4.3BSD-UWisc/man/cat1/spell.1

SPELL(1)            UNIX Programmer's Manual             SPELL(1)



NAME
     spell, spellin, spellout - find spelling errors

SYNOPSIS
     spell [ -v ] [ -b ] [ -x ] [ -d hlist ] [ -s hstop ] [ -h
     spellhist ] [ file ] ...

     spellin [ list ]

     spellout [ -d ] list

DESCRIPTION
     _S_p_e_l_l collects words from the named documents, and looks
     them up in a spelling list.  Words that neither occur among
     nor are derivable (by applying certain inflections, prefixes
     or suffixes) from words in the spelling list are printed on
     the standard output.  If no files are named, words are col-
     lected from the standard input.

     _S_p_e_l_l ignores most _t_r_o_f_f, _t_b_l and _e_q_n(1) constructions.

     Under the -v option, all words not literally in the spelling
     list are printed, and plausible derivations from spelling
     list words are indicated.

     Under the -b option, British spelling is checked.  Besides
     preferring _c_e_n_t_r_e, _c_o_l_o_u_r, _s_p_e_c_i_a_l_i_t_y, _t_r_a_v_e_l_l_e_d, etc., this
     option insists upon -_i_s_e in words like _s_t_a_n_d_a_r_d_i_s_e, Fowler
     and the OED to the contrary notwithstanding.

     Under the -x option, every plausible stem is printed with
     `=' for each word.

     The spelling list is based on many sources.  While it is
     more haphazard than an ordinary dictionary, it is also more
     effective with proper names and popular technical words.
     Coverage of the specialized vocabularies of biology, medi-
     cine and chemistry is light.

     The auxiliary files used for the spelling list, stop list,
     and history file may be specified by arguments following the
     -d, -s, and -h options.  The default files are indicated
     below.  Copies of all output may be accumulated in the his-
     tory file.  The stop list filters out misspellings (e.g.
     thier=thy-y+ier) that would otherwise pass.

     Two routines help maintain the hash lists used by _s_p_e_l_l.
     Both expect a set of words, one per line, from the standard
     input.  _S_p_e_l_l_i_n combines the words from the standard input
     and the preexisting _l_i_s_t file and places a new list on the
     standard output.  If no _l_i_s_t file is specified, the new list
     is created from scratch.  _S_p_e_l_l_o_u_t looks up each word from



Printed 12/27/86         April 29, 1985                         1






SPELL(1)            UNIX Programmer's Manual             SPELL(1)



     the standard input and prints on the standard output those
     that are missing from (or present on, with option -d) the
     hashed _l_i_s_t file.  For example, to verify that _h_o_o_k_e_y is not
     on the default spelling list, add it to your own private
     list, and then use it with _s_p_e_l_l,

          echo  hookey  |  spellout  /usr/dict/hlista
          echo  hookey  |  spellin  /usr/dict/hlista  >  myhlist
          spell  -d  myhlist  huckfinn

FILES
     /usr/dict/hlist[ab] hashed spelling lists, American & Brit-
     ish, default for -d
     /usr/dict/hstop          hashed stop list, default for -s
     /dev/null      history file, default for -h
     /tmp/spell.$$*      temporary files
     /usr/lib/spell

SEE ALSO
     deroff(1), sort(1), tee(1), sed(1)

BUGS
     The spelling list's coverage is uneven; new installations
     will probably wish to monitor the output for several months
     to gather local additions.
     British spelling was done by an American.





























Printed 12/27/86         April 29, 1985                         2