ABSP/WESPA Dictionary Committee –
REQUIREMENTS FOR SCRABBLE WORDS
Version 5.1
17/08/2004
REQUIREMENTS FOR
OFFICIAL SCRABBLE WORDS
ABSP/WESPA Dictionary Committee
Version 5.1
(previous versions were drafts within the DC)
17 August 2004
ABSP is the Association of British Scrabble Players (formed in 1987)
WESPA is the World English-language Scrabble Players Association (under formation).
The ABSP/WESPA DICTIONARY COMMITTEE was formed to represent WESPA and the ABSP. As such it represents the interests of global, domestic, and Tournament Scrabble Players outside of North America (but has communication channels with International North American players). Many Scrabble Clubs and Associations throughout the World look to the ABSP/WESPA for guidance and leadership.
The ABSP/WESPA DICTIONARY COMMITTEE consists of
Allan Simmons (UK)
Darryl Francis (UK)
David Webb (UK)
Jeff Grant (New Zealand)
John Holgate (Australia)
Dylan Early (Africa)
Plus Bob Lipton (USA liaison)
1 INTRODUCTION
The following tables reflect the Requirements of the ABSP/WESPA Dictionary Committee for words to be acceptable for tournament play in any Official Scrabble word list. Beyond the tables are some further requirements concerning Master Word Source, Frequency of Updates, and Scrabble Dictionary layout.
These are a combination of the basic Mattel Scrabble word rules and those developed from the basic rules for interpreting the validity of words and inflexions from the chosen master dictionary and covering areas that are not explicit within the Mattel rules. Where a rule is a basic Mattel Scrabble rule this is highlighted in bold above the rule itself.
Abbreviations used in this document:
CSW = Collins Scrabble Words (2004 publication),
CED = Collins English Dictionary (complete and unabridged) 2003 publication,
DC = ABSP/WESPA Dictionary Committee
2 ABSP/WESPA WORD RULES FOR OFFICIAL SCRABBLE WORDS
This table represents rules for deciding on the acceptability of words and inflexions from the chosen master word source**, as used in all Official Scrabble Word books to date. It is expected to follow these same rules for new words from any future master word source.
Some of these rules regarding labelling may not be applicable if the selected master word source itself does not use such labelling (eg obsolete words, Shakespeare)
AREA / RULE / CSW contraventions examplesThe quantity of examples given for each area does not necessarily relate to the extent of the problem, which is unknown in each case. Inflexions of examples are omitted for clarity. /
Root Words
/ Root words must appear in the agreed master source.A ‘root word’ is defined as any part of speech without its inflexions (eg noun, adjective, adverb, interjection, verb). / Numerous NEW root words appear in CSW without support from Collins Dictionary. Even if agreement is reached to include such words this whole area needs a lot of scrutiny.
ZZZS but no ZZZ
ZORBS but no ZORB
(See also Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, verbs below)
Mattel basic Scrabble rule
/ SECYAbbreviations / Words only labelled or described as an abbreviation are NOT allowed.
Accents / These do not affect validity. Where a word can be spelt with and without an accent only one form should be included.
Adjectives / Only adjectives listed explicitly in the source dictionary are allowed. / There are numerous adjectives that appear to be misincluded (the explanation may or may not be that they are in the Corpora – they could equally be lemmatising errors)
ABIRRITATIONAL
ACETOMETRIC
ADENOPATHETIC
SECUROCRATIC
SEMATOLOGICAL
SEMIANGULAR
SEMIMYTHICALAdverbs / Only adverbs listed explicitly in the source dictionary are allowed / There are numerous adverbs that appear to be misincluded (the explanation may or may not be that they are in the Corpora – they could equally be lemmatising errors)
ABDICATIVELY
ACNODALLY
KAALLY
PLATYKURTICALLY
PLEDGABLY
POLYDEMICALLY
PORKILY
SANGUINEOUSLY
SATURABLY
Mattel basic Scrabble rule
Apostrophes / Words only spelt with an apostrophe are NOT allowedAuthors / Words attributed to specific authors are allowed
Brackets / Words or letters within brackets are treated as optional. If a word has multiple sets of brackets than all permutations are allowed
Mattel basic Scrabble rule /
STETSON
Capitals / Words that are only spelt with a capital letter are NOT allowedABSP/WESPA Dictionary Committee have now agreed a revised rule:
NO words that contain a capital letter or symbol (and associated inflexions).
Also see Symbols below.
Comparatives & Superlatives / Heraldic, Obsolete, Shaks, Spens, Milton adjectives cannot be compared. (some archaic adjs were also considered inappropriate to compare without dictionary support) Where comps/sups are not supplied in the master dictionary, Websters 3rd will be a guide for two or more syllabled adjectives except those ending in –Y / -IE / -EY.
All two-syllabic adjectives ending in –Y, -IE, -EY were that suffix implies ‘like, somewhat, -ish, abounding in, etc) are deemed to take the comp/sup forms in –IER, -IEST even though such forms may not always be given in the master dictionary nor other unabridged dictionaries.
For newer words not listed in Websters 3rd, reference may be made to other more recent dictionaries or analogy made with similar existing adjectives. / Lemmatizing misinclusions?
KAALER-EST
MIXTER-EST
UNCOER-EST
WALE-ST
WARER -EST
OmissionsFAGGIER – IEST (FAGGY not in CED anyway!)
LOUNGIER – IEST (LOUNGY not in CED anyway!)
MIDGIER – IEST
OOFIER, -IESTSKANKIER, -IEST (and yet these are explicit in CED!)
SNIFFLIER, -IEST
STYLIER, -IEST
VUGHIER – IEST
Dictionary Errors / Any misprints or errors should be highlighted for the Publishers decision. / SELLENOGRAPHIST (should be one L only)
SUPERMAX (incorrect part-of-speech label)
Dictionary to CSW errors / Any misprints in Scrabble Words to be highlighted to the publishers (although word correctly spelled in the master dictionary) / SEXCENTENARYS should be
-ARIES
SOMNILOQIES (missing U)
Diphthongs / These do not affect validity – diphthongs to be spelt as two separate letters.
Erroneous forms / Words marked as erroneous, illiterate, or misspelling, etc are allowed
Etc, use of / Use of ‘etc’ in indicating alternative spellings is ignored and will not be used to imply additional variant spellings other than those explicitly listed.
Foreign / All words with foreign labels are allowed.
Mattel basic Scrabble rule
/ SIDEFOOTSILVEREYE
Also see Prefix/Suffix examples
Hyphens / Words only spelt with a hyphen are not allowed. If the hyphen is bracketed it is deemed optional and the word is allowed.
Interjections / Interjections are allowed. Unless nouns, plurals are only allowed if explicitly shown.
Labels / Note position of labels in relation to parts of speech carefully to ensure correct interpretation.
Letter names / These are allowed
Nouns / Only nouns listed explicitly in the dictionary are allowed / ABIRRITATION
ACCIDENTOLOGIST
MIRO
POHIRI
PORAESCRUPLELESSNESS
SEMIMATURITY
SEPTAVALENCY
Obsolete / Obsolete words are allowed with their associated inflexions as appropriate.
Mattel basic Scrabble rule
/ ABIETIC (ACID)ACLINIC (LINE)
ADSUKI (BEAN)
ETHANOIC (ACID)
FOLIC (ACID)
OCTANEDOIC (ACID)
POLYCARBOXYLIC (ACID)
POLYVINYLDENE(CHLORIDE)
POSTVIRAL (SYNDROME)
PREACQUISITION (PROFIT)
(SANCTUM) SANCTORUMSHISH (KEBAB)
SHORTCRUST (PASTRY)(THE) TAAL
ZOOT (SUIT)
……..And many more!
Phrases / Words only existing in a bold type multi-word phrase are NOT allowed
Plurals / All plural forms of singular nouns are allowed no matter how rare or unlikely. In some cases the plural may be the same as the singular. Where a plural form is not shown in the master source and it is deemed that the word may attract a foreign plural, then other unabridged dictionaries such as Websters 3rd International or OED will be consulted for guidance of foreign plurals and/or –S, -ES forms.
A separate guide re doubling final consonant and use of –S or –ES exists. / Examples of Missing Plurals
ACETOMINIA-S
ADIPSIA-S
ADULTESE-S
AGEUSIA-S
ALITERATE-S
AZERTY – IES/ and –S ?
DADAH-S
FLEXO-S
HYPERACIDITY-TIES
JONG-S
LATAH-S
MOBLOG-S
MOER-S
PLANOMETRY-TRIES
PLASTICISATION-S (both –Z- forms are given !)
PLICATENESS-ES
PLOUGHMANSHIP-SPLOWMANSHIP-S
POITIN-S
POLYVALENCY -CIES
SADHAN-S
Examples of questionable or erroneous plurals
ACULEUSES s/b ACULEI
AEDESES – pl is same as sing.
POLEMARCHES s/b -ARCHS
POPESEYES (POPESEYE is adjective only)
POSTCAVAS s/b only – CAVAE
SESTERTIUSES – pl is –TII ?
SWIZES – PL only –ZZES ?
XYSTOSES – pl is XYSTOI
XYSTUSES – pl is XYSTI
Mattel basic Scrabble rule
/ PODOUS (suffix only)KARYO (prefix only)
Prefixes & Suffixes / These are not allowed in isolation. Only combining forms explicitly listed are allowed.
Symbols / Dictionary entries that are symbols are not allowed.
Words that contain symbols are not allowed.
Variants / Only variants explicitly listed in the master source will be allowed. Inflexions are allowed for all parts-of-speech for which the variant applies. / SULFUROUSLY
SULFONMETHANE
and other SULF- words.
LACHRYMATION
LACHRYMARY
SCHNORKLE
SCHNORKLEDSCHNORKLES
SCHNORKLING
Verbs / Only verbs explicitly shown in the master dictionary are allowed*. Verbal inflexions are allowed for all such verbs. There is separate guidance for alteration to base words before adding inflexions and handling irregular verbs. / The following verb forms appear for words that are not verbs in the master source:
ADRENALISE / -IZE etc
PODDY – IED – YING
PORTIERING
POWERBOATED
PLATELAYING
SCREICHES (-S not –ES form)There are many more
The following verb forms are missing from CSWSKIMBOARDED
SKIMBOARDING
SKRIKED
SKRIKES
SKRIKING
* The DC is considering the following:
All –IZE verb forms (where –IZE is a suffix making another part-of-speech into a verb) to have the corresponding –ISE form and vice versa irrespective of whether only one form is shown in the master word source. This area may still be subject to some exceptions.
Other Errors / Examples of CSW errors not covered above. We need to understand how these occur to know how extensive the problem may be. / Missing CSW Words
ZORBS ZORBED ZORBING in CSW but no ZORB
AP and JA are valid yet not included in CSW
MEE (S) is valid and yet not included in CSW
North American Words / All additional unique words from the current edition of the Official Tournament Club Word List should be included.
The OTCWL is currently being updated and it is expected to be completed by end of 2004, thus ready for inclusion in any 2005 global Word List.
3 THE MASTER WORD SOURCE
It is the ABSP/WESPA DC’s requirement for there to be a single master source dictionary that can be pointed to for all NEW words beyond the existing OSW, irrespective of whether the Scrabble Words book has minimal definitions within it. This is because the inclusion of such words has already been through editorial scrutiny, and can be readily justified, especially if such an authority is claimed to be ‘the undisputed authority’.
We are not in favour of abandoning the above requirement. IF we are to depart from the position (using Corpora for example) then the criteria for selecting such new words must be specified and agreed with the DC. ‘Words that might be useful for Scrabble’ would not be an accepted criterion. The sort of areas that would need to be addressed include:
How many times does a word have to appear in Corpora before it is considered a candidate for a Scrabble word book?
How are parts-of-speech determined?
How is it determined whether the word is part of a phrase only?
How is it determined whether the word is an abbreviation only?
How can lemmatising errors be differentiated from Corpora cited words?
Will the DC have access to the sources to verify inclusion?
4 FUTURE DELETIONS
Only new words that are subsequently deleted from a future edition of the master source dictionary (and their inflexions) should be removed from future CSW. It would be unacceptable to delete words from CSW just to make room for new words.
5 FREQUENCY OF UPDATING
The minimum gap between updates of an acceptable Scrabble Words book for ABSP/WESPA is Four Years.
If the Publisher wishes to update more often then any intermediate editions will be ignored by ABSP/WESPA, although such updates should continue to comply with these Word Rules.
In our view annual updates are likely to cause too much unnecessary confusion for the Scrabble-playing public (and be constantly at odds with books on Scrabble, courses, puzzles in the media, etc etc).
If the need for frequent updates is driven by the belief that hundreds of new buzz words/slang words will get a lot of people buying the latest CSW (aimed at home enthusiasts, Club and Tournament players) then, in our view, it is ill-founded.
6 REQUIREMENTS OF A SCRABBLE DICTIONARY
Objective
Straightforward unambiguous adjudication in strict alphabetical order as per CSW2005.
Minimum one or two word definitions as far as possible for the most part
Part-of-Speech to be shown.
Design Considerations
Since most words of length 10-15 are very very rarely played in normal Scrabble games, and since they would clutter up and confuse the normal usage of the book for adjudication and learning, the Dictionary should be split into two sections.
1) Section 1 – for normal usage
Straight cutoff at 9-letters with minimal definitions.
2) Section 2 – theoretical usage – eg puzzles etc.
10-15 letter words – no definitions other than cross-references to root words that are in section 1 where applicable. For example an -S plural of a 9-letter word would appear in section 2 but the singular would be in section 1.
<end of document >
Page 2 of 10