The Simple English Wikipedia is a modified
English-language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
edition of
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
, a free
online encyclopedia
An online encyclopedia, also called an Internet encyclopedia, or a digital encyclopedia, is an encyclopedia accessible through the internet. Examples include Wikipedia and ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
Digitization of old content
In January 199 ...
, written primarily in
Basic English
Basic English (British American Scientific International and Commercial English) is an English-based controlled language created by the linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teach ...
and
Learning English.
It is one of seven Wikipedias written in an
Anglic language
The Anglo-Frisian languages are the Anglic (History of the English language, English, History of the Scots language, Scots, and Yola language, Yola) and Frisian languages, Frisian varieties of the West Germanic languages.
The Anglo-Frisian lang ...
or English-based
pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...
or
creole. The site has the stated aim of providing an encyclopedia for "people with different needs, such as students, children, adults with
learning difficulties, and people who are trying to learn English." Simple English Wikipedia's basic presentation style makes it helpful for beginners learning English.
Its simpler word structure and syntax, while detracting from the standpoint of the raw information, can make the information easier to understand when compared with the regular
English Wikipedia
The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of
, has the most arti ...
.
History
Simple English Wikipedia was launched on September 18, 2001.
Material from the Simple English Wikipedia formed the basis for One Encyclopedia per Child, a project in
One Laptop per Child that ended in 2014.
In 2018, there was a proposal to close the site down on the basis that "there is no proof that the project is reaching its target audience".
However after discussion and voting by over 100 editors, the decision was made to keep it active due the contributor community remaining active and robust.
As of , the site contains over content pages, and has more than registered users, of whom are currently active.
Website structure
The articles on the Simple English Wikipedia are usually shorter than their
English Wikipedia
The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of
, has the most arti ...
counterparts, typically presenting only basic information. Tim Dowling of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' newspaper explained that "the Simple English version tends to stick to commonly accepted facts".
[ The interface is also more simply labeled; for instance, the "Random article" link on the English Wikipedia is replaced with a "Show any page" link; users are invited to "change" rather than "edit" pages; clicking on a ]red link
Red link may refer to:
* Red Link Communications, an ISP in Myanmar
* Red Sex Link, a cross-breed of chicken
* A link to a red node in the red–black tree
In computer science, a red–black tree is a kind of self-balancing binary search tre ...
shows a "page not created" message rather than the usual "page does not exist".[ that is based on ]Basic English
Basic English (British American Scientific International and Commercial English) is an English-based controlled language created by the linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teach ...
, an 850-word controlled natural language created by Charles Kay Ogden
Charles Kay Ogden (; 1 June 1889 – 20 March 1957) was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer. Described as a polymath but also an eccentric and outsider, he took part in many ventures related to literature, politics, the arts, and philos ...
in the 1920s.
See also
*Plain English
Plain English (or layman's terms) are groups of words that are to be clear and easy to know. It usually avoids the use of rare words and uncommon euphemisms to explain the subject. Plain English wording is intended to be suitable for almost anyone, ...
*Readability
Readability is the ease with which a reader can understand a written text. In natural language, the readability of text depends on its content (the complexity of its vocabulary and syntax) and its presentation (such as typographic aspects that a ...
References
External links
{{Commons category, Simple English Wikipedia
Simple English Wikipedia main page
Wikipedias in Germanic languages