Free and open sourceWindowsmacOSLinux
Document your language in a folder you own.
OpenSlova is a dictionary app for conlangers. Keep your words, their meanings and your grammar notes together, then print them as a dictionary or publish them as a website.
No account No tracking Works offline
abalīnas
Senses
Etymology
Word family
The dictionary at the centre
Built for people who invent languages
You don't need to be a lexicographer. Start with a word and add detail as your language grows. The more advanced tools stay out of the way until you want them.
Add a word in seconds
The headword is the only thing you have to type. Meanings, parts of speech, labels and examples can come later. Homonyms are fine.
Sorted by your alphabet
Tell OpenSlova your letters, including ones written with several characters like tk or ng, and every list follows your order instead of English's.
Word families and links
Link a word to its root, its synonyms or its opposite. A link shows up on both words, and a broken one is flagged for you to fix, never quietly removed.
Fields you define
Add your own fields such as gender, stem class or the date you coined a word. Filter by them, save views, and edit hundreds of words at once in a table.
Your own script
Add other ways of writing, such as a conscript with its own font. Write the spelling rules once and OpenSlova writes every word in that script for you.
Grammar next to the words
Write articles in Markdown, with pictures and recordings. Type [[ to link a word, and the entry shows every article that mentions it.
Articles
Write the story of your language
Phonology, grammar, history, culture: keep them in articles beside the dictionary. Point at a linked word to see its entry without leaving the page.
- Live preview while you write, or switch to plain Markdown.
- Folders for grammar, an encyclopedia, a phrasebook or anything else.
- Pictures and audio stored in the language folder with everything else.
Tkaimarīgs VIII
Bau Tkaimarīgs Aktatān (28tanes Lentanes l. 1491 – 28tanm Gejames l. 1547) rīgs Saksnīs a Feiwerīs fā 22tanes Wesranes 1509 dē ens mrtum lētes 1547. Gnātas esti trai ens 6 tkeiwitims, ens skelitim us Sraumnnam Alnakailam Kirikam, ar ens twastintm Kirikes Saksnīs.
Grēnweiki gnints dwitān sūnus Tkaimarīges Seftanes ar Elisabetes Eburākes bau Tkaimarīgs. Aukei dwitān arbjān sedles bau ēn, fā ens senjasi brātari Rtqarjei, Rīgeni Kmrīs.
Your files
A language is just a folder
OpenSlova keeps each language as plain text files in a folder you choose. Sync it with whatever you already use, read it with any text editor, and keep it long after you stop using OpenSlova.
oderian/ openslova.json # name, alphabet, settings entries/ # 00.jsonl … ff.jsonl relations/ # links between words defs/ # parts of speech, labels, fields articles/ encyclopedia/ # falkna.md, tkaimarigs_viii.md … grammar/ # phonology.md media/ # images, audio exports/ # your PDF and website settings
{
"headword": "abāl",
"pos": "01M6A0XY9W79XTNY9M988YGCZ5",
"etymology": "h₂ébʰōl",
"senses": [
{ "gloss": "🍎 apple" }
],
"notes": "#: 353",
"rev": 1
}
Edits on two computers? Both are kept.
If your laptop and desktop both change the language before they sync, OpenSlova merges them word by word. Only when the same word changed on both does it ask which version to keep. It never throws an edit away.
An open format anyone can read
The folder layout is written down in a public specification under CC BY 4.0, with test files, so other tools can read and write your language too.
Plugins
Add what your dictionary needs
Plugins add to your printed dictionary and your website: extra pages, more on each entry, new things on the home page. Turn them on for each export profile.
- Safe by design. Plugins run in a sealed sandbox. They can't reach the internet or read your files, and only see what the export publishes.
- They travel with your language. Installed plugins live in the language folder and sync with it. Each computer asks you once before running one it hasn't seen.
- No half-finished exports. If a plugin fails, the export stops and tells you why, and you can export again without that plugin.
- Write your own. Plugins are WebAssembly modules in the open Extism format, so you can write one in Rust, Go, JavaScript, C and other languages.
Pronunciation guide PDFWebsite
A page listing each letter of the alphabet with example words and their pronunciations.
Interlinear examples PDFWebsite
Shows examples that have an interlinear gloss word by word, each word above its gloss.
Word of the day Website
A word of the day on the website's home page, chosen in the visitor's browser by the date.
Allow “Sound changes” on this device?
It came with this language from another device. It can't reach the internet or read your files. It only sees what this export publishes.
Pronunciation guide
Every letter of your alphabet with example words and how they sound, at the front or back of the book.PDF and website
Interlinear examples
Example sentences set word by word, each word above its gloss, the way linguists write them.PDF and website
Word of the day
A different word on your website's home page every day, picked in the visitor's browser.Website
Import
Bring your words with you
Already have a lexicon somewhere else? OpenSlova reads it into a new language folder and shows you how each column or field will be used before anything is written.
Spreadsheet
.csv .tsv .xlsx .odsExcel, LibreOffice, Google Sheets
PolyGlot
.pgdPolyGlot
LIFT
.liftFieldWorks, WeSay
Toolbox / MDF
.db .txtSIL Toolbox, Lexique Pro
Your original file is never changed.
Download
Get OpenSlova
Free for everyone, for as long as you like. OpenSlova is open source under the GPL, with no account, no subscription and no internet connection needed.
Windows Your system
Windows 10 or later
macOS Your system
macOS 12 Monterey or later
Linux Your system
Current distributions
Every release lists its changes and checksums on its GitHub page.