A hash code method for detecting and correcting spelling errors

The most common spelling errors are one extra letter, one missing letter, one wrong letter, or the transposition of two letters. Deletion, exchange, and rotation operators are defined which detect and “mend” such spelling errors and thus permit retrieval despite the errors. These three operators essentially delete a letter of a word, exchange two adjacent letters, and rotate a word cyclically. Moreover, the operators can be used in conjunction with hashing, thus permitting very fast retrieval. Results of experiments run on large databases in Hebrew and in English are briefly indicated.

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