In 2017, the Scripps National Spelling Bee transitioned from the print version of the Merriam-Webster Third New International dictionary (which is also the CD ROM version) to the online Unabridged dictionary (unabridged.merriam-webster.com).

This blog post will discuss the differences between these two versions of the dictionaries so you are familiar with the changes.

Pronunciation of Words

There are some slight differences in pronunciation between the two versions of the dictionary. Some examples are:

Word	Print/CD Dictionary	Online Dictionary
mattock	mad.ǝk, -atǝk	ˈmatək, -atək
tare	ta(a)](ǝ)r, ‘te], ]ǝ	ˈter
flair	fla(a)](ǝ)r, ‘fle], ]ǝ	ˈfler
square	skwa(a)](ǝ)r, -we], ]ǝ	ˈskwer
aerolithology	a(ǝ)(͵)rōli’thälǝjē	¦er-ə-li-¦thä-lə-jē
airbus	a(a)(ǝ)r͵bǝs	ˈer-ˌbəs
revert	rə̇’vǝr]t, rē’-, -vӛ], -vǝi], usu ]t+V	ri-ˈvərt
redress	rə̇’dres, rē’-	ri-ˈdres
steer	sti(ǝ)r, -iǝ	ˈstir
board	bō(ǝ)rd, -ȯ(ǝ)rd, -ōǝd, -ȯ(ǝ)d	ˈbȯrd
forth	fō(ǝ)rth, ‘fȯ(ǝ)rth, ‘fōǝth, ‘fȯ(ǝ)th	ˈfȯrth
coarse	kō(ǝ)rs, -ȯ(ǝ)rs, -ōǝs, -ȯ(ǝ)s	ˈkȯrs
panda	pandǝ, ‘paan-	ˈpan-də
forth	fō(ǝ)rth, ‘fȯ(ǝ)rth, ‘fōǝth, ‘fȯ(ǝ)th	ˈfȯrth
answer	an(t)sǝ(r), ‘aan-, ‘ain-, ‘ån-	ˈan(t)-sər

 

Note: While the print dictionary has the diacritical symbol /d./, the online dictionary has replace this with /t/.

 

Some words have different alternative pronunciations between the two dictionaries. Here are some of these words:

Word	Print/CD Dictionary	Online Dictionary
jacana	jakənə	jə-ˈkä-nə, ˌzhä-sə-ˈnäⁿ
chelator	kē͵lātǝ(r)	ˈkē-ˌlā-tər; kē-ˈlā-tər also chē-
sleazy	slēzē, -zi	ˈslē-zē also ˈslā-
archenteron	(‘)ärk.’entǝ͵rän	(ˈ)är-ˈken-tə-ˌrän, -rən
raptore	rap͵tō(ǝ)r	ˈrap-tər, -ˌtȯr
Aristotelian	¦arə̇stǝ¦tēlyǝn, ¦a͵ris-, -lēǝn also ¦er- or ǝ¦ris- or a¦ris-	¦a-rə-stə-¦tēl-yən
ctenophore	tenǝ͵fō(ǝ)r	ˈte-nə-ˌfȯr
om	ȯm	ˈōm, ˈȯm
flotsam	flätsǝm    -lōt-	ˈflät-səm
luxe	lǝks	ˈlu̇ks, ˈləks, ˈlüks
leopoldville	ˈlē-ə-ˌpōld-ˌvil	ˈlē-ə-ˌpōld-ˌvil, ˈlā-
crevalle	krǝ’valē, -lǝ, -lā	kri-ˈva-lē
aminophylline	ǝ͵mēnō’fi͵lēn, |amǝ͵nō’-; ͵amǝ’näfǝ͵-	ˌa-mə-ˈnä-fə-lən
leipzig	līpsi]g, -sē]	ˈlīp-sig, -sik

 

Spelling

Some words are spelled differently between both dictionaries, such as:

Print/CD Dictionary	Online Dictionary
amizilia	amazilia
bogsha	bogshah
vilnyus	vilnius

 

New Online Words

The online dictionary has a lot of new words that the print dictionary did not have. Scripps has asked a lot of these new online words in their bees, such as xylorimba, turducken, mizuna, and Beringia. In fact, a few of these new words were asked at the National Spelling Bee in 2017, such as arribada, clafouti, Bruneian, and bucatini.

 

SpellPundit is one of the only study resources that has completely incorporated all the spelling/pronunciation changes in the online dictionary. Our New Online Words Module has with over 4000 words for spellers to learn these words and test themselves.