Communities developing resources and competencies for using their languages
Foundational understanding for language development work of all kinds
Publications, fonts and computer tools for language development, translation and research
SIL offers training in disciplines relevant to sustainable language development.
7,105 languages are spoken or signed. CLICK for map of world languages & regional websites.
SIL's dedication to language development past and present
Andika is a sans serif Unicode font designed especially for literacy use and the needs of beginning readers. The focus is on clear letterforms that will not be easily confused with one another.
Charis SIL is a Unicode serif font, similar to Bitstream Charter, one of the first fonts designed specifically for laser printers. It is proportionally-spaced and optomized for readability, and holds up well in less-than-ideal reproduction environments.
Cog helps you compare languages using lexicostatistics and comparative linguistics techniques. It can be used to automate much of the process of comparing word lists from different language varieties.
Doulos SIL is a Unicode serif font similar in design to Times/Times New Roman. It contains a comprehensive inventory of glyphs needed for almost any Roman- or Cyrillic-based writing system, whether used for phonetic or orthographic needs.
Gentium is a Unicode serif typeface family designed to enable the diverse ethnic groups around the world who use the Latin, Cyrillic and Greek scripts to produce readable, high-quality publications. It supports a wide range of Latin- and Cyrillic-based alphabets.
IPA Help is a useful, simple tool for learning to recognize, transcribe, and produce the sounds of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). You can use IPA Help to do the following tasks:
Phonology Assistant helps you discover and test the rules of sound in a language. Provided with a corpus of phonetic data, it automatically charts the sounds. There are a wide range of search capabilities to aid your analysis process.
With Phonology Assistant, you can do the following:
Phonology Template Editor and Search Tool assists with the phonological analysis of a Bantu language.
The tool's features allow you to:
