stavekontroll

Stavekontroll is a software feature that analyzes written text to identify misspelled words and typographical errors and to propose corrections. It is commonly integrated into word processors, text editors, email clients, web browsers, and mobile apps, and can operate offline or online. The purpose is to improve spelling accuracy, reduce errors, and enhance readability by guiding the writer toward accepted orthography.

A typical stavekontroll system relies on a core dictionary of recognized words and may include dictionaries for inflected forms, proper nouns, and domain-specific terms. For languages with rich inflection or compounding — such as Norwegian and Danish — morphological rules and compound word handling are essential. Additional components include a tokenizer, diacritics handling, capitalization rules, error detection for typographical mistakes, and user dictionaries that learn from corrections.

Approaches vary: rule-based systems encode orthographic rules; statistical or hybrid methods use corpora or language models to rank candidate corrections. Modern implementations often blend these approaches and may offer grammar checks or style suggestions. Open-source projects such as Hunspell, Ispell, and many language packs provide stavekontroll for several Nordic languages, including support for diacritics, variants, and compound splitting. Commercial products and online services increasingly offer real-time stavekontroll with context-aware suggestions.

Challenges include identifying proper nouns and neologisms, handling regional spellings and dialects, managing hyphenation and compounding, and balancing accuracy with performance and privacy, particularly for online tools that upload text to servers.