Root Word Study - Verein

I have not posted for a few weeks, but once I get back on my regular computer, I will post the rest of the words used in past National Spelling Bees.

For now I am going to do a root word study on verein. This word caught my attention when I saw a word in one of the German songs I sang (Serenade (Ständchen) Op. 135: Zögernd Leise by Schubert). vereinter (This is not a word in Webster's Third, but verein is). When you translate it into English, it means combined. According to Webster, verein means a usual social or political organization or association. 

There was a word at the National Spelling Bee that had this certain root: turnverein: an athletic club. In this case verein means club, but club has a similar meaning to organization and association.

Good luck, spellers, and I hope you are studying very diligently!

Words from Previous National Spelling Bees (2005-2008)

Words from Past Years

I will be posting several words starting from 2005, because that was the first year they stopped updating the Scripps Consolidated Word List.

2005
ornithorhynchous
pompier
Roscian
trouvaille
priscilla
xenocentric
coiffure
dissilient
daguerreotypes 
sphygmomanometer
filiciform
heterocoelous
cancrizans




2006
echinulate
probouleutic
cabotinage
kalema
panchreston
tychopotamic
campanile
saxifragous
oligophagous
criollo
involucre
cholinesterase
oxyblepsia
lansquenet
gisarme
tagliatelle
onager
arrondissement (This word was just used last night)
paronychia
rapprochement
tasajillo
incalescent
seicento
seicento
aeoline
rasceta
malentendu
sapajou
rya
apotropaic
feretory
mettwurst
durbar
olibanum
khedive
eremacausis
theremin
joual
Pierian
nullipara
sprachgeful
Weltschmerz
icteritious
totipalmate


2007
flebile
girolle
beccafico
zacate
aniseikonia
exsiccate
biwa
apozem
fauchard
cannetille
helzel
erinaceous
furfuraceous
epaulement
illeist
hilum
lambdacisms
mneme
hirudiniasis
lomilomi
oberek
meralgia
schuhplattler 
myoclonous
peirastic
onychomycosis
pschent
polyphydont
reseau
quipu
punaise (I remember this one specifically. The speller said that he would like to spell bedbug, because that is the meaning of the word)
Bewusstseinslage 
saimin 
yosenabe


2008
aporetic
piacular
emollience
amole
scission
podotheca
morceau
stollen
xylary
luftmensch
trochophore
duende
pullus
topepo
puissant
bricolage
solfatara
chevee
amylolysis
mcleod
tombolo
eremophyte
benzophenome
ansu
xerarch
Krummholz
sporangiophore
advocaat
ptarmic
oleocellosis
secernent
pourboire
duroc
tiqueur
miliary
hyssop
galbulus
ophthalmoplegia
redoppe
pyrrhotism
canicular
torii
trophallactic
bulbul
allotriophagy
picry
anticum
galeate
oceanodromous
bowdlerize
shamateurism
tralatitious
aurelian
cryptarithim
hemeralopia
empyrean
tautological
Huguenot
digerati
caduceus
propylaeum
escabeche
fumagillin
ziarat
bogatyr
lemel
parfleche
huapango (I'll admit that this is part of my password that I use for log ins plus a lot of numbers. I just do not use it for this blog or my emails)
ecrase 
posaune
thymele
oxylophytic
prosopopoeia
aptyalism
opificer
hyphaeresis
Kulturkampf
taleggio
monogoneutic
brankursine
Rorschach
numnah
boulangere
ranunculaceous


I will post 2009-2012 in another post!

Media Tour/Banquet/Summer Activities/International Bee

Snigdha Nandipati is on her media tour today after such an amazing win last night! If you missed out, her winning word was guetapens (getuh-pahn - light on the n) It is an ambush, snare, or trap, and it is from French. Today is also the banquet to honor the championship finalists, delicious food, and have fun! Spellers need to have fun, too, you know!


After this Bee, there is one more Bee to go: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Ivins, Utah (nearby St. George). There is a lot of audience participation from what I have heard, including a spelling bee for several audience members. Some of the words they use in the musical are pretty similar to the ones at the National Spelling Bee, so you might want to bring a pencil and a notebook. I really am excited to watch this show, because it will mix some of my favorite activities: the spelling bee and musical theater.

I will continue writing my spelling bee book series, and I hope to be finished with Book 7 by the end of the summer.

With summer classes, I will be taking Computer Technology and Financial Literacy. I do not want to graduate too early, but I want to graduate from high school with my associate's degree. During my junior year, I will be transferring to an early college high school.

The week after school gets out (June 8), I will be headed to Colorado for a church youth group camp, and I hope to have so much fun there!

My Bible Bee studies will commence once I get my materials. This will be my third year doing it, and I hope to have more time this summer, so I can hopefully make it to nationals! I also have been studying ahead with techniques and memorizing certain passages that may be in the Bee this year. The work is harder than the spelling bee, because in the Bible Bee, you either know it or you do not. In the spelling bee, if you get a word that you do not know, you could figure it out by using what you know.

Filmography is one of my favorite hobbies ever! This year I hope to get many pictures and videos at camp, so I can make actual videos. I am also planning to film some of the short plays my friends and I wrote.

The most exciting activity I am doing this summer is going back to Washington, D.C. I have been there once already, but I cannot wait to see all the sites again and others I have not seen. Perhaps we may visit the Gaylord National Hotel!

I do not know what else I will be doing this summer, but I will be able to do more spelling bee club planning.


Scripps is planning to start an international spelling bee, and it may be able to start in 2013. Right now, many of you know that spellers from different countries come from all over the world to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. If the international program is formally announced, the spellers will no longer compete at the national bee, but they will send the top three spellers from each country for the international competition.

There have been many international competitions, including the Olympics, World Choir Games, International Science and Engineering Fair, International Sustainable World (Engineering, Energy, and Environment) Project Olympiad, and many more. Now it is time for an actual international spelling bee. If they include high school students in it, I should start studying for the Bee again.

Great job to everyone, and good luck to those competing next year.

Congratulations, Snigdha Nandipati!/Recap

Snigdha from California is the champion! Her winning word was guetapens. She was so happy and joyful! My guess list was not messed up!

The only five-peat who has ever won the National Spelling Bee still remains at Kerry Close (2006). Nicholas Rushlow could have claimed the championship, but he misspelled vetiver (vetover). It is a type of grass in Asia. The origin is Tamil to French. Great job your final year, Nicholas! I swear I have seen that word somewhere in a perfume store (It is not all the time I am at a perfume store), but I did pay attention to some of the perfumes, even if I forgot all the names of them. I wish I had brought a notebook with me that day. When I heard the word, I had a feeling that there was a tricky spot (the schwa). When I heard French, i popped in my head. French derives from Latin, therefore the schwa in Latin is usually an i (In Greek, it's an o). That was also when I realized that I had seen that word before!


Arvind misspelled schwannoma, which comes from a German name. It was spelled schvonoma, but he will most likely be back next year! He misspelled Jugendstil last year, which is another German word, and it is now his favorite word!

Stuti Mishra misspelled schwarmerei. Now I know when this word was used: 2004 when Akshay Buddiga placed second. He misspelled the word, also. It is best to study results from prior years, because those words will appear again one year or another.

Here are the spellers who may have a shot at the national title: Arvind Mahankali, Vismaya Kharkar, Grace Remmer, Vanya Shivashankar, Lori Madison, Pranav Sivakumar, Rachael Cundey, and Emily Keaton. Rachael Cundey and Emily Keaton will be five-peats next year! Good luck to all the spellers, and congratulations! See you next year.

I will continue my posting throughout the summer (I end school next Friday). It is time to prepare for next year. I will be coaching a few of my friends and perhaps more!

Championship Finals

What a great introduction by 2011 Champion, Sukanya Roy! Feel the pressure! Who will win?

Misspelled Words so Far
canities (Round 7) conities
ridotto (Round 7) redatto
porwigle (Round 8) porwiggle

Nicholas almost startled me when he got rouille. If you remember him during the past years, he has received French words. In 2010, he misspelled devant. From 2009 to 2011, he has received French words during the first semifinal round.

Gifton still continues to amaze me with his amazing manners: "Please", "Thank You", and more! His coach coached the 1998 champion. He misspelled ericeticolous, but a great standing ovation!

Arvind just received the word quattrocento: I hope he doubles the consonant. He asked for alternate pronunciation, and there were laughs, and he gets the word right.

Nicholas is back up: vetiver. He just misspelled it as vetover. Those crazy schwas! He has been eliminated, but there are still a few other spellers left.

Lena just misspelled geistlich, and she received a standing ovation.

Three spellers remain: Snigdha Nandipati, Stuti Mishra, and Arvind Mahankali.

Commentary: They said that Nicholas may be back on the Olympics (he's a swimmer)

Snigdha: saccharolytic

Stuti: prolegomenon

Arvind: schwannoma was misspelled. (schvonoma). At least he has next year! Good luck!

Snigdha or Stuti - one of these two will be the champion. I'll be honest, but these two were unexpected, but at least they are on my guess list for the champion.

admittatur
chionoblepsia 
arrondissement (Thank you, French class)!
schwarmerei (I am 100% sure this has been used at the National Spelling Bee before!). And she misspells it? Could Snigdha be the champion?

Here it comes: guetapens, and Snigdha wins! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing! She seemed so happy, and it was well deserved! Congratulations!

Vismaya Kharkar - Salt Lake Valley Champion (2011 and 2012)

Speller #254 - Vismaya Kharkar has participated in the Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee since 2009 and has done amazing all those years, including 2011 and 2012. I do not remember what word she misspelled in 2009, but in 2010 I do not remember what happened with sarsaparilla, but there was some confusion with the word.

During the 2010 Salt Lake Valley Spelling Bee I remember when she received the word Qatari, she turned to the pronouncer and asked something like, "If the word has a capital letter, do you have to say that it is capital?" She knew it, and I remember another of her words was cheka.

After that Bee my mom said that Vismaya would make it to nationals one day, do outstanding, and possibly win.  She has made it to nationals, done outstanding, and all she needs to do now is win. Now that she is out of the Bee for this year, she can start studying for next year. Utah has never had a champion, but it is possible that she may be first. Her fellow Utah spellers: #252 - Jared Ward and and #253 - Sophie Choate may be back next year.

Salt Lake Valley Champions and Winning Words:
2009: Henry Korous (precocious)
2010: Miranda Hulsey (plutonium)
2011: Vismaya Kharkar (infarction)
2012: Vismaya Kharkar (aberrant)

2011 National Spelling Bee

• Round 2: maillot
• Round 3: affianced

2012 National Spelling Bee

• Round 1: kielbasa
• Round 2: Requiem
• Round 4: dysthymia
• Round 5: allothogenic
• Round 6: pissaladiere (pisaladierre)

No speller from Utah has done this well. Last year, Anna-Marie Sprenger made it to Round 5 before misspelling privatim as privatum, but there is an actual word in Latin spelled privatum, which has a similar meaning ("not openly or in public")

Good luck to the Nine Championship Finalists tonight!

Update on June 1, 2012: http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile2/54218048-218/kharkar-national-bee-spelling.html.csp

Semifinals Updates/Championship Finalists

I am at school right now in a class where we seem to be doing nothing, so I have been following the results of the Bee, because I do not have access to ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3 here.

cephalalgia - "headache" or "pain in the head" (It has the Greek to Latin combining form cephal- meaning head. I remember this word, because it was used in the 2002 Documentary Spellbound.
hinoki
phalarope (phallorope)
stochastically
projicient
berserker
oxyacetylene
drosophilia
cicatrize
proselytizer
intravitam
coulisse
endergonic
nefast
cassideous
nephropathy
freddo (fredo)
cancrivorous
ditokous
polyptych
mumpsimus
carpophore
attermine
ergastulum
sylloge (syllogy)
pidan
tendenz (tendentz)
sciophyte (sciaphyte)
toxophilite
frore
caryatid
exergue
douceur
mephitis
stannum
pratincolous (pretincolous)
bacitracin
monocotyledon (This word was used in my Biology class)
victorine
cataphract
enthymeme 
survigrous (servigrous)
catallatics
phlogistic
tondino
cochineal
pleurodynia (pleuradynia)
podilegous (podilogous)
dysthymia (Go, Vismaya!)
habendum


I will stop at those words for now, because I have to go to my next class.

Update: Vismaya is headed to Round 6. This is Utah's best!
Her words:
Round 4: dysthymia
Round 5: allothogenic


Unfortunately, Vismaya misspelled pissaladiere as pisaladierre. Congratulations, Vismaya! I hope you make it back to nationals next year! This is the best Utah has done at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, ever! Rahul Malayappan, Vanya Shivashankar, Grace Remmer, and Nabeel Rahman were also eliminated in earlier rounds, and they were also high contenders to win.


Apparently Rounds 5 and 6 were the killer rounds this year.

Here are the Championship Finalists (9) - that is the least there has been, but these spellers are really strong!:

Speller #19 - Snigdha Nandipati (San Diego, California) - She always seems to be confident under pressure.
Speller #30 - Frank Cahill (Parker, Colorado) - This may be his first year, but he has been impressive.
Speller #44 - Stuti Mishra (West Melbourne, Florida) - She is a semifinalist from last year, and she may win or have a very high ranking.
Speller #89 - Gifton Wright (Spanish Town, Jamaica) - His manners are impressive, and he seems to be very confident. If he wins, he will be the second Jamaican and the second speller from a different country to win the National Spelling Bee (1998 - Jody-Anne Maxwell from Jamaica)
Speller #136 - Jordan Hoffman (Lee's Summit, Missouri)
Speller #162 - Arvind Mahankali (Bayside Hills, New York) - Keep in Mind: Only 2011 Championship Finalists Remaining!!!!
Speller #193 - Nicholas Rushlow (Pickerington, Ohio) - He finally made it to Championship Finals after all this time! He is the only five-peat remaining in the Bee.
Speller #213 - Lena Greenberg - The constant motion seems to calm her down.

Good luck and congratulations, everyone! I will be posting tonight!