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. https://www.spellpundit.com