Spell checker

Spell checker called software-based method for correcting spelling or typing errors in electronic form texts. Applications are the classic office programs, word processing programs previously used and typewriters, electronic displays that allow a print upon completion of the entire text. Meanwhile, databases, web editors, e- mail clients, and many other programs are equipped with built-in spell checking.

Spell check earlier

Until the nineties, often using simple word lists has been realized with the help of the written text was compared. This does not require complex algorithms, which would have required in the early days of the computer too much computing time. The disadvantages are numerous. For one compound words are generally recognized as an error, unless they also are in the word list. Even words with prefixes and suffixes, particles, etc. must be in the word list to be not marked as an error. The limited amount of storage required compromises; popular compositions were considered rare not. Other words such as compound words without a hyphen, however, are wrongly classified as correct.

Spell check today

With increasing computing power of today's computers better spellings are possible, often even with checking the grammar and word separation.

Orthographic error

• Recognition of letter sequences (including strings, Eng. Strings) that do not belong to the vocabulary of the current language. Examples of the Word Error: Feler (ellipsis ), ails ( replacement ), Fehlwer ( inset), Fehelr ( permutation )

Another example:

• Faulty word: Libe; in the lexicon: Love, Life. Levenshtein distances: for love: 1 ( omission ), for body: 2 ( two interchanges ) → First Correction: Love

If the automatic spell checker suggests a wrong word and this is then also taken, one also speaks of the Cupertino effect.

Grammatical error

• Recognition of words that exist but result in its use has a grammatical error. Example: Make your book.

Semantic error

• Words that exist but are in the wrong context. Example: The hammer is eating grass.

Composites

Difficulties also arise in particular with German lyrics by compound words. In order not to become too high, the rate of wrongly declared faulty expressions, accept modern spelling programs also compositions which are not in standard dictionaries are (eg " education crisis "). A disadvantage of this method is that in some cases semantically nonsensical compositions contain no more ( for example, " foreground ", " skin news " ) are reported as errors.