Text content language is the language of the files that you import or work with in NVivo. You can work with your NVivo interface in one language and your source files in another. For example, you may work with the interface in English, but you are analyzing interviews that are transcribed in French.
The text content language and stop word lists are managed via project properties. Project property settings apply to every user who accesses the project.
For the lexical queries (text search and word frequency query) you can customize the language settings so that NVivo detects the words in the correct language and excludes words based on the stop-word list.
Why set the text content language?
NVivo supports several text content languages, and has pre-defined stop-words lists for those.
NVivo provides the following text content languages: Chinese, English (UK), English (US), French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
Each text content language has an associated dictionary that is used for:
- Spell checking.
- Finding words with the same stem or similar meanings when you run Text Search and Word Frequency queries.
- Including words with the same stem when you autocode based on existing coding patterns. (This feature is only available in NVivo installations with coding enhancements enabled.)
Each text content language also has an associated 'stop word' list. The words in the stop word list are filtered out (removed) when you:
- Run a Word Frequency or Text Search query
- Generate a cluster analysis diagram comparing words in files or codes
If you autocode based on existing coding patterns, NVivo excludes the stop words when comparing wording of text passages to previously coded content.
If you autocode themes or sentiment, the text content language determines the language used when processing your files. The 'stop word' list is not used for this feature. (This feature is only available in NVivo installations with coding enhancements enabled.)
Make sure that the text content language is set to match the language of your files. If the language of your files is not available as a text content language, you should set the text content language to 'Other'. When the text content language is set to 'Other', you cannot look for similar words when you run a Text Search query or Word Frequency query.
Set the text content language for your project
- Click the File tab and then click Project Properties.
- On the General tab, select the language used in your files from the Text content language list.
NOTES
- If the language used in your files is not available in the Text content language list, select the language 'Other'. By default, the stop word list for the language 'Other' is empty—you can add your own words to create a stop word list to suit the language of your files.
- You can also set the default text content language that will apply to any future projects you create.