howells/language

Run the language-checker agent to verify all foreign language phrases in your manuscript.

What This Does

1. Scans all chapters for non-English text
2. Identifies the language of each phrase
3. Verifies grammatical correctness
4. Checks period/historical appropriateness
5. Validates dialect and register (formality level)
6. Confirms translation accuracy where translations are provided
7. Resolves author markers (**check**, [verify], etc.)

Usage

/fiction:language                    # Check all chapters
/fiction:language 5                  # Check chapter 5 only
/fiction:language swedish            # Focus on Swedish phrases only
/fiction:language 3-7                # Check chapters 3 through 7

If arguments provided: $ARGUMENTS

What It Catches

• Grammatical errors — Spelling, agreement, conjugation, case endings
• Anachronisms — Modern phrases in historical settings
• Dialect mismatches — Stockholm Swedish used where Gotland dialect expected
• Register errors — Wrong formality level (du/ni, tu/vous, du/Sie)
• Translation issues — English translations that miss nuance
• Diacritical marks — Missing or incorrect accents (o, u, e, etc.)

Languages Supported

The agent can verify phrases in any language by using web research to cross-reference grammar rules, dictionaries, and native speaker resources. Common languages in fiction:

• Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
• German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
• Russian, Polish, Ukrainian
• Yiddish, Hebrew
• Japanese (romanized or characters)
• Any language with online resources

Parallel Processing

When checking a full manuscript, chapters are processed in parallel:

1. Spawn reader agents to extract all foreign phrases from each chapter
2. Aggregate findings
3. Verify each unique phrase (avoids duplicate research)
4. Generate comprehensive report

Output

A report with:

• Summary statistics
• Issues found with suggested corrections
• Verified phrases (confirmation they're correct)
• Author markers resolved
• Phrases needing native speaker review

When to Use

• After completing draft (catches errors before readers see them)
• Before sending to native speaker beta readers (reduces their workload)
• During revision when adding foreign dialogue
• After /fiction:edit for complete polish

Example Issues Found

### Issue 1: Anachronistic Phrase

**Location:** Chapter 12, line 87
**Original:** `"Det ar cool"`
**Language:** Swedish
**Problem:** "Cool" is a modern English loanword. Wouldn't be used in 1943 Swedish.
**Suggested fix:** `"Det ar fint"` or `"Det ar bra"`
**Severity:** Moderate

### Issue 2: Register Mismatch

**Location:** Chapter 4, line 156
**Original:** `"Hur mar du?"`
**Language:** Swedish
**Problem:** Informal "du" form used in formal context. 1943 Swedish would use "ni" when addressing strangers.
**Suggested fix:** `"Hur mar ni?"`
**Severity:** Moderate

Style Guide Awareness

The language-checker respects the project's declared style guide (in craft/tone.md) for formatting non-English phrases — italicisation conventions, punctuation around translations, and quote style all follow the active guide (Chicago Manual of Style or New Oxford Style Manual).

Related Commands

• /fiction:edit — Line-level English editing (includes style guide compliance)
• /fiction:review — Story and craft feedback
• /fiction:continuity — Cross-chapter consistency (run separately)