<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solresol#Vocabulary" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Solresol</a> actually reverses the syllable order of a word to denote an opposite meaning, though this occurrence is inconsistent through the creator's published dictionary. For example, <em>fala</em> means good, but <em>lafa</em> means bad, and <em>falaredo</em> means accessible, but <em>dorelafa</em> means inaccessible.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-14T23:58:20.087Z
2018-03-14T23:58:20.087Z
Dan Parson
<p>I came across the Esperantido <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_(Esperantido)" rel="noreferrer">Universal</a> where reversion of stems (e.g., <em>mega</em> "big" ⁒ <em>gema</em> "small", -a is the adjective ending) is used to denote antonymy. Are there other conlangs using this unusual and un-naturalistic device?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-14T04:14:14.003Z
Hmm interesting. Limited reversal, called [metathesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_(linguistics)), does occur in many languages and sometimes with a grammatical meaning, but not whole words.
curiousdannii
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-26T04:57:23.863Z
I thought there was a section in Mark Rosenfelder's *Language Construction Kit* setting forth a scheme in which the forms of a verb are distinguished (in part) by permutation; but can't now find it.
Anton Sherwood
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-15T19:16:46.323Z
Ah here it is. Only the vowels move about. http://www.zompist.com/kebreni.htm#Verbs
Anton Sherwood
<morphology><unnatural-features><list-of-languages>
Use of string reversion in conlangs
# Use of string reversion in conlangs

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-13)

I came across the Esperantido [Universal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_(Esperantido)) where reversion of stems (e.g., *mega* "big" ⁒ *gema* "small", -a is the adjective ending) is used to denote antonymy. Are there other conlangs using this unusual and un-naturalistic device?

**Tags:** morphology, unnatural-features, list-of-languages

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hmm interesting. Limited reversal, called [metathesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_(linguistics)), does occur in many languages and sometimes with a grammatical meaning, but not whole words.  
> **username_2**: I thought there was a section in Mark Rosenfelder's *Language Construction Kit* setting forth a scheme in which the forms of a verb are distinguished (in part) by permutation; but can't now find it.  
> **username_2**: Ah here it is. Only the vowels move about. http://www.zompist.com/kebreni.htm#Verbs  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-03-14. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

[Solresol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solresol#Vocabulary) actually reverses the syllable order of a word to denote an opposite meaning, though this occurrence is inconsistent through the creator's published dictionary. For example, *fala* means good, but *lafa* means bad, and *falaredo* means accessible, but *dorelafa* means inaccessible.


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