How do I install more spelling dictionaries?

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martin
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How do I install more spelling dictionaries?

Post by martin »

What Spelling Dictionaries Are Supported?
Nisus Writer supports any spelling dictionaries supported by Apple and macOS. If you install a new system spelling dictionary, just restart Nisus Writer and the dictionary should automatically appear in Nisus Writer's language preferences.


Where Can I Download Spelling Dictionaries?
Before you try to install any dictionaries, you need to find a dictionary that's suitable for your language. There's a project called Hunspell that develops spelling dictionaries for several languages.

There are many places that offer Hunspell dictionaries, but a good place to check is the LibreOffice dictionary repository. You'll see a listing of many files and folders. You should click the folder whose name corresponds to the desired language code. For example: "de" for German, "he" for Hebrew, etc.

Once you see the contents of a particular language folder, look for the two files whose names end with ".dic" and ".aff". You will need both of those files to install that dictionary. Download both of them files and keep them handy for the installation process described below.


How Do I Install Hunspell Spelling Dictionaries?
Once you have the ".dic" and ".aff" Hunspell files for your language, you can install them as follows:

1. If Nisus Writer is running, quit the app.
2. Switch to the Finder.
3. Use the menu Go > Go to Folder...
4. In the Go to Folder dialog type the path ~/Library/Spelling as shown exactly in this screenshot:

SpellingFolder.png
SpellingFolder.png (170.77 KiB) Viewed 4555 times

5. Click the "Go" button to reveal the Spelling folder in the Finder.
6. Move the ".dic" and ".aff" Hunspell files into the Spelling subfolder (see screenshot below).
8. Relaunch Nisus Writer. You should now see the installed dictionary in your Nisus Writer language preferences.

Note: a reminder that Nisus Writer supports any spelling dictionary available to macOS, so other alternatives are also possible like Cocoa Aspell, which also has its own set of free dictionaries.

The attachment SpellingFolder.png is no longer available
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