How to Use Word Lists
There are 178,691 words in the OWL2-LWL. If you eliminate words with 9 or more letters, the count is reduced to 112,817 (a number that is only slightly less intimidating). If you assume that derivatives (plurals, ed-ing-s, ier-iest, etc.) expand the lexicon by a factor of 3 and that an average individual may know (and be able to confidently play 1/3) of these words, that still leaves approximately 27,000 words to learn.
Three pieces of advice:
1) Be smart about it. Some words are more valuable than others, so learn the high-payoff words first, then work your way to down to less valuable vocabularly. See the Word Study page for a suggested study program and word lists.
2) Familiarize, then anagram. Familiarize yourself with new vocabulary using words lists (see the Word Study page or the Interesting List page), then practice anagramming new words using a program like Zyzzyva or flashcards.
3) Download Zyzzyva (http://zyzzyva.net) and learn how to use it. Zyzzyva is an exceptional program that lowers the overhead of systematic study considerably. It also has flashcarding and anagraming features.
The study program on the Word Study page contains links to numerous word lists. These word lists are all formatted the same way and include word definitions in addition to other information. Although a significant percentage (if not a majority) of competitive Scrabble players don’t concern themselves with the definitions of the words they play, for some players definitions serve as useful mnemonics (and make the learning process more enjoyable and/or more legitimate).
Aa dash (-) in front of a word indicates an inner hook (i.e. the first letter can be removed and the remaining letters form a word). Similarly, a dash (-) at the back of a word indicates a back hook. The letters that following a definition are outer hooks – the letters can be added to the front and/or back of the word to form another word:
BALD– lacking hair [adj BALDER, BALDEST]
to become bald (lacking hair) [v –ED, –ING, –S] sy
–BARE– naked (being without clothing or covering) [adj BARER, BAREST]
to expose (to lay open to view) [v BARED, BARING, BARES] drs
In the example above, BAL is an acceptable word, as is BAR and ARE (all inner hooks). BALDS, BALDY, BARED, BARER, and BARES are all words as well (outer hooks).
All the word lists on the Word Study page have the following columns:
- NUM - Word Number (this is important so that blog posts about different word lists can reference word numbers)
- WORD - The dashes that occasionally appear either in front or behind words indicate inner hook (i.e. if there is a dash in front the word, the first letter can be removed to form an acceptable word; If there is a dash behind the word, the last letter can be removed to form an acceptable word).
- DEFINITION - Definitions were incorporated into the lists using Zyzzyva. Definitions include the part of speech, derivatives and front and back hooks (e.g. the word ACT lists “fpt/as” as font/back hooks, indicating that FACT, PACT, TACT, ACTA and ACTS are all acceptable words).
- NOTES — This column is designed for “interaction” with the list (i.e. comments, associations with other words, mnemonic devices, etc.).
- OTHER — A few lists contain other columns (which should be self-explanatory). For example, the TWOS Left (93) file contains a PL column that indicates whether or not the word takes an S (because learning which two-letter words takes an S is particularly important). PL stands for “plural,” even though adding an S to a two-letter words doesn’t always create a plural, e.g. AS(S).
As noted above, learning words should be a two-step process. First, familiarize yourself with the words you are trying to learn (using word lists and other aids). The next step is to practice anagramming words (i.e. picking them out of random letter strings). Both steps are important. Studying lists of words and then trying to go straight from list study to game play is difficult because reading words on a list is not the same thing as picking the words from random strings of letters on your rack. On the other hand, anagram practice is useless if you don’t know the words you’re attempting to anagram. The fist step, therefore, is to study word lists until you are familiar enough with the words to be able to recognize them in a string of letters. Once you’ve gotten to that point, then you need to take the next step and practice identifying or anagramming using flashcards or different computer programs and/or websites.
Learning words is about making connections – and connections can be made in a number of different ways. Think of the process of memorization as a process of linking a new node into an existing network – the more connections you can make, the more likely it is you’ll be able to pick it out of a rack when you need it.
Here are a few strategies:
1) Hook Chains — String words together by their hooks to create hook chains. For example, if you know the word EON, you can easily remember that you can add an A to the front to form AEON (an alternate spelling). A P can be added to the front of AEON to form PAEON. Remember the hook string EON-AEON-PAEON is often easier that remember individual words out of context.
2) Variant Spelling Clusters — Some words can be spelled in a number of different ways. Alternate spelling of words (together with their derivatives) can often lead to a group or cluster of 20+ words. JINN, for example, can be spelled JIN, JINNEE, JINNI, DJIN, DJINN, DJINNI, DJINNY, GENIE, etc. MEOW is another example.
3) Pattern Lists - Words can be groups by morphology. For example, a list might be compiled of all –ING words that take an S, or all the UM-to-A words (like AQUARIUM-AQUARIA), etc.
4) “Defalts” — Defalts (derived from “alt,” short for alternative, and “def,” short for definition) are a creation of Diane Firstman. They are fictitious (and humorous) definitions of words designed to aid in recall (e.g. SCAMMONY, defined as “money extracted from former spouse through deceit”).Some of these definitions have appeared in The New SCRABBLE News and elsewhere. Here is a link to her storefront: http://stores.lulu.com/dianagram.
5) Theme Lists — Words can be grouped by different characterics, not just morphology. For example, a list could be compiled of all the “name” words that are acceptable Scrabble plays (BRENT, LAURA, RUTH, etc.). There are literally hundreds of these kinds of lists (some more useful than others), almost all of which can be downloaded for free. Scrabble club websites are a great place to look for these kinds of lists.
Once you feel like you’re familiar with a particular list, it’s time to move to the next level and start practicing your anagraming skills. More on that in another post.
