Am I using ispell or aspell, and where is the local dictionary saved?

Question

When spell checking in Emacs, I am accustomed to using M-xispell to invoke the spell checker. I have read that some people have their Emacs configured so this invokes aspell rather than ispell (or hunspell, possibly).

How can I tell whether I'm invoking ispell or aspell?

I looked in my .emacs file (in my home directory) and don't see anything referencing either.

Also, (assuming I am using ispell), where is the "private dictionary" saved where I insert words into. I'd like to back up that file (and/or transfer it to another machine).

Answer 1

The value of ispell-program-name tells you what is being used.

M-:ispell-program-name

ispell.el states:

(defconst ispell-pdict-keyword "Local IspellPersDict: "
  "The keyword for defining buffer local dictionaries.
Keyword must be followed by the filename of a personal dictionary.
The last occurring definition in the buffer will be used.")
....
;; Change IspellPersDict to IspellPersDict: to enable the following line.
;; Local IspellPersDict ~/.ispell_lisp