The Structure of a Word Network

Authors

A. Ross Eckler

Abstract

A word network consists of a collection of words of the same length, in which any two words that differ by only a single letter in one position (such as EAT and FAT, or STORE and SWORE) are joined by a link. A word ladder, originally invented by Lewis Carroll, joins two words in a network to each other by means of a path traced through successive links (such as EAT-BAT-BAND-BIN-PIN). Ordinarily, there are many such possible paths involving many different intermediate words.

Recommended Citation

Eckler, A. Ross (1989) "The Structure of a Word Network," Word Ways: Vol. 22 : Iss. 3 , Article 3.
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol22/iss3/3