Arvind Mahankali’s Scripps National Spelling Bee Winning Word Contested

This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee winner is a 13-year old boy from Bayside Hills, Queens in New York City. Arvind Mahankali gave the judges the spelling they were looking for. The word was “knaidel” a word derived from the German and denotes a dumpling or matzo ball that Jewish people serve in chicken soup. Mahankali outlasted the other 11 who made it to the final and won the prize money of $30,000 after two hours of competition viewed by millions on national television.

Is the Scripps National Spelling Bee wrong?

But Yiddish experts say that the national spelling bee has “gone astray.” The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is a Manhattan-based organization that is widely recognized as the authority for everything concerning Yiddish. Based on what the linguists of this organization have decided, the historically preferred spelling is “kneydl.”

But according to Chris Kemper, national spelling bee spokesman, the contest uses the standards set by Webster’s Third New International Dictionary. Merriam-Webster officials defended the spelling that they have chosen. They said that “knaidel” is the variant that is the most common from a language written in Hebrew. This in itself is inherently problematic because the source is not written in the Roman alphabet. The dictionary mentions the fact that the word is based on “kneydel,” the Yiddish for dumpling, derived from the Middle High German “knödel.”

Yiddish scholars are frustrated that a national competition watched by millions has spelled the word in a way that is contrary to the standards of those who safeguard the language. And the fact that is Arvind Mahankali’s winning word, it could now even be considered as the standard spelling of the word for many, they added.

No more third place

Arvind has been competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the past two years and he has been finishing in third place. He has been beaten each time after failing to spell a German-derived word correctly. Now that he is finally a winner, he is the 11th American of Indian descent to win the top prize in 15 years. He is the offspring of immigrant parents from southern India.

There was an audible gasp when he spelled “dehnstufe,” his fist German-derived challenge for the night. Arvind said that he prepared extensively for German words given his history of being eliminated from the contest after failing to spell German-derived words. His efforts definitely paid off because this year it was he who stood under the rain of confetti as he lifted the winner’s trophy. Arvind was sponsored by The Daily News in the competition.

He remained modest despite his enormous accomplishment and expressed message of thanks to the New Yorkers who tirelessly cheered him throughout the competition. He said that he could not have achieved the win without their support. “I hope I made you proud,” he added.

Next in line

In an interview Arvind said that he was not worried at all when he was given German-derived words to spell. And in another face-off with the media, he said that the next step for him is to focus on physics and math competitions.

Photo Credit: Scripps National Spelling Bee Contestants
(From left to right: Laura Newcombe, Dakota Jones, Arvind Mahankali and Joanna Ye)