"Ursprache" - we have a winner!

But probably not a prospective member...

Katharine "Kerry" Close, a 13-year-old speller from Spring Lake, N.J., won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night.

Kerry was named the Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion in the 19th round after correctly spelling the word "ursprache," which is defined as "a parent language, especially one reconstructed from the evidence of later languages."

The word also means "loads 'o swag" for Kerry.

All 275 competing spellers receive cash prizes ranging from $25 to the $20,000 championship prize. The national champion also receives an engraved loving cup, a $5,000 cash award from Franklin Electronic Publishers, a $5,000 cash award from LeapFrog Enterprises Inc., a $5,000 scholarship from Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation; from Merriam-Webster, a $2,500 U.S. Savings Bond and a reference library; and from Encyclopedia Britannica, reference

The TV coverage did not show all the sponsorships, though. Too bad. It would have been nice to see SigEp prominently associated with the contest.

Scripps National Spelling Bee

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