoken in France.
console.log(myLocMinimized.baseName);

// Prints "fr-u-ca-gregory-hc-h12".
// Note that the extension tags (after "-u") remain unchanged.
console.log(myLocMinimized.toString());

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also