OmegaWiki
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OmegaWiki is a multilingual translating dictionary based on a relational database. Previous names included WiktionaryZ (WZ) and Ultimate Wiktionary (UW).
History
The first steps towards "OmegaWiki" date back to August 30, 2004, when the first templates were inserted on the Italian Wiktionary. These templates facilitated a rapid exchange of complete word lists between Wiktionaries.
At that point, Wiktionarians from the Italian and Dutch Wiktionaries began discussing more efficient methods of utilizing their time. Copying and pasting lists between languages was inefficient and prone to errors, while increasing the time needed for corrections. With separate Wiktionaries, the likelihood of a translation list being out of sync with another version grew exponentially with each added language.
This led to the idea of centralizing the data. A project called "Ultimate Wiktionary" was initiated. By December 2004, the basic functionalities were clear: an extension for the MediaWiki software, building on the Wikidata project.
During the following year, while the software was being programmed, many database design changes were made. Peculiarities of languages such as Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Russian, and sign language were also considered, in part thanks to contacts made at Wikimania 2005 in Frankfurt.
Unlike the original Wiktionaries, OmegaWiki allows for data downloads, particularly for use with other software, such as computer-assisted translation (CAT) software, local dictionary software, and spell checkers.
The prototype initially included only the data of the gemet multilingual thesaurus, which is online.[1] This resource was considered an optimal collection for testing functions. Currently, the software is still considered in alpha stage, but it already had over 500 users (as of August 30, 2006), and has reached 250,000 expressions, with support for multiple collections, annotations, examples, hyphenation, and more.
Basic concepts
OmegaWiki is not based on "words", but on the concept of Defined Meaning:[2]
A DefinedMeaning is a combination of an Expression and a Definition; an Expression being a given graphic form (Spelling) associated with a given Language; and a Definition being the concept expressed by this Expression restated in one or several sentences.
Translated Definitions can be attached to a DefinedMeaning, which are as close as possible to the concept described in the first definition. Ideally, all translated definitions would be direct translations from the first definition to minimize semantic drift, though in practice this is not always possible.
One Laptop Per Child Dictionary
OmegaWiki is developing a children's dictionary for use on OLPC laptops.[3] This is currently implemented as a separate table for faster development; later, the entries will be imported into OmegaWiki for further expansion and enhancement. The initial project focuses on approximately 1100 defined meanings. Subsequently, the dictionary will be progressively expanded.
Relevant events
- In 2015, support for over 500 languages.
- Since 2013, links to Wikidata.
- October 12, 2007: ability to add links to Wikipedia articles on expressions.
- June 3, 2007: 250,000 expressions reached.
- December 12, 2006: WiktionaryZ was renamed to OmegaWiki to avoid confusion with the WMF Wiktionary projects.
- October 3, 2006: start of the OLPC Children's Dictionary project.
- Approximately August 2006: version 1.0.
- April 30, 2006: a first editable prototype (for a limited number of people) was launched.
- End of February 2006: a second, read-only prototype was online.
- January 2006: Ultimate Wiktionary was renamed to WiktionaryZ.
- January 2006: the WiktionaryZ Committee began working.
- December 26, 2005: first read-only prototype.
- March 2005: first database design.
- August 30, 2004: initial discussions.
See also
- Erik Möller
References
- ↑ Themes list eionet, visited 15-7-2013
- ↑ DefinedMeaning - OmegaWiki
- ↑ OLPC Children's Dictionary - OmegaWiki
External links
Definitions from Wiktionary
Data from Wikidata
Discussion from Meta-Wiki
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