Mindaugas Peleckis
2021 m. Kovo 08 d., 17:39
Skaityta: 307 k.
According to the Wikipedia, Omniglot (omniglot.com) is a worldwide known online encyclopedia focused on languages and writing systems. The name "Omniglot" comes from the Latin prefix omnis (meaning "all") and the Greek root γλωσσα (glossa, meaning "tongue"). The website was launched by British linguist 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. It provides reference materials for about a hundred written scripts used in different languages, and materials for learning languages. It also has reference materials in numerous languages. Its material was the source for a compendium of characters used for development of artificial intelligence, the Omniglot Challenge. The Omniglot compendium has been used widely since it was first released. As of February 2020, the number of languages detailed on the site is over 1,300.
According to the Omniglot, Simon Ager lives in Bangor in Wales and earns his living from this website. He is originally from Lancashire in the northwest of England, and have also lived in France, Jersey, Taiwan and Japan. S. Ager says: "I've always been interested in languages, and have studied quite a few. I speak English, French, Welsh, Mandarin and Irish fluently, and German, Japanese, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Manx and Esperanto fairly well. I also have a basic knowledge of twenty or so other languages. After languages my main passion is music - I sing in a number of choirs and other groups, write songs and tunes, play various musical instruments and often go to concerts. I also enjoy reading, and juggling. By the way, in case you're wondering, my surname, Ager, is pronounced /'eɪgə/. It apparently comes from the Saxon name Ēadgār."
I am glad I had an opportunity to talk to Simon Ager about languages for my new book "Language ecology. Languages and People in the 21st Century: Polyglots, Endangered Languages and Their Resuscitators".