By spelling “koinonia” (“intimate spiritual communion and participative sharing in a common religious commitment and spiritual community”), Karthik Nemmani, an eighth-grader from a Dallas suburb won the 2018 National Spelling Bee. He also nailed “paucispiral,” “ankyloglossia” and “haecceitas.”
Naysa Modi, who beat Nemmani in the Dallas regional bee, came in second after leaving out the second “s” in “Bewusstseinslage” (“a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components”).
The third place winner also is from the Dallas area.
Indo-Americans have won 19 of the last 23 National Spelling Bees, reports the New York Times.
Here’s a look at a young contender from San Jose.