Appoggiatura
I will tell you without hesitation, prior to 5 minutes ago, I had no idea what that word meant and especially how to spell it. But Anurag Kashyap, age 13, did know how to spell it … and it won him the National Spelling Bee title earlier today.
Main Entry: ap·pog·gia·tu·ra
Pronunciation: &-”pä-j&-’tur-&
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian, literally, support
: an embellishing note or tone preceding an essential melodic note or tone and usually written as a note of smaller size
Round 1 involved 25 written words and it would have knocked me out right there with “chaetophorous” or “scherenschnitte” or to be honest quite a few more. Then came Round 2 and 273 contestants hoping to go all the way. Words like “tintinnabulary” and “papilionaceous” did not stump the youngsters that drew them, however words like “anonychia” and “gonfalonier” proved too difficult. By Round 11, there were six contestants left and the final three contestants started at Round 15 to see who would win it all. During Round 18, Aliya Deri from San Francisco, California missed “trouvaille” and Samir Patel from Ft. Worth, Texas missed “Roscian” while Anurag Kashyap of San Diego, California correctly spelled “hodiernal.” Anurag then went on to correctly spell “appoggiatura” in the 19th and final round.
“I didn’t think it’d really happen,” the eighth grader said through tears after the spelling bee was completed at the Grand Hyatt of Washington. “Just pure happiness,” he said when asked his emotions. “Ecstasy.”
“I just told him to ‘get a T-shirt,’ Anurag’s father said. “Last year he didn’t get a T-shirt and so that’s what I told him before today.”
After Anurag got the longest word of the day correct in the first championship round – the 16-letter “sphygmomanometer” – he gained confidence.
“That’s a fun word,” he said after the sixth round. “So long and easy.”
Poway eighth-grader wins National Spelling Bee
To see more about Anurag, you can visit his bio page and the list of words that he correctly spelled. Anurag will receive “$22,000 cash from Scripps National Spelling Bee, LeapFrog and Franklin Electronic Publishers; a $5,000 scholarship from Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation; reference resources from Encyclopaedia Brittanica and a $1,000 savings bond and reference library from Merriam-Webster.”
The Scripps National Spelling Bee started in 1925 and was held annually except during WWII, in which the tournaments were suspended from 1943-1945. This was the 78th annual competition. Over the years, 42 girls and 38 boys have won the top honor. You can see the winners list and their winning words here. Every kid who was able to spell words that the vast majority of adults do not even know exist … deserve a big Congratulations … and that is every single one of them past round one!
Some articles:
San Diego Union Tribune ~ Poway eighth-grader wins National Spelling Bee
Washington Post ~ Calif. Boy Weaves a Perfect Spell
Voice of America ~ California Teenager Wins National Spelling Bee
Sify, India ~ Indian American crowned spelling champ
A few blogs:
Michelle Malkin ~ WORD OF THE DAY: APPOGGIATURA
letters to the world ~ Going through yet another spell
Overread ~ Spelling Bees and Gymnasts’ Knees
and
A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago ~ ONE MORE TIME, VIA SHONDA RHIMES
had this (her links added in):
Favorite exchange of the day thus far? #7 Levi Foster, age 14. He was given the word “nuchal”.Levi: Can I have the definition?
Bossy But Cute Dr. Jacques Bailly: Of or relating to back part of the neck.
Levi: Can I have any alternate definitions?
BBC Dr. Jacques Bailey: It also means situated on the back of the prothorax of an insect immediately behind the neck.
A beat of silence. Then:
Levi: (deadpan) That’s…helpful.
The audience roared.
I can not wait for the next round to begin.
He missed the word (’nucal’ was his guess) … but it probably was the funniest moment of the day.