Overview

The getLocaleDirection function determines the text direction (left-to-right or right-to-left) for a locale without requiring a GT class instance. It uses the Intl.Locale API to provide accurate direction detection for any valid BCP-47 locale code.

This function is most often used to set the dir attribute of a HTML element based on the locale.

import { getLocaleDirection } from 'generaltranslation';

const direction = getLocaleDirection('ar-SA');
console.log(direction); // "rtl"

const englishDirection = getLocaleDirection('en-US');
console.log(englishDirection); // "ltr"

Reference

Parameters

Parameters Description

Returns

'ltr' | 'rtl' - Text direction for the locale:

• 'ltr': Left-to-right (most languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, etc.)
• 'rtl': Right-to-left (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Urdu, and other Semitic/Middle Eastern languages)

Behavior

Direction Detection Algorithm

The function uses the Intl.Locale API's textInfo.direction property:

1. Creates an Intl.Locale object for the provided locale
2. Accesses the textInfo.direction property for language-specific direction
3. Returns 'rtl' for right-to-left languages, 'ltr' for all others
4. Defaults to 'ltr' if the locale is invalid or causes an error

RTL Language Recognition

Automatically detects RTL languages including:

• Arabic (ar, ar-SA, ar-EG, ar-AE, etc.)
• Hebrew (he, he-IL)
• Persian/Farsi (fa, fa-IR)
• Urdu (ur, ur-PK, ur-IN)
• Pashto (ps)
• Sindhi (sd)
• Kurdish Sorani (ckb)
• And other RTL scripts

Error Handling

• Invalid or malformed locale codes default to 'ltr'
• No exceptions thrown for invalid input
• Robust fallback behavior for edge cases

Examples

Basic Direction Detection

import { getLocaleDirection } from 'generaltranslation';

// Left-to-right languages
console.log(getLocaleDirection('en-US')); // "ltr"
console.log(getLocaleDirection('es-ES')); // "ltr"
console.log(getLocaleDirection('fr-FR')); // "ltr"
console.log(getLocaleDirection('ja-JP')); // "ltr"
console.log(getLocaleDirection('zh-CN')); // "ltr"

// Right-to-left languages
console.log(getLocaleDirection('ar-SA')); // "rtl"
console.log(getLocaleDirection('he-IL')); // "rtl"
console.log(getLocaleDirection('fa-IR')); // "rtl"
console.log(getLocaleDirection('ur-PK')); // "rtl"

Notes

• Returns 'ltr' for all left-to-right languages (most languages worldwide)
• Returns 'rtl' for right-to-left languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, etc.)
• Uses the modern Intl.Locale API for accurate detection
• Works with all BCP-47 locale codes

Next Steps

• Use GT class method getLocaleDirection
• Get locale properties with getLocaleProperties
• Validate locales with isValidLocale
• Get locale emoji with getLocaleEmoji