Index: gc_lang/fr/perf_memo.txt
==================================================================
--- gc_lang/fr/perf_memo.txt
+++ gc_lang/fr/perf_memo.txt
@@ -32,5 +32,6 @@
 1.9.2       2020.05.12 08:43    1.62465     0.398831    0.273012    0.0810811   0.080937    0.0845885   0.204133    0.114146    0.0212864   0.0029547
 1.12.2      2020.09.09 13:34    1.50568     0.374504    0.233108    0.0798712   0.0804466   0.0769674   0.171519    0.0945132   0.0165344   0.0019474
 1.12.2      2020.09.09 13:35    1.41094     0.359093    0.236443    0.06968     0.0734418   0.0738087   0.169371    0.0946279   0.0167106   0.0019773
 1.12.2      2020.09.11 19:16    1.35297     0.330545    0.221731    0.0666998   0.0692539   0.0701707   0.160564    0.0891676   0.015807    0.0045998
 1.12.2      2020.09.30 14:50    1.37531     0.330381    0.226012    0.0668063   0.0690574   0.0694727   0.160282    0.0929373   0.0176629   0.0019713
+1.12.2      2020.09.30 17:01    1.37168     0.329009    0.248127    0.0670758   0.0701238   0.0910568   0.170556    0.093876    0.0168925   0.0020051

Index: graphspell-js/ibdawg.js
==================================================================
--- graphspell-js/ibdawg.js
+++ graphspell-js/ibdawg.js
@@ -273,11 +273,11 @@
     }
 
     isValid (sWord) {
         // checks if sWord is valid (different casing tested if the first letter is a capital)
         if (!sWord) {
-            return null;
+            return true;
         }
         if (sWord.includes("'")) { // ugly hack
             sWord = sWord.replace("'", "’");
         }
         if (this.lookup(sWord)) {

Index: graphspell-js/spellchecker.js
==================================================================
--- graphspell-js/spellchecker.js
+++ graphspell-js/spellchecker.js
@@ -12,10 +12,11 @@
 /* global require, exports, console, IBDAWG, Tokenizer */
 
 "use strict";
 
 ${map}
+${string}
 
 
 if (typeof(process) !== 'undefined') {
     var ibdawg = require("./ibdawg.js");
     var tokenizer = require("./tokenizer.js");
@@ -227,10 +228,11 @@
 
     // IBDAWG functions
 
     isValidToken (sToken) {
         // checks if sToken is valid (if there is hyphens in sToken, sToken is split, each part is checked)
+        sToken = sToken.gl_trim("_");
         if (this.oMainDic.isValidToken(sToken)) {
             return true;
         }
         if (this.bCommunityDic && this.oCommunityDic.isValidToken(sToken)) {
             return true;
@@ -269,10 +271,11 @@
         return false;
     }
 
     getMorph (sWord) {
         // retrieves morphologies list, different casing allowed
+        sWord = sWord.gl_trim("_");
         if (this.bStorage && this._dMorphologies.has(sWord)) {
             return this._dMorphologies.get(sWord);
         }
         let lMorph = this.oMainDic.getMorph(sWord);
         if (this.bCommunityDic) {
@@ -289,10 +292,11 @@
         return lMorph;
     }
 
     getLemma (sWord) {
         // retrieves lemmas
+        sWord = sWord.gl_trim("_");
         if (this.bStorage) {
             if (!this._dLemmas.has(sWord)) {
                 this.getMorph(sWord);
             }
             return this._dLemmas.get(sWord);
@@ -300,10 +304,11 @@
         return Array.from(new Set(this.getMorph(sWord).map((sMorph) => { return sMorph.slice(1, sMorph.indexOf("/")); })));
     }
 
     * suggest (sWord, nSuggLimit=10) {
         // generator: returns 1, 2 or 3 lists of suggestions
+        sWord = sWord.gl_trim("_");
         if (this.lexicographer) {
             if (this.lexicographer.dSugg.has(sWord)) {
                 yield this.lexicographer.dSugg.get(sWord).split("|");
             } else if (sWord.gl_isTitle() && this.lexicographer.dSugg.has(sWord.toLowerCase())) {
                 let lRes = this.lexicographer.dSugg.get(sWord.toLowerCase()).split("|");

Index: graphspell/ibdawg.py
==================================================================
--- graphspell/ibdawg.py
+++ graphspell/ibdawg.py
@@ -276,11 +276,11 @@
         return False
 
     def isValid (self, sWord):
         "checks if <sWord> is valid (different casing tested if the first letter is a capital)"
         if not sWord:
-            return None
+            return True
         if "'" in sWord: # ugly hack
             sWord = sWord.replace("'", "’")
         if self.lookup(sWord):
             return True
         if sWord[0:1].isupper():

Index: graphspell/spellchecker.py
==================================================================
--- graphspell/spellchecker.py
+++ graphspell/spellchecker.py
@@ -211,10 +211,11 @@
 
     # IBDAWG functions
 
     def isValidToken (self, sToken):
         "checks if sToken is valid (if there is hyphens in sToken, sToken is split, each part is checked)"
+        sToken = sToken.strip("_")
         if self.oMainDic.isValidToken(sToken):
             return True
         if self.bCommunityDic and self.oCommunityDic.isValidToken(sToken):
             return True
         if self.bPersonalDic and self.oPersonalDic.isValidToken(sToken):
@@ -241,10 +242,11 @@
             return True
         return False
 
     def getMorph (self, sWord):
         "retrieves morphologies list, different casing allowed"
+        sWord = sWord.strip("_")
         if self.bStorage and sWord in self._dMorphologies:
             return self._dMorphologies[sWord]
         lMorph = self.oMainDic.getMorph(sWord)
         if self.bCommunityDic:
             lMorph.extend(self.oCommunityDic.getMorph(sWord))
@@ -255,18 +257,20 @@
             self._dLemmas[sWord] = { s[1:s.find("/")]  for s in lMorph }
         return lMorph
 
     def getLemma (self, sWord):
         "retrieves lemmas"
+        sWord = sWord.strip("_")
         if self.bStorage:
             if sWord not in self._dLemmas:
                 self.getMorph(sWord)
             return self._dLemmas[sWord]
         return { s[1:s.find("/")]  for s in self.getMorph(sWord) }
 
     def suggest (self, sWord, nSuggLimit=10):
         "generator: returns 1, 2 or 3 lists of suggestions"
+        sWord = sWord.strip("_")
         if self.lexicographer:
             if sWord in self.lexicographer.dSugg:
                 yield self.lexicographer.dSugg[sWord].split("|")
             elif sWord.istitle() and sWord.lower() in self.lexicographer.dSugg:
                 lRes = self.lexicographer.dSugg[sWord.lower()].split("|")