Class Language (Word VBA)

The class Language represents a language used for proofing or formatting in Microsoft Word. The Language object is a member of the Languages collection. To use a Language class variable it first needs to be instantiated, for example

Dim lng as Language
Set lng = Languages(Index:=1)

For Each

Here is an example of processing the Language items in a collection.

Dim lng As Language
For Each lng In Languages
	
Next lng

ActiveGrammarDictionary

Returns a Dictionary object that represents the active grammar dictionary for the specified language.

If there is no grammar dictionary installed for the specified language, this property returns Nothing.

Dim lngLanguage As Long 
Dim dicGrammar As Dictionary 
 
lngLanguage = Selection.LanguageID 
Set dicGrammar = Languages(lngLanguage).ActiveGrammarDictionary 
MsgBox dicGrammar.Path & Application.PathSeparator & dicGrammar.Name

ActiveHyphenationDictionary

Returns a Dictionary object that represents the active hyphenation dictionary for the specified language.

If there is no hyphenation dictionary installed for the specified language, this property returns Nothing.

Dim lngLanguage As Long 
Dim dicHyphen As Dictionary 
 
lngLanguage = Selection.LanguageID 
Set dicHyphen = Languages(lngLanguage).ActiveHyphenationDictionary 
If dicHyphen Is Nothing Then 
 MsgBox "No hyphenation dictionary installed!" 
Else 
 MsgBox dicHyphen.Path & Application.PathSeparator & dicHyphen.Name 
End If

ActiveSpellingDictionary

Returns a Dictionary object that represents the active spelling dictionary for the specified language.

If there is no spelling dictionary installed for the specified language, this property returns Nothing.

Dim lngLanguage As Long 
Dim dicSpelling As Dictionary 
 
lngLanguage = Selection.LanguageID 
Set dicSpelling = Languages(lngLanguage).ActiveSpellingDictionary 
If dicSpelling Is Nothing Then 
 MsgBox "No spelling dictionary installed!" 
Else 
 MsgBox dicSpelling.Path & Application.PathSeparator _ 
 & dicSpelling.Name 
End If 

ActiveThesaurusDictionary

Returns a Dictionary object that represents the active thesaurus dictionary for the specified language.

If there is no thesaurus dictionary installed for the specified language, this property returns Nothing.

Dim lngLanguage As Long 
Dim dicThesaurus As Dictionary 
 
lngLanguage = Selection.LanguageID 
Set dicThesaurus = Languages(lngLanguage).ActiveThesaurusDictionary 
If dicThesaurus Is Nothing Then 
 MsgBox "No thesaurus dictionary installed!" 
Else 
 MsgBox dicThesaurus.Path & Application.PathSeparator _ 
 & dicThesaurus.Name 
End If 

DefaultWritingStyle

Returns or sets the default writing style used by the grammar checker for the specified language.

This property controls the global setting for the writing style. The name of the writing style is the localized name for the specified language. When setting this property, you must use the exact name found in the Writing style box on the Spelling & Grammar tab in the Options dialog box (Tools menu). The ActiveWritingStyle property sets the writing style for each language in a document. The ActiveWritingStyle setting overrides the DefaultWritingStyle setting.

Dim lngLanguage As Long 
 
lngLanguage = Selection.LanguageID 
Msgbox Languages(lngLanguage).DefaultWritingStyle

ID

Returns a number that identifies the specified language. Here you can find possible values for WdLanguageID.

Selection.LanguageID = Languages("Icelandic").ID

Name

Returns the name of the specified object.

Dim strName As String
strName = Languages(1).Name

NameLocal

Returns the name of a proofing tool language in the language of the user.

MsgBox Languages(wdGerman).NameLocal 
MsgBox Languages(wdGerman).Name

SpellingDictionaryType

Returns or sets the proofing tool type. Here you can find possible values for WdDictionaryType.

You can use this property to change the active spelling dictionary to one of the available add-on dictionaries that work with Word. For example, there are legal, medical, and complete spelling dictionaries you can use instead of the standard dictionary. Some of the constants listed above may not be available to you, depending on the language support (U.S. English, for example) that you've selected or installed.

myType = Languages(wdEnglishUS).SpellingDictionaryType

WritingStyleList

Returns a string array that contains the names of all writing styles available for the specified language.

Sub WritingStyles() 
 Dim WrStyles As Variant 
 Dim i As Integer 
 
 WrStyles = Languages(wdEnglishUS).WritingStyleList 
 For i = 1 To UBound(WrStyles) 
 MsgBox WrStyles(i) 
 Debug.Print WrStyles(i) & " [" & Trim(Str$(i)) & "]" 
 Next i 
End Sub