215
roots.
The Digrams of
Websters Unabridged Dictionary
n this
and
E. N. GILBERT
are on
nerin
:rican.
lution.
19ue­
Bryan
Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated
Murray Hill, New Jersey
For many years word buffs at these laboratories have made a game out of finding
words which contain strange <:Iigrams (pairs of letters side-by-side) . The problem.
as originally posed by M. D. McIlroy, was to complete a table with 26 rows and
26 columns, labeled by the letters A, H, ... , l. The space where row L crossed
column L' was to be filled by a word containing the digram LL'. Of the 626
26X 26 ) words needed, about 80% are easy to find. Each of the others
presents a difficult puzzle and some must be impossible under any reasonable rules
for deciding what words are allowable. The rules adopted here accept only words
from the second edition of Webster's unabridged dictionary, spelled without a
capital letter, without a hyphen, and without the sign II by which Webster denotes
words in foreign languages. The word may be listed as an archaic form (below the
line at the bottom of the page), as a recent word (in the addendum), or as an
alterna te spelling.
A. Ross Eckler and Faith W. Eckler used different rules for their trigram table,
now being serialized in Word Ways. Our rules are more permissive in using a
larger dictionary but also less p~rmissive in rejecting
-'3~~
hyphenated words and neologisms. Although our
'~~C\r"
rules are natural ones they dictate peculiar choices for a~S
certain digrams. Thus, for the digram lB, the rules'
reject buzz bomb (two words) and whizz-bang (hyphen­
ated) but allow ezba and blitzbuggy. For the digram LJ,
aljoba is acceptable (although it is below the line) but
aljama is rejected as a foreign word; kill-joy (hyphen­
ated) is also rejected. For the digram Ml, lemzem
(capitalized is forbidden but larnziekte is acceptable).
The only known word for the digram Fl is alefzero,
which appears in the definition of alef null as an alter­
nate form. Likewise the only known word with digram
cow wi th
PQ -is upquiver, which Webster includes in a list of
words with prefix up- but does not define.
cowquake
(=
THE JOURNAL OF RECREATIONAL LINGUISTICS
216
THE DIGRAMS OF WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY
Clearly one can criticize rhese rules. However, one must adopt some authority
like Webster to settle any argument about what words are allowed. Without
Webster's restraint it is tempting to invent new compound "words" (like offkey
for the rare digram FK) which are not single words at all. Having agreed on
Webster it is then disheartening to find a good ZM word,
queezmadam, spelled without a hyphen in Funk and Wagnall
but with a hyphen in Webster.
The digram table is complete. Wherever the table fails to
give a word, the reason is that no allowable word exists with that
digram. We now know exactly which digrams can appear be­
cause of a study,· made at RCA, in which an electronic com­
puter sorted through all the words of Webster's second edition.
ph
It listed all the different tetragrams it found (but not words
containing them).
Although I have only the tetragram list with no explanation to go with it, the
list seems to cover exactly the same words which are allowed for the table. In the
tetragram list the word space # counts as a
letter (thus the word "for" contributes the
tetragrams # # #f, # #fo, #for, for#,
or##, r### to the list).
If a digram occurs at all it occurs at the
beginning of some tetragram. Thus to test
whether a rare digram, say KX, occurs one
need only consult the list for tetragrams
beginning KX. The only such tetragram
listed is KXIA. This proves that there is
such a word. Furthermore by looking for
tetragrams # KXI, AKXI, ... , ZKXI one
finds only CKXI listed. Then the word
sought contains the pentagram CKXIA.
Continuing in this way one finds that the
word contains ICKXIA. However, there
are so many tetragrams like #ICK, HICK,
PICK, SICK, etc. that the table is not help­
madam eating
ful in supplying more letters. Indeed the
queez- madam
KX word was the last one found: D. Borg­
mann contributed the word kickxia.
9..0
-
I
are
are
lim
not
omi
gav.
QV
B
for
tion
mu;
b..u t
A
B
C
..0
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
o
p
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
• R. B. Thomas, M. Kassler, and G. Wooley, Advanced character recognition techniques
study, report No.4, Appendix D. Tetragrams legal with respect 10 Webster's International
Dictional)' (Unabridged second edition). U.S. Army Electronics Research and Develop.
ment Laboratory, Fort Monmouth and RCA Data Systems Center, Bethesda. Contract No.
DA ~6-039-AMC-001l2(E), (1963).
WORD WAYS
A
B
C
D
E
217
TH.E DIGRAMS OF WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY
ority
hout
,ffkey
d on
vord,
gnall
Is to
that
r be­
com­
tion.
lords
In the table which follows, the digrams which have no corresponding words
are indicated by XXX. A few words are marked with an asterisk to show that they
are obscure forms which Webster put below the
line. Conclusions based on the tetragram list may
not be absolutely reliable. For instance the list
omitted the common tetragram #BE#. It also
gave no tetragram beginning QV although I find
QVINT below the line in Webster.
By relaxing the rules slightly one can find words
f u z z mobile
for some of the "impossible" digrams. Other dictionaries contain words like avgas, tradevman, and
muzjik. Proper names, foreign words, or hyphenated words would supply more
bp.t one ought to stop short of allowing names of radio stations.
TABLE
, the
1 the
A
B
C
D
E
F
A
B
C
frolicful
D
codfish
E
Ie ft
beg
dam
eat
fat
G
gas
H
ham
I
bias
jar
kale
K
L
M
N
o
p
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
y
Z
law
man
nail
oat
pan
qasab·
ran
sat
tan
squad
van
war
exact
)'am
zany
F
iqueJ
ional
'elop­
t No.
aft
subfloor
c
B
cab
ebb
ecbatic
bedbug
zebra
surfboard
bugbear
washbowl
bib
rajbansi
sickbed
bulb
climb
sunbath
rob
cupboard
xxx
orb
misbehave
football
tub
xxx
sawbuck
oxblood
maybe
blitzbuggy
G
age
subgroup
ecgonize
edge
J
"
A.
aardvark
bat
car
act
abcess
occur
madcap
echo
of/cast
dogcart
ashcake
pick
xxx
blackcap
gulch
tomcat
once
lock
stopcock
abduct
ecdysis
odd
edit
serfdom
k.ingdom
touchdown
jet
keep
old
humdrum
let
men
end
ode
hoe
snapdragon
hard
disdain
letdown
abhor
chin
adhere
behind
see
fee
did
arc
scan
ah
be
ace
den
slojd
jackdaw
xxx
novcic
showcase
excel
cycle
mezcal
H
aerie
get
hen
hie
xxx
itch
such
E
D
add'
new
pet
qere·
are
set
tea
bud
hut
x.xx
over
bawdy
sexdigital
hydra
benzdiazine
I
aIm
bin
we
acid
din
lei
axe
yes
zero
J
ajar
object
xxx
adjoin
reject
THE JOURNAL OF RECREATIONAL LINGUISTICS
218
THE DIGRAMS OF WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY
TABLE (continued)
H
I
offer
songful
wishful
if
J
xxx
K
L
M
N
hackfire
self
chamfer
enfold
of
tOpfull
xxx
scarf
misfire
catfish
buff
xxx
awful
exfoliate
crayfish
topazfels
F
G
0
p
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
y
Z
afghan
egg
thoroughgoing
dig
xxx
blackguard
bilge
armgaunt
ring
bog
upgrade
xxx
urge
disgorge
catgut
hug
xxx
gewgaw
foxglove
pygmy
fizgig
K
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
0
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
y
Z
rake
lambkin
back
bodkin
eke
elfkin
gingko
latchkey
like
sa tlijk­
bookkeeper
elk
bumkin­
hank
poke
napkin
offhand
light
withhold
likelihood
jhow
khaki
jailhouse
drumhead
enhance
oh
graph
xxx
rhyme
she
the
uhlan
xxx
why
exhale
anyhow
muzhik
L
ale
blue
clip
idle
elf
fly
glue
highly
in
mijl­
fickle
all
gimlet
inlay
old
plan
fin
gin
hid
skiing
jIb
kin
lid
mix
nip
oil
pin
qintarrid
sit
tin
suit
vine
win
exit
eying
zip
M
am
submit
acme
admit
hem
hafnium
dogma
coachman
dim
ijma
jackman
elm
hammer
enmesh
home
helpmate
N
an
hobnail
acne
hardness
end
hafnium
gnu
ethnic
In
jllana
knot
kiln
hymn
winner
on
pneuma
xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx
ark
ski
catkin
auk
sovkhoz
squawk
boxkeeper
tyke
blitzkrieg
pearl
isle
battle
hull
vlei
awl
axle
style
siule
arm
smut
allotment
bum
turn
snub
catnip
tune
grivna
own
laxness
dyne
haznadar
WORD WAYS
xxx
sawmill
axman
rhyme
mizmaze
field
longjaw
mahjongg
demijohn
hajj
blackjack.
aljoba­
jimjam
enjoy
sojourn
flapjack
xxx
doorjamb
misjudge
night jar
jujube
xxx
plowjogger
xxx
pyjamas
xxx
0
aorta
boat
cot
do
eon
for
go
hot
riot
joy
lookout
lot
mood
no
too
pot
qoph­
rob
son
to
buoy
vow
won
axon
you
zoo
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
0
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
y
Z
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
0
p
Q
R
S
T
219
THE DIGRAMS OF WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED DICrrONARY
TABLE (continued)
p
,aw
;ongg
:john
ijack
la·
LID
lrn
lck
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
R
Q
ape
subpoena
ecphonesis
midparent
acquit
headquarters
equal
erg
free
best
offset
bet
aft
grow
earthquake
liquid
shrub
rre
songster
fuchsia
springtime
yacht
xxx
xxx
bolra·
okra
already
ramrod
inroad
lip
xxx
cockpit
help
imp
open
inquire
loquacious
apple
upquiver
jogger
Q
xxx
zaqqum
harp
tm-que
.nas
R
S
spot
postpone
squid
U?
xxx
xxx
kewpie
expect
catafalque
kumquat
henpeck
pray
miqra
xxx
xxx
err
misread
purse
boss
art
star
heart quake
try
outset
attic
tuque
urge
chevron
wren
ex radius
pyre
arzrunite
us
but
per<ivskite
dowse
coxswain
xxx
type
benzpinacone
xxx
A
B
aura
cave
awe
axe
burn
cut
dun
obvious
cobweb
xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx
neuter
eve
arfvedsonite
cwm
dwell
few
D
E
F
G
H
fun
gun
hut
I
J
diurnal
0
p
jut
skull
luck
mud
nut
out
put
Q
R
S
K
L
M
N
T
else
flimsy
inside
ant
pot
apt
Z
C
it
mujtahid
cocktail
belt
warmth
lost
psalm
y
U
IS
xxx
locksmith
or
cowquake·
exquisite
triptyque
X
act
hardtack
xxx
xxx
0
P
Jt
brat
crab
draw
at
debt
halfpenny
magpie
dishpan
L
M
N
T
T
as
absolve
facsimile
adsorb
kept
iamb
Jdge
tjar
:>e
U
V
W
S
are
aquatic
sub quintuple
V
W
adventt:re
dogvane
ashvamheda
live
xxx
kvass
solve
triumvirate
envy
cyst
X
hex
vammaZJa
y
say
by
cyst
lady
eye
defy
kowtow
extra
rhythm
azteca
Z
maze
subzero
eczema
adze
fez
halfwit
wigwam
pathway
xxx
xxx
xxx
gyp
kiwi
radix
biyearly
fizz
xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx
why
alefzero
zigzag
makhzan
inkwell
kickxia
iynx
sky
hallway
tramway
calx
silly
colza
xxx
my
any
lamziektp.
frenzy
doze
unwed
how
lynx
rove
ox
boy
hopvine
upward
pyre
queer
qvint·
xxx
xxx
xxx
1'un
sun
tub
nerve
svelte
zemstvo
[oT!uarc.
swift
two
xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx
awry
easy
grosz
postxyphoid
type
pretzel
a1'X
furze
THE JOURNAL OF RECREATIONAL LINGUImCS
220
U
V
W
X
y
Z
THE DIGRAMS OF WEBSTER'S UNABRIDCED DICTIONARY
vacuu,m
vue
swum
exude
yule
2zure
louver
flivver
xxx
exvoto
wyvern
mitzvah
ahluwaral
crux
xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx
yellow wood
boxwood
wayworn
zweiback
onyx
xxx
buy
gravy
screwy
xylophone
sayyid
crazy
puzzle
evzone
frowzy
exzodbcal
syzygy
muzzle
ApF
In tl
mysl
estir
squa
Fi
of
F
E
whil
sam
to
B
r
SAF
don
WORD WAYS