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- Note: This readme file is from the unix ispell distribution. JGH
- ***********************************************************************
-
-
- -*- Mode:Text -*-
-
- Ispell consists of two programs: the actual spelling checker, "ispell",
- and the hash table builder, "buildhsh".
-
- The dictionary comes from the ITS spell dictionary. I got it from
- "ml:wba;dict 191", although I don't know that this is the copy currently
- in use on the 20's around MIT.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Addendum:
-
- My eternal gratitude to the author of ispell -- I don't know how I
- ever lived without it. I received his permission to post ispell to
- the net.
-
- As far as I know, no one informally "supports" this program. If you
- would like to "adopt" it (collect fixes/enhancements and post a new
- version periodically), feel free to do so.
-
- I volunteer to collect dictionary diffs and post a composite diff
- periodically. If you add a lot of words to the main dictionary, send
- me the diffs between the the modified dictionary and the posted one.
- Also, if you have access to a TOPS20 system with a more complete
- dictionary in ispell format, send me the diffs if you can. Just
- PLEASE don't dump an entire dictionary to our site!
-
- The dictionary posted is one I snarfed from around here -- after
- comparison with the one originally supplied, ours appears a tad more
- complete and accurate.
-
- Walt Buehring
- Texas Instruments - Computer Science Center
-
- ARPA: Buehring%TI-CSL@CSNet-Relay
- UUCP: {smu, texsun, im4u, rice} ! ti-csl ! buehring
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- The following is the only documentation I could find about the format
- of the dictionary. It was written for the TOPS20 speller that ispell
- mimics, so I believe most the information is applicable. It should be
- useful if you want to add words to the main dictionary by hand. -WB
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- 11.6 Dictionary flags
-
- Words in SPELL's main dictionary (but not the other dictionaries) may
- have flags associated with them to indicate the legality of suffixes
- without the need to keep the full suffixed words in the dictionary. The
- flags have "names" consisting of single letters. Their meaning is as
- follows:
-
- Let # and @ be "variables" that can stand for any letter. Upper case
- letters are constants. "..." stands for any string of zero or more
- letters, but note that no word may exist in the dictionary which is not at
- least 2 letters long, so, for example, FLY may not be produced by placing
- the "Y" flag on "F". Also, no flag is effective unless the word that it
- creates is at least 4 letters long, so, for example, WED may not be
- produced by placing the "D" flag on "WE".
-
- "V" flag:
- ...E --> ...IVE as in CREATE --> CREATIVE
- if # .ne. E, ...# --> ...#IVE as in PREVENT --> PREVENTIVE
-
- "N" flag:
- ...E --> ...ION as in CREATE --> CREATION
- ...Y --> ...ICATION as in MULTIPLY --> MULTIPLICATION
- if # .ne. E or Y, ...# --> ...#EN as in FALL --> FALLEN
-
- "X" flag:
- ...E --> ...IONS as in CREATE --> CREATIONS
- ...Y --> ...ICATIONS as in MULTIPLY --> MULTIPLICATIONS
- if # .ne. E or Y, ...# --> ...#ENS as in WEAK --> WEAKENS
-
- "H" flag:
- ...Y --> ...IETH as in TWENTY --> TWENTIETH
- if # .ne. Y, ...# --> ...#TH as in HUNDRED --> HUNDREDTH
-
- "Y" FLAG:
- ... --> ...LY as in QUICK --> QUICKLY
-
- "G" FLAG:
- ...E --> ...ING as in FILE --> FILING
- if # .ne. E, ...# --> ...#ING as in CROSS --> CROSSING
-
- "J" FLAG"
- ...E --> ...INGS as in FILE --> FILINGS
- if # .ne. E, ...# --> ...#INGS as in CROSS --> CROSSINGS
-
- "D" FLAG:
- ...E --> ...ED as in CREATE --> CREATED
- if @ .ne. A, E, I, O, or U,
- ...@Y --> ...@IED as in IMPLY --> IMPLIED
- if # .ne. E or Y, or (# = Y and @ = A, E, I, O, or U)
- ...@# --> ...@#ED as in CROSS --> CROSSED
- or CONVEY --> CONVEYED
- "T" FLAG:
- ...E --> ...EST as in LATE --> LATEST
- if @ .ne. A, E, I, O, or U,
- ...@Y --> ...@IEST as in DIRTY --> DIRTIEST
- if # .ne. E or Y, or (# = Y and @ = A, E, I, O, or U)
- ...@# --> ...@#EST as in SMALL --> SMALLEST
- or GRAY --> GRAYEST
-
- "R" FLAG:
- ...E --> ...ER as in SKATE --> SKATER
- if @ .ne. A, E, I, O, or U,
- ...@Y --> ...@IER as in MULTIPLY --> MULTIPLIER
- if # .ne. E or Y, or (# = Y and @ = A, E, I, O, or U)
- ...@# --> ...@#ER as in BUILD --> BUILDER
- or CONVEY --> CONVEYER
-
- "Z FLAG:
- ...E --> ...ERS as in SKATE --> SKATERS
- if @ .ne. A, E, I, O, or U,
- ...@Y --> ...@IERS as in MULTIPLY --> MULTIPLIERS
- if # .ne. E or Y, or (# = Y and @ = A, E, I, O, or U)
- ...@# --> ...@#ERS as in BUILD --> BUILDERS
- or SLAY --> SLAYERS
-
- "S" FLAG:
- if @ .ne. A, E, I, O, or U,
- ...@Y --> ...@IES as in IMPLY --> IMPLIES
- if # .eq. S, X, Z, or H,
- ...# --> ...#ES as in FIX --> FIXES
- if # .ne. S, X, Z, H, or Y, or (# = Y and @ = A, E, I, O, or U)
- ...@# --> ...@#S as in BAT --> BATS
- or CONVEY --> CONVEYS
-
- "P" FLAG:
- if @ .ne. A, E, I, O, or U,
- ...@Y --> ...@INESS as in CLOUDY --> CLOUDINESS
- if # .ne. Y, or @ = A, E, I, O, or U,
- ...@# --> ...@#NESS as in LATE --> LATENESS
- or GRAY --> GRAYNESS
-
- "M" FLAG:
- ... --> ...'S as in DOG --> DOG'S
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- [Whew! That's all very nice, but how about a quick reference... -WB]
-
- V - ive
- N - ion, tion, en
- X - ions, ications, ens
- H - th, ieth
- Y - ly
- G - ing
- J - ings
- D - ed
- T - est
- R - er
- Z - ers
- S - s, es, ies
- P - ness, iness
- M - 's
-