Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch fails to load the Hunspell dictionary, which is used for spell checking. This could be due to incorrect dictionary path, missing dictionary files, or insufficient permissions. To resolve this, ensure the dictionary files are in the correct location and Elasticsearch has the necessary permissions to access them. Also, check the dictionary file format and encoding, as Elasticsearch only supports UTF-8 encoded Hunspell dictionaries. If the dictionary is in a different format, you may need to convert it to UTF-8.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” Could not load hunspell dictionary [{}] ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: indices, analysis.
Log Context
Log “Could not load hunspell dictionary [{}]” classname is HunspellService.java.
We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
try (Directory tmp = new NIOFSDirectory(env.tmpFile())) {
return new Dictionary(tmp; "hunspell"; affixStream; dicStreams; ignoreCase);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
logger.error(() -> new ParameterizedMessage("Could not load hunspell dictionary [{}]"; locale); e);
throw e;
} finally {
IOUtils.close(affixStream);
IOUtils.close(dicStreams);
}
