Iepen Fryske Stavering

Frisian spell checking for Microsoft Word, including Word for Mac. Free, using the official word list (Foarkarswurdlist).

Us achterbânNet de foarkarsfoarmefterbân hat in soad fragen oer it husNet yn ’e wurdlisthûshúshoes oan ’e dyk.
Not in the word list Has a preferred spelling Hover or tap a marked word to see the suggestions.
Iepen Fryske Stavering in Word for Mac: a blue squiggle under achterbân with the suggestion efterbân, a red squiggle under hus, and the side panel listing both words with suggestions.
In Word for Mac: squiggles in the text, and every word with its suggestions in the panel.

Install it in Word for Mac

It takes about two minutes. You only do this once.

  1. Download the add-in file

    Download iepen-fryske-stavering.xml

    A small settings file that tells Word where to find the spell checker.

  2. Open Word’s add-in folder

    In Finder, press ⇧ ⌘ G, paste this location and press Return:

    ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Documents

    If the folder can’t be found, open and quit Word once, then try again.

  3. Put the file in a folder called “wef”

    Create a new folder there named wef (File → New Folder), unless it already exists, and drag the downloaded file into it.

  4. Restart Word

    Quit Word completely with ⌘ Q and open it again. Click Iepen Fryske Stavering on the Home tab. Don’t see the button? Click Add-ins on the Home tab and choose it from the list. In older Word versions it’s under Insert → My Add-ins.

Using it

The panel on the right checks your document when it opens and again whenever you pause typing.

First, mark your Frisian text. The add-in only checks text that is marked as Frisian. Select it and click Seleksje as Frysk in the panel, or Hiel dokumint as Frysk for everything. Word then stops checking that text as Dutch or English, so only the Frisian squiggles are left. Text you type in a Frisian paragraph stays Frisian.

In the text

Marked words get a red or blue squiggle. Click one for up to three suggestions, and pick one to replace the word.

In the panel

Every issue with suggestions. Negearje ignores a word until you close the panel; Taheakje adds it to your own list for good.

Other languages

Dutch or English text is left to Word’s own spell check. Marked something as Frisian by mistake? Select it, choose Tools → Language and pick the right language.

Your text stays private

Checking happens inside Word on your own computer. Nothing you write is sent anywhere.

The squiggles in the text need Word for Mac 16.85 or newer (or a current Word for Windows) with a Microsoft 365 subscription. Other versions show the panel only. Want to try the checker first? Test it in your browser.

Word on the web and Windows

Word on the web: go to Home → Add-ins → More Settings, choose Upload My Add-in and select the downloaded file. The add-in then only works in that browser. The menu names can differ slightly between versions.

Word for Windows has no Frisian spell checker from Microsoft either. The add-in works there too, but Windows has no simple add-in folder like the Mac.

Advanced: if you’re comfortable with PowerShell, a script installs it for you, with no administrator rights needed. It’s in the tools folder on GitHub; the instructions explain how to run and remove it.

Removing it

Delete iepen-fryske-stavering.xml from the wef folder (step 3) and restart Word.