Morse Code, Scrabble, and the Alphabet

Figures & data

Table 1. Pooled letter frequencies for one class.

Letter	Class Total	Class Relative Frequency	Letter	Class Total	Class Relative Frequency
A	631	8.41	O	546	7.28
B	100	1.33	P	170	2.27
C	240	3.20	Q	8	0.11
D	285	3.80	R	457	6.09
E	912	12.16	S	526	7.01
F	148	1.97	T	685	9.13
G	163	2.17	U	216	2.88
H	344	4.59	V	70	0.93
I	553	7.37	W	151	2.01
J	19	0.25	X	20	0.27
K	63	0.84	Y	153	2.04
L	317	4.23	Z	10	0.13
M	179	2.39	Total	7500	100
N	534	7.12

Figure 1. Scatterplot of International Morse Code Units versus Relative Frequency of Letter in English Text (based on the class data shown in Table 1)

Figure 2. Scatterplot of Relative Frequency of Scrabble Tile versus Relative Frequency of Letter in English Text (based on the class data shown in Table 1)

Table 2. Letter frequencies in Concise Oxford Dictionary words.

E	11.2%	56.9	M	3.0%	15.4
A	8.5%	43.3	H	3.0%	15.3
R	7.6%	38.6	G	2.5%	12.6
I	7.5%	38.4	B	2.1%	10.6
O	7.2%	36.5	F	1.8%	9.2
T	7.0%	35.4	Y	1.8%	9.1
N	6.7%	33.9	W	1.3%	6.6
S	5.7%	29.2	K	1.1%	5.6
L	5.5%	28.0	V	1.0%	5.1
C	4.5%	23.1	X	0.3%	1.5
U	3.6%	18.5	Z	0.3%	1.4
D	3.4%	17.2	J	0.2%	1.0
P	3.2%	16.1	Q	0.2%	(1)

Figure 3. Scatterplot of Scrabble Tile Point Value versus Relative Frequency of Letter

Figure 4. Residual Plot for Scrabble Model

Figure 5. Residual Plot for Transformed Scrabble Model

Figure 6. Q-Q Plot of Residuals for Transformed Scrabble Model

Data Collection Table

Letter	Individual Tally	Individual Frequency	Letter	Individual Tally	Individual Frequency
A			O
B			P
C			Q
D			R
E			S
F			T
G			U
H			V
I			W
J			X
K			Y
L			Z
M			Total
N

Table

Letter	Estimated Relative Frequency in English Text	International Morse Code	Morse Code Units	Letter	Estimated Relative Frequency in English Text	International Morse Code	Morse Code Units
A	8.41	· ‐		N	7.12	‐ ·
B	1.32	‐ · · ·		O	7.28	‐ ‐ ‐
C	3.20	‐ · ‐ ·		P	2.27	· ‐ ‐ ·
D	3.80	‐ · ·		Q	0.11	‐ ‐ · ‐
E	12.16	·		R	6.09	· ‐ ·
F	1.97	· · ‐ ·		S	7.01	· · ·
G	2.17	?		T	9.13	‐
H	4.59	?		U	2.88	· · ‐
I	7.37	· ·		V	0.93	· · · ‐
J	0.25	· ‐ ‐ ‐		W	2.01	· ‐ ‐
K	0.84	‐ · ‐		X	0.27	‐ · · ‐
L	4.23	· ‐ · ·		Y	2.04	‐ · ‐ ‐
M	2.39	‐ ‐		Z	0.13	‐ ‐ · ·

Table

Letter	Estimated Relative Frequency in English Text	Morse Code Units	Predicted Morse Code Units	Residual
G	2.17	9 (− – ·)
H	4.59	7 (· · · ·)

Table

Letter	Estimated Relative Frequency in English Text	Relative Frequency of Scrabble Tiles	Letter	Estimated Relative Frequency in English Text	Relative Frequency of Scrabble Tiles
A	8.41	9.18	N	7.12	6.12
B	1.32	2.04	O	7.28	8.16
C	3.20	2.04	P	2.27	2.04
D	3.80	4.08	Q	0.11	1.02
E	12.16	12.24	R	6.09	6.12
F	1.97	2.04	S	7.01	4.08
G	2.17	3.06	T	9.13	6.12
H	4.59	2.04	U	2.88	4.08
I	7.37	9.18	V	0.93	2.04
J	0.25	1.02	W	2.01	?
K	0.84	1.02	X	0.27	1.02
L	4.23	?	Y	2.04	2.04
M	2.39	2.04	Z	0.13	1.02

Table

Letter	Estimated Relative Frequency in English Text	Relative Frequency of Scrabble Tiles	Predicted Relative Frequency of Scrabble Tiles	Residual
L	4.23	4.08
W	2.01	2.04

Table

Letter	Estimated Relative Frequency in English Text	Relative Frequency of Scrabble Tiles	Predicted Relative Frequency of Scrabble Tiles	Residual
L	4.23	4.08
W	2.01	2.04