HyperJotto’s vocabulary has been developing since the summer of 1985. It now includes close to 10,000 5-letter words that have been classified as follows:
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This essay was written Jan 1, 1988 and modified Jan 31, 1988…
The need to classify the words in HyperJotto’s vocabulary will become quickly apparent to the player — there are some weird words out there!
My goal in classifying the words was to make the game more enjoyable to all players from six-year-olds just starting to spell to lexicographers working on their second dictionary (as well as the rest of us, in between).
I wanted to allow those with a large vocabulary to play the game to the full without imposing words like: XYLYL on my six-year-old daughter Denise (now eight).
Also, I found that it was pleasing to be able to discover the definition of such a word should it defeat me while playing the game, so for all but the Common words, HyperJotto provides a definition, which you can call up at the end of a game.
Below, I’ve discussed the rationale I used for classifying words. However, it was a process, still on-going, that has taken close to three years. Consequently, I must admit to some inconsistencies.
With release 1.1, I am happy to announce the availability of a Vocabulary Manager stack. This stack will be mailed to anyone who sends a shareware contribution. It allows the user to browse through HyperJotto’s vocabulary, reclassifying, redefining, deleting and/or adding words.
FAMILIARITY
Even among the common words, I found myself in disagreement with my wife. Is PHLOX a common word? My wife says yes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in print, although I may have heard it spoken — it is some kind of flower.
Rare words are those that are rarely used in everyday life, but which the average adult is probably aware of.
Specialized words are those that would normally require some type of specialized education of exposure to a specialized discipline. I have not attempted to subdivide these words, but there is no doubt that this is the class that will cause the most trouble. [BTW, since everybody playing this game is a computer user, I’ve tended to put computer terms into the common class.]
Obsolete words are ones that have dropped out of the language (according to Websters and/or the Oxford English Dictionary). I have not included words that are merely obsolete misspellings of modern words.
Archaic words are those that would be obsolete were it not for their occasional use in literature for special effect.
USAGE
The classifications in this column are relatively self-explanatory. Obviously, there are gray areas here. What I regard as merely vulgar, others will think obscene, and yet others will use such words in every other *!?$* sentence.
Actually, the vocabulary includes no obscene words right now. Should it? You can make this an individual decision by sending me your shareware contribution. The Vocabulary Manager stack that I’ll mail you will, among other things, offer you the chance to include obscene words and activate the “Obscene” filter button.
LANGUAGE
Having been born in England, I am more conscious than most of the differences between British and American. Most words are common on both sides of the Atlantic and are classified as English. The ones classified as British or American are those that live on one side or the other.
The “Foreign” classification is in no way comprehensive. It includes words that are commonly included in English communica-tion, and yet which are clearly of foreign origin, words such as: ADIEU, ALPHA, BITTE, CIRCA, FRERE.
TYPE
Recognizing that some people might like to play HyperJotto with plurals disabled, I needed something to differentiate plural nouns from verb participles. But, I’ve heard it said that one of the truly marvelous things about the English language is that there is hardly a noun that can’t be verbed! Consequently, this has caused me a lot of trouble.
To illustrate, here are a few words that surely look like plurals but which are also verbs: FUSES, GANGS, GEARS. Hmm, as I sought these examples, I saw some words that I would swing the other way on were I classifying them today. Anyway, as
you’ll see, the recommended way of playing has all types allowed except for Names.
Names — i.e., Proper Names — are included to accommodate young children.
Apologies if I’ve left out the names of your children!
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