Scrabble letter distributions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Many editions of the word board game Scrabble vary in the letter distribution of the tiles, because the frequency of each letter of the alphabet is different for every language. As a general rule, the rarer the letter the more points it is worth.
Many languages use sets of 102 tiles, since the original distribution of one hundred tiles was later augmented with two blank tiles.
Table of contents | ||
---|---|---|
[edit] Afrikaans
Afrikaans editions use these 102 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×16, A ×9, I ×8, D ×6, N ×8, O ×6, R ×6, S ×6, T ×6
- 2 points: G ×4, H ×3, L ×3
- 3 points: K ×3, W ×3
- 4 points: M ×2, U ×2, Y ×2
- 5 points: P ×2, V ×2
- 8 points: B ×1, F ×1
- 10 points: J ×1
Afrikaans uses the letters Z and X, but so infrequently that there are no tiles for them in the standard set. A blank can still be used as a Z or an X. There are also no tiles for C and Q as these letters aren't used at all in Afrikaans, except for in a few loanwords.
[edit] Arabic
Arabic-language editions use the following 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles scoring 0 points
- 1 point: ﺍ ×8, ﻝ ×4, ﺝ ×4, ﺡ ×3, ﺥ ×3, ﻡ ×3, ﻥ ×3, ﻩ ×3, ﻭ ×3, ﻯ ×3
- 2 points: ﺏ ×4, ﺭ ×3, ﺕ ×4, ﺩ ×3, ﺱ ×3, ﺙ ×3,
- 3 points: ﻑ ×3, ﻕ ×3, ﺫ ×3, ﺵ ×3, ﺯ ×3
- 4 points: ﺹ ×3, ﺽ ×3, ﻉ ×3, ﻙ ×3, ﻁ ×2,
- 5 points: ﻅ ×2
- 6 points: ﺉ ×2
- 8 points: ﻍ ×2, ﺀ ×2
- 10 points: ﺃ ×2, ﺅ ×2,
[edit] Bulgarian
Bulgarian-language Scrabble sets, which use Cyrillic letters, use the following 102 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: А ×9, Е ×8, И ×8, Н ×4, О ×9, П ×4, Р ×4, С ×4, Т ×5
- 2 points: Б ×3, В ×4, Д ×4, К ×3, Л ×3, М ×4
- 3 points: Г ×3, Ъ ×2
- 4 points: Ж ×2, З ×2
- 5 points: Й ×1, У ×3, Х ×1, Ч ×2, Я ×2
- 8 points: Ц ×1, Ш ×1, Ю ×1
- 10 points: Ф ×1, Щ ×1, Ь ×1
[edit] Catalan
Catalan-language editions use these 100 tiles.
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×13, A ×12, I ×8, R ×8, S ×8, N ×6, O ×5, T ×5, L ×4, U ×4
- 2 points: C ×3, D ×3, M ×3
- 3 points: B ×2, G ×2, P ×2
- 4 points: F ×1, V ×1
- 8 points: H ×1, J ×1, Q ×1, Z ×1
- 10 points: Ç ×1, L·L ×1, NY ×1, X ×1
Accents and diaereses are ignored; for example, À is played as A. Nevertheless, there are special tiles for Catalan letters Ç (ce trencada) and L·L (ela geminada), as well as the digraph NY. It's not allowed to play an N tile followed by a blank tile (as Y) to form the digraph NY. Official rules treat Q tile just like one letter, but usually Catalan players use Q tile like QU digraph and all Catalan Scrabble Clubs use this de facto rule.
[edit] Croatian
Croatian-language Scrabble sets use the following 103 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×11, I ×10, E ×9, O ×9, N ×6, R ×5, S ×5, T ×5, J ×4, U ×4
- 2 points: K ×3, M ×3, P ×3, V ×3
- 3 points: D ×3, G ×2, L ×2, Z ×2, B ×1, Č ×1
- 4 points: C ×1, H ×1, LJ ×1, NJ ×1, Š ×1, Ž ×1
- 5 points: Ć ×1
- 8 points: F ×1
- 10 points: DŽ ×1, Ð ×1
[edit] Czech
Czech-language sets use the following 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: O ×6, A ×5, E ×5, N ×5, I ×4, S ×4, T ×4, V ×4, D ×3, K ×3, L ×3, P ×3, R ×3,
- 2 points: C ×3, H ×3, Í ×3, M ×3, U ×3, Á ×2, J ×2, Y ×2, Z ×2
- 3 points: B ×2, É ×2, Ě ×2
- 4 points: Ř ×2, Š ×2, Ý ×2, Č ×1, Ů ×1, Ž ×1
- 5 points: F ×1, G ×1, Ú ×1
- 6 points: Ň ×1
- 7 points: Ó ×1, Ť ×1
- 8 points: Ď ×1
- 10 points: X ×1
[edit] Danish
Danish-language Scrabble sets use these 100 tiles.
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×9, A ×7, N ×6, R ×6
- 2 points: D ×5, L ×5, O ×5, S ×5, T ×5
- 3 points: B ×4, K ×4, I ×4, F ×3, G ×3, M ×3, U ×3, V ×3
- 4 points: H ×2, J ×2, P ×2, Y ×2, Æ ×2, Ø ×2, Å ×2
- 8 points: C ×2, X ×1, Z ×1
This distribution lacks Q and W, which are rare in the Danish language.
[edit] Dutch
Dutch-language editions consist of the following 102 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×18, N ×10, A ×6, O ×6, I ×4, R ×5
- 2 points: D ×5, S ×5, T ×5
- 3 points: G ×3, K ×3, L ×3, M ×3, B ×2, P ×2
- 4 points: U ×3, H ×2, J ×2, V ×2, Z ×2, F ×2
- 5 points: C ×2, W ×2
- 8 points: X ×1, Y ×1
- 10 points: Q ×1
Prior to March 1998, there was a difference between the Dutch and the Flemish version: the Dutch version had 2 IJ tiles with a value of 4 points. Furthermore, it had only 1 F and only 4 S tiles; and the face value of the G was only 2 points. The Flemish version never had IJ tiles, it was as described above. The Dutch version is now in line with the Flemish one.
[edit] English
English-language editions of Scrabble contain 100 letter tiles, in the following distribution:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×12, A ×9, I ×9, O ×8, N ×6, R ×6, T ×6, L ×4, S ×4, U ×4
- 2 points: D ×4, G ×3
- 3 points: B ×2, C ×2, M ×2, P ×2
- 4 points: F ×2, H ×2, V ×2, W ×2, Y ×2
- 5 points: K ×1
- 8 points: J ×1, X ×1
- 10 points: Q ×1, Z ×1
This distribution of letters has not changed since Alfred Butts invented the game in 1938.
A new Mattel-licensed product, Super Scrabble, was launched in 2004. This set comprises 200 tiles, in this distribution:
- 4 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×24, A ×16, O ×15, T ×15, I ×13, N ×13, R ×13, S ×10, L ×7, U ×7
- 2 points: D ×8, G ×5
- 3 points: C ×6, M ×6, B ×4, P ×4
- 4 points: H ×5, F ×4, W ×4, Y ×4, V ×3
- 5 points: K ×2
- 8 points: J ×2, X ×2
- 10 points: Q ×2, Z ×2
[edit] Esperanto
Esperanto-language "sets" use these 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points).
- 1 point: A ×8, E ×8, I ×8, O ×8, N ×6, R ×6, S ×6, L ×4, T ×4, U ×4
- 2 points: K ×4, M ×4, D ×3, J ×3, P ×3
- 3 points: F ×2, G ×2, Ĝ ×2, V ×2
- 4 points: B ×2, Ĉ ×2, C ×1, Ŝ ×1
- 5 points: Z ×1
- 8 points: H ×1, Ŭ ×1
- 10 points: Ĥ ×1, Ĵ ×1
Esperanto Scrabble exists, but only as an internet game (Rules in Esperanto scrabble). No commercially available sets have been made so far.
[edit] Finnish
Finnish-language sets use these 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×10, I ×10, N ×9, S ×7, T ×9, E ×8
- 2 points: K ×5, L ×5, O ×5, Ä ×5
- 3 points: U ×4, M ×3
- 4 points: H ×2, J ×2, P ×2, R ×2, V ×2, Y ×2
- 7 points: D ×1, Ö ×1
- 8 points: B ×1, F ×1, G ×1
- 10 points: C ×1
[edit] French
French-language editions of Scrabble contain these 102 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×15, A ×9, I ×8, N ×6, O ×6, R ×6, S ×6, T ×6, U ×6, L ×5
- 2 points: D ×3, G ×2, M ×3
- 3 points: B ×2, C ×2, P ×2
- 4 points: F ×2, H ×2, V ×2
- 8 points: J ×1, Q ×1
- 10 points: K ×1, W ×1, X ×1, Y ×1, Z ×1
Diacritical marks are ignored.
[edit] See also
[edit] German
German-language editions of Scrabble contain 102 letter tiles, in the following distribution:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×15, N ×9, S ×7, I ×6, R ×6, T ×6, U ×6, A ×5, D ×4
- 2 points: H ×4, G ×3, L ×3, O ×3
- 3 points: M ×4, B ×2, W ×1, Z ×1
- 4 points: C ×2, F ×2, K ×2, P ×1
- 6 points: Ä ×1, J ×1, Ü ×1, V ×1
- 8 points: Ö ×1, X ×1
- 10 points: Q ×1, Y ×1
Before 1989–1990, German sets had 119 tiles. Eight tiles were played at a time, as opposed to the standard seven today. The old letter distribution was:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×16, N ×10, I ×9, S ×8, R ×7, A ×6, U ×6, D ×6
- 2 points: H ×5, T ×5, C ×4, L ×4, O ×4, G ×3, W ×2
- 3 points: M ×4, F ×3, B ×2, Z ×2, K ×2
- 4 points: P ×1, V ×1
- 5 points: Ü ×1
- 6 points: Ä ×1, J ×1
- 8 points: Ö ×1, X ×1
- 10 points: Q ×1, Y ×1
Neither the old nor the new distribution contain the letter Eszett (ß) as it does not exist as a capital letter. Words with ß can be played, however, by using two S (e. g. STRASSE for Straße). Contrary to crosswords, the umlauts Ä, Ö, Ü must not be represented by AE, OE or UE respectively.
[edit] Greek
Greek-language editions of Scrabble contain 104 tiles.
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: Α ×12, Ο ×9, Ε ×8, Ι ×8, Τ ×8, Η ×7, Σ ×7, Ν ×6
- 2 points: Ρ ×5, Κ ×4, Π ×4, Υ ×4
- 3 points: Λ ×3, Μ ×3, Ω ×3
- 4 points: Γ ×2, Δ ×2
- 8 points: Β ×1, Φ ×1, Χ ×1
- 10 points: Ζ ×1, Θ ×1, Ξ ×1, Ψ ×1
[edit] Hebrew
Hebrew sets use these 104 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: ו ×12, י ×10, ת ×9, ה ×8, ר ×8
- 2 points: א ×6, ל ×6, מ ×6, ש ×6
- 3 points: ד ×4, נ ×4
- 4 points: ב ×3, ח ×3, פ ×3, ק ×3
- 5 points: ג ×2, כ ×2, ע ×2
- 8 points: ז ×1, ט ×1, ס ×1, צ ×1
It is good to note that in the set, the final form letters ך, ם, ן, ף and ץ are not available and the normal form is used.
[edit] Hungarian
Hungarian-language sets use these 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points).
- 1 point: A ×6, E ×6, K ×6, T ×5, Á ×4, L ×4, N ×4, R ×4, I ×3, M ×3, O ×3, S ×3
- 2 points: B ×3, D ×3, G ×3, Ó ×3
- 3 points: É ×3, H ×2, SZ ×2, V ×2
- 4 points: F ×2, GY ×2, J ×2, Ö ×2, P ×2, U ×2, Ü ×2, Z ×2
- 5 points: C ×1, Í ×1, NY ×1
- 7 points: CS ×1, Ő ×1, Ú ×1, Ű ×1
- 8 points: LY ×1, ZS ×1
- 10 points: TY ×1
DZ and DZS, which are fairly rare in Hungarian, have no tiles, nor do Q, W, X and Y, which are only used in loanwords, as part of the extended Hungarian alphabet.
[edit] Icelandic
Icelandic-language sets use these 104 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×10, I ×8, N ×8, R ×7, E ×6, S ×6, T ×5, U ×6
- 2 points: Ð ×5, G ×4, K ×3, L ×3, M ×3
- 3 points: F ×3, O ×3, H ×2, V ×2
- 4 points: D ×2, Á ×2, Í ×2, Þ ×1
- 5 points: J ×1, Æ ×1
- 6 points: B ×1, É ×1, Ó ×1
- 7 points: Y ×1, Ö ×1
- 8 points: P ×1, Ú ×1
- 9 points: Ý ×1
- 10 points: X ×1
[edit] Italian
Italian-language sets use these 120 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: O ×15, A ×14, I ×12, E ×11
- 2 points: C ×6, R ×6, S ×6, T ×6
- 3 points: L ×5, M ×5, N ×5, U ×5
- 5 points: B ×3, D ×3, F ×3, P ×3, V ×3
- 8 points: G ×2, H ×2, Z ×2
- 10 points: Q ×1
[edit] Malaysian
Malaysian-language sets use these 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×19, N ×8, E ×7, I ×7, K ×6, U ×6, M ×5, R ×5, T ×5
- 2 points: L ×4, S ×4
- 3 points: G ×4, B ×3, D ×3
- 4 points: H ×2, O ×2, P ×2
- 5 points: J ×1, Y ×1
- 8 points: C ×1, W ×1
- 10 points: F ×1, Z ×1
Notice Q and X are absent because they are only present in loanwords.
[edit] Norwegian
Norwegian-language editions of Scrabble use these 100 tiles.
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×9, A ×7, N ×6, R ×6, S ×6, T ×6, D ×5, I ×5, L ×5
- 2 points: F ×4, G ×4, K ×4, M ×3, O ×4
- 3 points: H ×3
- 4 points: B ×3, U ×3, V ×3, J ×2, P ×2, Å ×2
- 5 points: Ø ×2
- 6 points: Y ×1, Æ ×1
- 8 points: W ×1
- 10 points: C ×1
The letters Q, X and Z are absent since these letters are rarely used in Norwegian.
[edit] Polish
Polish-language editions of Scrabble use these 100 tiles.
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×9, I ×8, E ×7, O ×6, N ×5, Z ×5, R ×4, S ×4, W ×4
- 2 points: Y ×4, C ×3, D ×3, K ×3, L ×3, M ×3, P ×3, T ×3
- 3 points: B ×2, G ×2, H ×2, J ×2, Ł ×2, U ×2
- 5 points: Ą ×1, Ę ×1, F ×1, Ó ×1, Ś ×1, Ż ×1
- 6 points: Ć ×1
- 7 points: Ń ×1
- 9 points: Ź ×1
This set is used since 2000. Before that year, a slightly different configuration was used: Ź was worth 7 points, F was worth 4 points. There were 2 F's, and 8 A's. The letters Q, V and X are also absent and blank tiles cannot be used to represent these.
[edit] Portuguese
Portuguese-language editions of Scrabble contain 120 tiles.
- 3 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×14, E ×11, I ×10, O ×10, S ×8, U ×7, M ×6, R ×6, T ×5,
- 2 points: D ×5, L ×5, C ×4, P ×4
- 3 points: N ×4, B ×3, Ç ×2
- 4 points: F ×2, G ×2, H ×2, V ×2
- 5 points: J ×2
- 6 points: Q ×1
- 8 points: X ×1, Z ×1
While Ç is a separate tile, other diacritical marks are ignored.
[edit] Romanian
Romanian-language editions of Scrabble use these 100 tiles.
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×11, I ×10, E ×9, R ×7, T ×7, N ×6, U ×6, C ×5, O ×5, S ×5, L ×4
- 2 points: D ×4, P ×4
- 4 points: M ×3
- 8 points: F ×2, V ×2
- 9 points: B ×2, G ×2
- 10 points: H ×1, J ×1, X ×1, Z ×1
Diacritical marks are ignored, so for example à and  are played as A.
[edit] Russian
Russian-language Scrabble sets, which use Cyrillic letters, used to have 126 tiles. The number was reduced in 1990 to 104, using this distribution:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: О ×10, А ×8, Е ×8, И ×5, Н ×5, Р ×5, С ×5, Т ×5, В ×4
- 2 points: Д ×4, К ×4, Л ×4, П ×4, У ×4, М ×3
- 3 points: Б ×2, Г ×2, Ь ×2, Я ×2, Ë ×1
- 4 points: Ы ×2, Й ×1
- 5 points: З ×2, Ж ×1, Х ×1, Ц ×1, Ч ×1
- 8 points: Ш ×1, Э ×1, Ю ×1
- 10 points: Ф ×1, Щ ×1, Ъ ×1
The old Russian distribution was as follows:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: О ×11, Е ×10, И ×10, Н ×6, А ×9, Р ×6, Т ×6, С ×5, В ×5
- 2 points: Д ×4, К ×4, Л ×4, М ×4, П ×4, У ×4
- 3 points: Я ×4, Б ×3, Г ×3, Ë ×3, Ь ×2
- 4 points: Ы ×2, Й ×2
- 5 points: Ж ×2, З ×2, Х ×1, Ц ×1, Ч ×1
- 8 points: Ш ×1, Э ×1, Ю ×1
- 10 points: Ф ×1, Щ ×1, Ъ ×1
[edit] Slovak
Slovak-language sets use these 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×9, O ×9, E ×8, I ×5, N ×5, T ×4, R ×4, S ×4, V ×4
- 2 points: M ×4, K ×3, L ×3, D ×3, P ×3
- 3 points: J ×2, U ×2
- 4 points: B ×2, H ×1, Y ×1, Z ×1, Á ×1, C ×1
- 5 points: Č ×1, Ž ×1, Š ×1, Í ×1, Ý ×1
- 7 points: Ľ ×1, Ť ×1, É ×1, Ú ×1
- 8 points: Ď ×1, F ×1, G ×1, Ň ×1, Ô ×1
- 10 points: Ĺ ×1, Ŕ ×1, X ×1, Ä ×1, Ó ×1
[edit] Slovenian
Slovenian-language sets use these 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: E ×11, A ×10, I ×9, O ×8, N ×7, R ×6, S ×6, J ×4, L ×4,T ×4
- 2 points: D ×4, V ×4
- 3 points: K ×3, M ×2, P ×2, U ×2
- 4 points: B ×2, G ×2, Z ×2
- 5 points: Č ×1, H ×1
- 6 points: Š ×1
- 8 points: C ×1
- 10 points: F ×1, Ž ×1
[edit] Spanish
Spanish-language sets sold outside North America use these 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×12, E ×12, O ×9, I ×6, S ×6, N ×5, L ×4, R ×5, U ×5, T ×4
- 2 points: D ×5, G ×2
- 3 points: C ×4, B ×2, M ×2, P ×2
- 4 points: H ×2, F ×1, V ×1, Y ×1
- 5 points: CH ×1, Q ×1
- 8 points: J ×1, LL ×1, Ñ ×1, RR ×1, X ×1
- 10 points: Z ×1
Stress accents are disregarded. The letters K and W are absent since these two letters are rarely used in Spanish words. According to FISE (Federación Internacional de Scrabble en Español) rules, a blank cannot be used to represent K or W.
Using one C and one H tile in place of the CH tile, two L tiles for the LL tile, or two R tiles for the RR tile is also not allowed in Spanish Scrabble (see rules in Spanish provided by the FISE).
Spanish-language sets sold within North America (known as Scrabble - Edición en Español) use these 103 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×11, E ×11, O ×8, S ×7, I ×6, U ×6, N ×5, L ×4, R ×4, T ×4
- 2 points: C ×4, D ×4, G ×2
- 3 points: M ×3, B ×3, P ×2
- 4 points: F ×2, H ×2, V ×2, Y ×1
- 6 points: J ×2
- 8 points: K ×1, LL ×1, Ñ ×1, Q ×1, RR ×1, W ×1, X ×1
- 10 points: Z ×1
[edit] Swedish
Swedish-language Scrabble sets (for a long time sold in Sweden as Alfapet, but that is now a different game) use these 100 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×8, R ×8, S ×8, T ×8, E ×7, N ×6, D ×5, I ×5, L ×5
- 2 points: O ×5, G ×3, K ×3, M ×3, H ×2
- 3 points: Ä ×2, F ×2, V ×2
- 4 points: U ×3, B ×2, Ö ×2, P ×2, Å ×2
- 7 points: J ×1, Y ×1
- 8 points: C ×1, X ×1
- 10 points: Z ×1
Note that the letters Ä, Ö, and Å have separate tiles. Other diacritical marks are ignored, such as for É. Also, the letters Q and W, rare in Swedish, are absent, but can be played with a blank.
[edit] Turkish
Turkish-language sets use these tiles (note distinct dotted and dotless I tiles):
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×12, E ×8, İ ×7, K ×7, L ×7, R ×6, N ×5, T ×5
- 2 points: I ×4, M ×4, O ×3, S ×3, U ×3
- 3 points: B ×2, D ×2, Y ×2, Ü ×2
- 4 points: C ×2, Ş ×2, Z ×2, Ç ×2
- 5 points: H ×1, P ×1, G ×1
- 7 points: F ×1, V ×1, Ö ×1
- 8 points: Ğ ×1
- 10 points: J ×1
(see a completed Turkish Scrabble board).
[edit] Welsh
Welsh-language Scrabble sets use these 105 tiles:
- 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
- 1 point: A ×10, E ×8, N ×8, I ×7, R ×7, Y ×7, D ×6, O ×6, W ×5, DD ×4
- 2 points: F ×3, G ×3, L ×3, U ×3
- 3 points: S ×3, B ×2, M ×2, T ×2
- 4 points: C ×2, FF ×2, H ×2, TH ×2
- 5 points: CH ×1, LL ×1, P ×1
- 8 points: J ×1
- 10 points: NG ×1, RH ×1
Since there are specific tiles for the digraphs that are considered to be separate letters in Welsh orthography (such as DD), it is not permissible to use the individual letters to spell these out. Diacritics on letters are ignored.
The digraph PH, which exists in Welsh, is omitted because it is used almost exclusively in mutated words, which the rules disallow. K, Q, V, X and Z also do not exist in Welsh. Arguably J does not exist in Welsh either, but it is included as it is sometimes used for borrowed words.
[edit] References
- Spreadsheet issued by Spear's.
- More information on Scrabble in these languages can be found at the Wordgame Programmers site.