2007 Spelling Bee: Solmitize and Malocclusion

Even though I have only discussed four words from the "list of 25" in the last two essays, I will try heroically to conclude my consideration of these first 25 words in the 2007 National Spelling Bee in this essay. Luckily, I don't need to say anything about several of the words: icicle, bizarre, tarantula, colossus, and mien, for example. They are relatively easy words.

And some can be disposed of rapidly. I note one irony. In Oregon, and possibly in Illinois, participants might be tempted to spell the word hawthorn as hawthorne. Why? Well, in Oregon, the founder of the first mental hospital in the late 1840s was Dr. J. C. Hawthorne. He bequeathed his name to a street in Salem and a large and now thriving district in the East Side of Portland. Thus, usually when we Oregonians see the word, it is spelled Hawthorne. Likewise, those from Illinois might have heard of it because of the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago. There was a phenomenon called the Hawthorne effect (the term was invented in the 1950s, I think), which was used to describe an improvement in workers' performance resulting from a change in their working conditions--this improvement resulting either from their response to the innovation or from the feeling that someone was now interested in their work. You see, sociology has a history, too...

A four-letter word on the list was "ciao," the Italian word for "hello" or "goodbye." If you know Italian, it is easy. Oh, I recall two other four-letter words that stumped people in various spelling bees I have witnessed: oyez and viga. The former is intoned to call the US Supreme Court to session, and is pronounced "oh YA." The latter, pronounced VEE ga, is "one of the heavy rafters that is often a log and that supports the roof in the native Indian and Spanish colonial architecture of the SW." Here is a picture of one, so that it can be emblazoned on your mind forever. What is interesting about the web page with pictures of vigas, however, is that it also gives us a picture of a latilla. A latilla is a "usually peeled limb or stick used as a ceiling material, as between beams or vigas." For example, between the beams you might have many panels made up of glued-together sticks (the latillas). Here is a picture. Now we really understand the ceiling of a SW American home. But, the only problem is that the word latilla appears in neither the OED or Unabridged, though viga appears in both. So, once again, the big dictionaries are only minimally helpful in describing our language.

More Words

I can't believe it, but I still have 14 words to go. Let's try to dispose of some quickly. A malocclusion is a "bad bite" or an abnormality in the bite. It is the most common reason for visiting an orthodontist. Thus, if someone is in the field of orthodontia or dentistry, s/he could get this word correct 100% of the time. It illustrates one of my basic principles of spelling: that spelling is easy, trivially so, for people in the fields of the words selected. This leads to Long's second principle of spelling: spelling is easy, as long as you know everything. Another "easy" word is demur. Derived from legal usage, demur means to hesitate or to make objections. A demurrer was a common law pleading where one objected to the allegations in the complaint.

Then we have solmitize, which sounds much worse than it actually is. If we understand the basic concept of calling musical notes little words--such as "do-re-mi," etc., then we understand the concept of solmization. It is "the action or practice of solfaing," which is the singing of the "sol-fa" syllables. This is the way that you learn to sing a song without words--you sing the syllables. To solmitize is simply to sing in this manner. Simple as pie. I recall, with some humor in my mind, the move version of The Importance of Being Earnest (about the trial of Oscar Wilde for sodomy). The movie was just called Wilde. Wilde's leading accuser, the father of "Bosie" (his lover) was the Marquess of Queensberry, who also happened to invent the modern rules of boxing. The Marquess left Wilde a note accusing him of being a "Somdomite." I guess this solecism stuck with me and was triggered by reading the word solmitize, which has nothing to do with being a "somdomite."

Other Words

Yikes, that still leaves me with about 15 words, and I need to make a general comment before I proceed. When I was studying the word Bewussteinslage, I came across its use in a contest I hadn't previously known about: The National Word Power Challenge. Begun by Readers Digest only five years ago, this national contest for Middle School students doesn't emphasize the spelling of words; it sees if students know the meaning of the words. May 15, 2007 saw 12 year-old Matthew Evans correctly identify the meaning of hegira. The web site says that two million students participate in this contest each year, with a $25,000 scholarship going to the winner. I actually think that this contest, as well as the National Geography Bee, are wonderful incentives for students to learn. But, the study questions on the web page are definitely made for Middle School students. For example, one of them poses the following. "Members of the soccer team always hang out together. They are: (a) a competent group; (b) a cohesive group; (c) a cooperative group; or (d) a coagulated group."

Just for once, I wish that someone would consider adult learners as interesting subjects for contests. If someone can spend all his time coming up with legal hypotheticals (I have several colleagues who love to do this), why can't some people come up with vocabulary and geography and spelling tests for adults? The Senior Bee, which I will participate in next month in Cheyenne, is the "best we can do" at present... Well, back to my words, er...in the next essay.

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