Please see the your name in... links page.
Please note that there is a difference between translating a name and transliterating a name. The former involves finding the meaning of the name and then trying to find a name with the same or a similar meaning in another language. The latter involves using a different writing system to represent the sounds of the name.
For example the name Anna comes from the Hebrew name חַנָּה (Hannah), which means "favor" or "grace". Transliterations of Anna in other writing systems include Άννα (Greek), Анна (Cyrillic), Աննա (Armenian), ანა (Georgian), حنة (Arabic), and アナ (Japanese Katakana).
Names with similar meanings to Anna, i.e. translations, include Amara (Igbo), Armo (Finnish), فضل (Fadl - Arabic), लावण्या (Lavanya - Sanskrit), and سناز (Sanaz - Persian).
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Please post your translation requests on the Omniglot Facebook page
If you would like a translation for a tattoo, I recommend that you ask an experienced translator, and check the translation with another translator, or with a native speaker of the language in question.
Many English words have multiple meanings, and in other languages there might be different words for each meaning. So it helps to be as precise as possible about the meaning you're trying to convey, especially for individual words.
Here are some places you can try for transliterations and translations into other languages and writing systems:
Multilingual Translation
http://www.freelang.net/translation/
http://help.berberber.com/free-translation-forums/
http://www.oasisllc.com/transtrad/forum.htm
http://ackuna.com/
Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Thai
http://www.tattoos-by-design.co.uk
"Ask the Experts" - contact details of people willing and able to answer questions about a wide range of languages: http://www.carla.umn.edu/lctl/resources/experts.html
Online translation sites | Online dictionaries | Electronic dictionaries and translators
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Please post your requests on the Omniglot Facebook page
Please note: quite a few people have asked me about the symbols on the UFO on this site - unfortunately I can't help with this.
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I will consider linking to websites that provide free language and education-related material, and to pages containing such material on commercial sites. If you have an affiliate program or are interested in advertising on Omniglot, please contact me.
Please note: I only respond to link exchange requests addressed to me by name, and I am not interested in link exchanges designed solely to increase search engine rankings (SEO). If your email starts "Dear Webmaster" or "To Whom it may concern" or something along those lines, don't expect a reply.
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Yes, you certainly can.
I leave the type of link up to you, but here are some suggestions for the wording of text links, if you need them:
Here are some Omniglot banners you could use:
If you would like other sizes or colours, just let me know.
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I will consider placing links, banners and other kinds of advertisements for companies and organisations providing language, translation, travel or education-related products and services, though not to essay writing sites. If you're interested, please let me know what kind of ads you would like to place, where you would like to place them and for how long.
You can contact me at:
You can also advertise via Google AdWords.
Please note: I only respond to emails addressed to me by name. I am not interested in ads designed solely to increase search engine rankings (SEO). If your email starts "Dear Webmaster" or "To Whom it may concern" or something along those lines, don't expect a reply.
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The Find Language Tutors section of Omniglot is run by WyzAnt Tutoring. You can register as tutor on their site.
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Sorry, you can't - there is no Omniglot database of translators.
There are databases of translators at: www.translatorstown.com, www.proz.com and www.translatorsbase.com
If you are a translator, interpreter or work with languages in some other capacity, please consider submitting an article to my language-related articles section.
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There are currently no vacancies at Omniglot, and no courses are offered here.
For jobs involving languages, please try this page.
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If you have invented a new alphabet or other writing system and would like me to add it to this site, first send me a sample text. If your alphabet looks good and really appeals to me, I will consider adding it to Omniglot.
Please note: only conlangs written with interesting and attractive invented scripts will be considered for inclusion on this site.
The address to write to is:
More details of how to submit a con-script to Omniglot
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Only if it's written with an invented writing system that appeals to me.
Good places to submit conlangs are:
http://www.omniglot.com/forum/
http://www.langmaker.com
Details of how to submit a con-script to Omniglot
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Probably not, unless you have devised a way of writing a language with a alphabet not usually used to write it. For example, English with the Cyrillic alphabet or Ukrainian with the Latin alphabet.
More details of how to submit a con-script / adapted script to Omniglot
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Probably because I haven't got round to adding it yet or haven't found sufficient information about it. If you can recommend any good sources of information, please do so. Details of the pronunciation of languages are usually the most difficult thing to find.
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Those particular symbols represent the 'th' in the and the 'th' in three respectively. They belong to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and you can find out more at:
http://www.unil.ch/ling/page30184.html
http://www.unil.ch/ling/page12580.html (en français)
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You could:
People who have contributed to this site
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18th June 2013
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If you want to use the material for non-commercial purposes, you're welcome to do so. Don't forget to mention where the material came from.
I suggest something along the lines of the following as way to cite Omniglot in your formal papers, assignments or essays:
Ager, Simon. "Omniglot - writing systems and languages of the world".
2012-02-30. www.omniglot.com
Omniglot was first published on the web in November 1998, and was last updated on 18th June 2013.
For further advice on citing online sources, see:
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html
If you would like to use material for commercial purposes, such as in books or computer programs, please contact me. Let me know if you need images in a different format or with a different colour background or dimensions. I will do my best to comply with your requirements. There may be a charge for this.
If you would like to copy or re-use any of the language-related articles, please ask the authors for permission. Contact details of the authors can be found at the bottom of the articles in most cases, if they're not there, please contact me, and I'll try to find them for you.
Unless otherwise indicated, all text and images on Omniglot are my own creations. The only exceptions are the images of writing systems invented by visitors
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I use NoteTab Light, a free text editor, to edit the HTML and CSS files. I create most of the script charts in Excel, then take screenshots and save them as images using Fireworks. Some charts and other images are created in Fireworks. I use Audacity, a free sound editor, for sound files.
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Most of the fonts I downloaded from various sites on the web. The rest came with programs or operating systems I've bought. A few have been sent to me by people who have invented scripts.
A list of the fonts used on this site
Links to sites where you can download many of these fonts
Download fonts for scripts invented by visitors to Omniglot
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A Vietnamese font called Hoang Yen, which you can download here (TrueType, 35K)
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Since March 2004 this site has been visited by over 79 million people. An average of 1.48 million unique visitors a month (48,941 a day) make 1.79 million visits to Omniglot and view more than 3.15 million pages - these averages are based on stats for the last 6 months.
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Not at the moment. I make changes to this site more or less every day so a static copy would become out of date very quickly. I think the web is the best place for a site of this kind.
Some alphabet charts are available for downloading in Excel, Word and PDF format
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I coined the term in 1998 intending to use it as the name of a website design and translation agency I was planning to establish. The agency never really took off and I decided to use the name for this website instead.
Omniglot ('ɒmnɪˌglɒt) noun
1. having a command of all langauges
2. written in, composed of, or containing all languages
3. a person with a command of all languages
4. a book containing several versions of the same text written in all languages
5. a mixture or confusion of languages
[from Latin omnis (all) + Greek γλωσσα (glossa) - tongue/language]
Adapted from the definition of polyglot in Collins English Dictionary
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It started life back in 1998 as part of another website which no longer exists. I built the other website to promote my web design and translation services and included some information about how to build multilingual websites. While researching the mulitilingual section I discovered a wealth of information about languages and writing systems and thought it would be interesting learn more. After reading numerous books and websites about the subject I decided to add the information to my website, which eventually developed into the site you see today.
I've been interested in languages for a long time: at school I learnt French and German, then at university I studied Chinese and Japanese. Since then I have taught myself quite a few other languages, including Spanish, Welsh, Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic.
Details of my language learning adventures
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You can contact me by email at:
If you want to contact me via snailmail all the details you need to find my address are available on this site and on Flickr - this is my street and my house.
You can write to me in English, français, Deutsch, español, italiano, português, Esperanto, Cymraeg, Gaeilge, Gàidhlig, Gaelg, or 中文 (繁體或简体). I can read all these languages, but can't write them equally well, so may reply in English.
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Omniglot is brought to you by me, Simon Ager. I started putting the site together in 1998 and have maintained and developed it since then. In 2008 Omniglot became a limited company and is now my main source of income. Many other people have made contributions of new material, corrections and suggestions, for which I'm profoundly grateful.
About this site | Omniglot - a potted history | About me | My language learning adventures | My singing adventures | My songs | My musical adventures | My juggling adventures
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