SCRIPTSOURCE: making information on the world’s scripts and languages accessible

Abstract

Although there is plenty of script and language information on the web, there has been a need for a site to present the information authoritatively and clearly, making it easier to understand the often complex relationships between scripts, characters and languages. ScriptSource has been designed to meet that need and to answer questions such as: ‘Which scripts can be used to write that language?’, or, ‘Which writing systems use this Unicode character?’. The site allows registered users to contribute information in the form of entries, which are moderated. ScriptSource imports character data from Unicode and locale data from the CLDR (Common Locale Data Repository). Language data is imported from the Ethnologue, and ScriptSource has individual pages for around 7000 languages, each of which has links to the corresponding language pages on several linguistic websites. Some language pages include additional links to sites, such as the ‘Aboriginal Languages of Australia’ site, and those offering relevant fonts and keyboards. This session will cover some of the needs ScriptSource has been designed to meet, and will explain the invaluable data association mechanism it uses to link information to scripts, characters and languages. The language documentation features of ScriptSource will be explained, including its facilities for the entry of exemplar character lists and phonemic data.