Development/Dictionaries

Overview
Several types of dictionaries are bundled within LibreOffice:


 * hunspell - basic spell check using the Hunspell engine
 * hyphen - words hyphenation
 * thesaurus - synonyms and acronyms
 * grammar - grammar check using different frameworks, e.g LanguageTool, Lightproof

For the purpose of building LibreOffice product, a copy of dictionaries are stored in the git module dictionaries. The only exception is the grammar checker which is downloaded as an extension during build.

Each dictionary has its own group of authors who are developing it. The above mentioned repository is updated when the authors or anyone else ask for update, see below.

Extending a Dictionary in LibreOffice
If you want to add or remove words in an existing dictionary, it is best to discuss it with the authors of the dictionary first. You can find the Contact info in the table below.

If your language is not listed, or if you don't get any response, check the related README file which can be found in the Git repository.

Adding/Updating bundled Dictionaries
If you want to update an already bundled dictionary or if you want to add a missing dictionary, it can be done as any other change in LibreOffice. Please, just provide patch against the dictionaries git repository and ask for review either via Gerrit or via the [mailto:libreoffice@lists.freedesktop.org LibreOffice Mailing List].

To update a dictionary, thesaurus, hyphenator and autocorrect, Proofing Tool GUI (PTG) is an easy-to-use Windows and Linux application that makes this process easy to do. You can find its user guide here.

To perform a correctness check on the files (dictionary, thesaurus, hyphenator, autocorrect, sentence and word exceptions) you can use Hunlinter, a Windows application that can also package all the files into a single .oxt and create a dictionary and a PoS FSA for Language Tool, and has many other tools.

If you do not know how to create the patch or if you have any other troubles, do not hesitate to ask on the [mailto:libreoffice@lists.freedesktop.org LibreOffice Mailing List]. Other developers will happily help you. After all, the hard job is to create the dictionary. It is easy to update the repository.

Extension Dictionaries
Dictionaries don't have to be bundled, in most cases an additional dictionary extension will suffice that can be published and made available for installation at the Extensions site. Best take a look at an existing extension dictionary and see the OpenOffice.org documentation for technical details that should still be applicable.