Omniglot
{{Short description|Online encyclopedia on linguistics}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Omniglot
| favicon =
| logo =
| screenshot =
| url = [https://www.omniglot.com/about.htm omniglot.com]
| commercial = Yes
| alexa =
| type = Encyclopedia
| registration =
| key_people = Simon Ager{{cite web|author=Moore|first=Melanie|date=2016-06-13|title=Interview with the Omniglot|url=http://blog.mangolanguages.com/an-interview-with-the-omniglot|access-date=2017-07-17|website=Mango Languages}}
| author =
| launch_date = 1998
| current_status = Active
| revenue =
}}
Omniglot ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɒ|m|n|ɪ|ˌ|g|l|ɒ|t}}) is an online encyclopedia focused on languages and writing systems.{{cite web|last=Ager|first=Simon|date=2002|title=Omniglot – writing systems and languages of the world|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0003989|access-date=2017-07-17|website=Library of Congress}}
Etymology
History
The website was launched by British author Simon Ager in 1998, originally intended to be a web design and translation service. As Ager collected and added more information about languages and various writing systems, the project evolved into an encyclopedia.{{cite web|last=Ager|first=Simon|title=Omniglot – a potted history|url=https://www.omniglot.com/about2.htm|access-date=2022-02-18|website=Omniglot}}
It provides reference materials for some 300 written scripts used in different languages,{{Cite news|last=Brookes|first=Tim|date=2013-06-29|title=First Person: Save a Language, Save a Culture|work=National Geographic|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/130628-endangered-languages-scripts-bangladesh-indigenous-cultures-world|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218135833/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/130628-endangered-languages-scripts-bangladesh-indigenous-cultures-world|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 18, 2022|access-date=2021-01-22}}{{Cite news|last=Sheehan|first=Jennifer|date=2020-09-04|title=Celtic Cultural Alliance art class offers chance to learn and create using ancient Irish alphabet, Ogham|work=The Morning Call|url=https://www.mcall.com/entertainment/mc-ent-ogham-art-classic-by-celtic-classic-20200904-lln27zbetff4bgrtvxje7mlalu-story.html|access-date=2021-01-22}} over 1,000 constructed, adapted and fictional scripts, and materials for learning languages.{{Cite news|last=Steinkopf-Frank|first=Hannah|date=2020-12-21|title=How to Learn French: A U.S. News Guide|work=U.S. News & World Report|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/learn-french-guide|access-date=2021-01-22}}{{Cite news|date=2016-09-25|title=B. Board: One fowl could be a goose, and two are called geese; Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.|work=Twin Cities Pioneer Press|url=https://www.twincities.com/2016/09/25/b-board-one-fowl-could-be-a-goose-and-two-are-called-geese-yet-the-plural-of-moose-should-never-be-meese/|access-date=2021-01-22}}
It also has reference materials in numerous languages.{{Cite web|last=Sarkodie|first=Alex|date=2020-03-04|title=The Origins Of The Akan-Speaking People Of Ghana|url=https://www.modernghana.com/news/993390/the-origins-of-the-akan-speaking-people-of-ghana.html|website=Modern Ghana}}
Its material was the source for a compendium of characters used for development of artificial intelligence, the Omniglot Challenge.{{Cite journal|last=Lake|first=Brenden M.|last2=Salakhutdinov|first2=Ruslan|last3=Tenenbaum|first3=Joshua B.|date=2015-12-11|title=Human-level concept learning through probabilistic program induction|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24740881|journal=Science|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|volume=350|issue=6266|pages=1332–1338}}{{Cite news|last=Markoff|first=John|date=2015-12-10|title=A Learning Advance in Artificial Intelligence Rivals Human Abilities|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/science/an-advance-in-artificial-intelligence-rivals-human-vision-abilities.html|access-date=2021-01-23}} The Omniglot compendium has been used widely since it was first released.{{Cite news|last=Press|first=Gil|date=2019-12-16|title=Would You Trust A Self-Driving Car? 70% Of Americans Say 'No,' 72% Of Chinese Say 'Yes'|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2019/12/16/would-you-trust-an-autonomous-vehicle-70-of-americans-say-no-72-of-chinese-say-yes/|access-date=2021-01-23}}{{Cite journal|last=Lake|first=Brenden M.|last2=Salakhutdinov|first2=Ruslan|last3=Tenenbaum|first3=Joshua B.|title=The Omniglot challenge: a 3-year progress report|journal=Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences|arxiv=1902.03477}}{{Cite conference|last=Heck|first=Stephen|last2=Lewis|first2=Phil|last3=Draelos|first3=Tim|date=2018-07-01|title=Survey of Few-Shot Learning Techniques|url=https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1572926|conference=MLDL Conference (Sandia Internal)|osti=1572926|via=Office of Scientific and Technical Information}}
As of November 2024, the number of languages detailed on the site is over 2,100.{{cite web |last=Ager |first=Simon |title=Languages |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/languages.htm |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Omniglot}}