‘Koinonia’: Texas teen takes gold at National Spelling Bee
In a worldly test of on-the-fly smarts, the Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned this year’s champ, 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani from McKinney, Texas, who sealed the deal Thursday night by correctly spelling koinonia — “the Christian fellowship or body of believers,” according to contest sponsor Merriam-Webster.
The knowledge on display at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland was too much for most adults. Even some computer spellcheckers couldn’t keep up with the words.
“These kids would beat the pants off most adults,” said linguist Grant Barrett, co-host of nationally syndicated public radio show “A Way With Words.”
Related
Nemmani outlasted 12-year-old Naysa Modi, a seventh-grader from Frisco, Texas who tripped over the word bewusstseinslage — “a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components.”
She typed it out on an imaginary keyboard, spoke the letters and closed her eyes, but she misfired.
The elder competitor was a cool customer who was there thanks to an “RSVBee” invitation. He nailed word after impossible word, including ankyloglossia — “limited normal movement of the tongue chiefly due to an abnormally shortened frenulum.”
