A reverse dictionary is a dictionary alphabetized by the reversal of each entry: Another variant alphabetizes by suffix. Before computers, reverse dictionaries were tedious to produce. The first computer-produced was Stahl and Scavnicky's A Reverse Dictionary of the Spanish Language, in 1974.
Definition
In a reverse word dictionary, the entries are alphabetized by the last letter first, then next to last, and so on. In them, words with the same suffix appear together. This can be useful for linguists and poets looking for words ending with a particular suffix, or by an epigrapher or forensics specialist examining a damaged text that had only the final portion of a word. Reverse dictionaries of this type have been published for most major alphabetical languages.
Applications
Applications of reverse word dictionaries include:
Simple rhyme dictionaries, to the extent that spelling predicts pronunciation.
Finding words with a given suffix, like -ment.
Finding words with the same ending as a given word, even if the sequence is not meaningful.
Setting or solving word puzzles, such as -gry or the earlier -dous puzzle, or crossword puzzles.
Construction
Reverse word dictionaries are straightforward to construct, by simply sorting based on reversed words. This was labor-intensive and tedious before computers, but is now straightforward. For example, using the Unix commands rev and sort allows the following one-liner program to produce a reverse dictionary of the file "dict": rev < dict | sort | rev
By the same token, reverse dictionaries have become less important to the extent that online word lists can be searched dynamically.
Walker, John, The rhyming dictionary of the English language: in which the whole language is arranged according to its terminations, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1983.
Other Languages
Alinei, M.L., Dizionario inverso italiano, con indici e liste di frequenza delle terminazioni, Mouton & Co., The Hague 1965.
Αναστασιάδη-Συμεωνίδη, Α. Αντίστροφο Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής. Θεσσαλονίκη: Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, 2002.
Bielfeldt, H.H., Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der Russischen Sprache der Gegenwart, Akademie erlag, Berlin, 1958.
Bosque, I., Pérez, M., Diccionario inverso de la lengua española, Gredos, Madrid, 1987.
Garabík, Radovan et al., Retrográdny slovník súčasnej slovenčiny – slovné tvary na báze Slovenského národného korpusu. VEDA, vydavateľstvo SAV, Bratislava, 2018.
Gradenwitz, Otto, Laterculi vocum latinarum, G. Olms, Hildesheim, 1966.
Hajnšek-Holz, Milena and Primož Jakopin, Odzadnji slovar slovenskega jezika po Slovarju slovenskega knjižnega jezika, ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana, 1996.
Hecker, Karl, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Akkadischen, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1990.
Hinderling, Robert, Rückläufiges estnisches Wörterbuch = Eesti keele pöördsõnaraamat = Reverse dictionary of the Estonian language, Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät der Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, 1979.
Juilland, A., Dictionnaire inverse de la langue française, Mouton, The Hague, 1965.
Κουρμούλης Γ. Αντίστροφον λεξικόν της Νέας Ελληνικής. Δεύτερη Έκδοση. Αθήνα: Παπαδήμας, 2002.
Mater, Erich, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der deutschen Gegenwartssprache CD-ROM, Straelener Ms.-Verlag, Straelen, 2001
Mitrevski, George, Macedonian Reverse Dictionary = Македонски обратен речник. http://macedonia.auburn.edu/revdict/index.html
Muthmann, Gustav, Rückläufiges deutsches Wörterbuch: Handbuch der Wortausgänge im Deutschen, mit Beachtung der Wort- und Lautstruktur, Niemeyer, Tübingen, 2001.
Nieuwborg, E.R., Retrograde woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal, Kluwer Technische Boeken, Deventer, 1978.
Papp, Ferenc, A magyar nyelv szóvégmutató szótára . Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1969, 2nd ed.: 1994.
Rozycki, William, A reverse index of Manchu, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1981.
Sander, Ruth and Kerstin Mayerhofer, Retrograde Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 2010.
Schwarz, Wolfgang, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Altindischen = Reverse index of old Indian, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1974-1978.
