The letter distribution has changed quite a few times over the years. To start with, let's look at series 66 only.Chris Marshall wrote:Is it possible to get a letter distribution frequency for each letter over the data you have?
The frequency with which each letter appeared in that series is as follows.
Code: Select all
VOWELS
A 1081
E 1444
I 943
O 963
U 506
CONSONANTS
B 178
C 272
D 531
F 183
G 348
H 186
J 91
K 98
L 445
M 351
N 718
P 359
Q 86
R 781
S 795
T 799
V 175
W 185
X 91
Y 90
Z 82
Code: Select all
B 2.0
C 3.1
D 6.0
F 2.1
G 3.9
H 2.1
J 1.0
K 1.1
L 5.0
M 4.0
N 8.1
P 4.1
Q 1.0
R 8.8
S 9.0
T 9.0
V 2.0
W 2.1
X 1.0
Y 1.0
Z 0.9
Code: Select all
B 2
C 3
D 6
F 2
G 4
H 2
J 1
K 1
L 5
M 4
N 8
P 4
Q 1
R 9
S 9
T 9
V 2
W 2
X 1
Y 1
Z 1
Code: Select all
SERIES B C D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V W X Y Z
46 2 4 8 3 6 3 1 1 7 4 7 4 1 10 10 10 2 1 1 2 1
47 2 5 8 4 6 3 1 1 8 6 7 5 1 10 10 10 2 1 1 1 1
48 1 5 7 3 6 2 1 1 7 6 7 5 1 10 10 10 2 1 1 1 1
49 2 4 7 2 4 3 1 1 6 5 7 5 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
50 2 5 7 2 4 2 1 1 7 6 7 5 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
51 4 7 10 4 5 4 1 2 10 9 10 7 1 13 13 13 2 2 1 2 1
52 3 6 9 3 5 3 1 2 9 7 9 6 1 12 12 12 2 2 1 2 1
53 2 4 7 2 4 2 1 1 6 5 9 5 1 10 10 10 1 1 1 1 1
54 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
55 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
56 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
57 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
58 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 10 9 1 1 1 1 1
59 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
60 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
61 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1
62 2 4 7 2 4 2 1 1 6 4 9 4 1 10 10 10 2 2 1 2 1
63 2 3 7 2 4 2 1 1 6 4 9 4 1 10 10 10 2 2 1 1 1
64 2 3 7 2 4 2 1 1 6 5 9 5 1 10 10 10 2 2 1 1 1
65 2 3 6 2 4 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 2 2 1 1 1
66 2 3 6 2 4 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 9 9 9 2 2 1 1 1
67 2 4 7 2 4 2 1 1 5 4 8 4 1 10 10 11 2 2 1 1 1
The vowel pile is a bit more tricky, as we don't have any known data points to work with, only their frequencies relative to each other. We do know that there have to be at least 55 vowels in the pile at the start of the game (in case both contestants are Jonathan Rawlinson), but without an exact count it's difficult to reach details of the actual distribution. So it's much more finger-in-the-air.
My rough guess, based on trying numbers and seeing if they give counts roughly near whole numbers, are that as of series 66 there were about 15 As, 20 Es, 13 Is, 13 Os and 7 Us.