Set Language in Word For Scattered Greek Words

Robert M. Warren · March 2017

This might have already been discussed, but I could not find anything like it. I thought it was quite nifty.

If you have a (Unicode) docx that is mainly English (or another Western language) but with Greek words here and there for which you need to set the language in Word to Greek, the link below might help. It leads to a page by Mark Ward, who I think is affiliated with Faithlife.

http://byfaithweunderstand.com/2011/07/29/how-to-find-every-unicode-greek-character-in-microsoft-word/

The technique utilizes the Windows Character Map applet, which is in Win 7 & Win 10 (presumably 8). Macs probably have a similar tool.

In his example, Mr. Ward needed to change the font of Greek words. What I needed to do was set the language to Greek, while leaving the English words as is. Word has an option in the Set Proofing Language dialog "Detect Language Automatically", but I don't think it does what I wanted (it didn't in the document I was working with, anyway)

Instead of changing the font, I used Find & Replace to apply a style I had created. I had set the language on the new style to Greek. I also set the font color to blue, but that was just a way to help me actually see how well it worked. Word instructed me to download and install a Greek language pack, which I did.

The compiled resource enabled Information tool (and double-click) lookup and context menu functionality for Greek lexicons. If anyone needs instructions for the Word style & language settings, let me know and I'll elaborate.

DominicM · March 2017

you don't need the language pack if space is an issue, its only so red lines don't show for spellings

If you have a multiple language document I made this macro a bit back for setting language of whatever text is highlighted

Sub MU_LangChoice()
' SetLanguage of selected text
   Dim strNoteType As String
   strNoteType = InputBox("Set Language to -" _
                & vbCr & "US - EN(US)     UK - EN(UK)" _
                & vbCr & "DE - German    FR - French" _
                & vbCr & "GK - Greek       HE - Hebrew" _
                & vbCr & "ES - Spanish     LA - Latin" _
                & vbCr & "IT - Italian        AR - Arabic" _
                & vbCr & "XX - NONE" _
                & vbCr & vbCr & "Please Enter 2 Letter Language Code.", _
                "Apply Language to Section", "US") 'Change US to your default
   If strNoteType = "US" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdEnglishUS
   End If
   If strNoteType = "UK" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdEnglishUK
   End If
   If strNoteType = "FR" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdFrench
   End If
   If strNoteType = "DE" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdGerman
   End If
   If strNoteType = "ES" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdSpanish
   End If
   If strNoteType = "AR" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdArabic
   End If
   If strNoteType = "LA" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdLatin
   End If
   If strNoteType = "GK" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdGreek
   End If
   If strNoteType = "HE" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdHebrew
   End If
   If strNoteType = "IT" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdItalian
   End If
   If strNoteType = "XX" Then
      Selection.LanguageID = wdLanguageNone
   End If
End Sub

If you only wanted the Greek, though you don't need all the input stuff, just:

Sub MU_Lang2GK()
Selection.LanguageID = wdGreek
End Sub

Robert M. Warren · March 2017

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/886536#Comment_886536

DominicM said:
you don't need the language pack if space is an issue, its only so red lines don't show for spellings

Yeah, thanks. That dawned on me after I had done it.

Set Language in Word For Scattered Greek Words

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