Pangrams

{Example Pangrams} {Student Contributions} [Useful Links] [Teaching @ PUCSD] [Home]

Pangrams are sentences that contain each letter of alphabet, such as the well-known sentence used to test typewriters -

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

or even those that contain each letter a definite no. of times. The following example contains each consonant once and each vowel twice.

Why jog exquisite bulk, fond crazy vamp,
Daft buxom jonquil, zephyr's gawky vice?
Guy fed by work, quiz Jove's xanthic lamp-
Zow! Qualms by deja vu gyp fox-kin thrice.

These sentences are a short leap away from the most advanced pangrams of all, the self-documenting pangrams.

This first pangram has five a's, one b, one c, two d's, twenty-nine e's, six f's, four g's, eight h's, twelve i's, one j, one k, three l's, two m's, nineteen n's, twelve o's, two p's, one q, eight r's, twenty-six s's, twenty t's, three u's, five v's, nine w's, three x's, four y's and one z.

The change from previous pangram to advanced pangram is from a sentence X about which we can say "X has so many a's, so many b's, ... and so many z's", to a sentence X that has this very form - and that is also true. Logically this is a leap from other-reference to self-reference.

Examples of self-documenting pangrams

This pangram contains four a's, one b, two c's, one d, thirty e's, six f's, five g's, seven h's, eleven i's, one j, one k, two l's, two m's, eighteen n's, fifteen o's, two p's, one q, five r's, twenty-seven s's, eighteen t's, two u's, seven v's, eight w's, two x's, three y's & one z.

This computer-generated pangram contains six a's, one b, three c's, three d's, thirty-seven e's, six f's, three g's, nine h's, twelve i's, one j, one k, two l's, three m's, twenty-two n's, thirteen o's, three p's, one q, fourteen r's, twenty-nine s's, twenty-four t's, five u's, six v's, seven w's, four x's, five y's and one z.

How about this Dutch pangram :

Dit pangram bevat vijf a's, twee b's, twee c's, drie d's, zesenveertig e's, vijf f's, vier g's, twee h's, vijftien i's, vier j's, een k, twee l's, twee m's, zeventien n's, een o, twee p's, een q, zeven r's, vierentwintig s's, zestien t's, een u, elf v's, acht w's, een x, een y, en zes z's.

Here are a few involving Roman-numerals :

THIS PANGRAM LISTS III A'S, I B, I C, I D, I E, I F, II G'S, II H'S, XLVI I'S, I J, I K, III L'S, II M'S, II N'S, I O, II P'S, I Q, II R'S, XVII S'S, III T'S, I U, III V'S, I W, III X'S, I Y, I Z.

THIS PANGRAM LISTS III A'S, I B, I C, I D, I E, I F, II G'S, II H'S, XLV I'S, I J, I K, III L'S, II M'S, II N'S, I O, II P'S, I Q, II R'S, XVII S'S, III T'S, I U, III V'S, I W, III X'S, I Y, I Z.

Hats off to this binary pangram (I as 1 and O as 0 in counts) --

THIS PANGRAM HAS IOO A'S, I B, I C, I D, I E, I F, IO G'S, II H'S, IOOOOI I'S, I J, I K, I L, IO M'S, IO N'S, IOOOI O'S, IO P'S, I Q, IO R'S, IIIO S'S, IO T'S, I U, I V, I W, I X, I Y, I Z.

Student contributions

Self-documenting pangrams generation was one of the course assignments that I had given during Introduction to Programming course at PUCSD in 1996. Listed below are some of the pangrams that course registrants produced via their programs.

Keeping the counts in Roman numerals :

COMPUTER CONTAINS II A'S, I B, III C'S, I D, II E'S, I F, I G, I H, XLVII I'S, I J, I K, II L'S, II M'S, III N'S, III O'S, II P'S, I Q, II R'S, XVII S'S, III T'S, II U'S, IV V'S, I W, III X'S, I Y, I Z.

CSD HAS II A'S, I B, II C'S, II D'S, I E, I F, I G, II H'S, XXXII I'S, I J, I K, I L, I M, I N, I O, I P, I Q, I R, XI S'S, I T, I U, II V'S, I W, V X'S, I Y, I Z.

INDIA HAS III A'S, I B, I C, II D'S, I E, I F, I G, II H'S, XXXIV I'S, I J, I K, I L, I M, II N'S, I O, I P, I Q, I R, X S'S, I T, I U, III V'S, I W, V X'S, I Y, I Z.

INDIANS HAVE III A'S, I B, I C, II D'S, II E'S, I F, I G, II H'S, XXXIV I'S, I J, I K, I L, I M, III N'S, I O, I P, I Q, I R, XI S'S, I T, I U, V V'S, I W, V X'S, I Y, IZ.

MCA HAS III A'S, I B, II C'S, I D, I E, I F, I G, II H'S, XXXI I'S, I J, I K, I L, II M'S, I N, I O, I P, I Q, I R, X S'S, I T, I U, II V'S, I W, V X'S, I Y, I Z.

THIS ASSIGNMENT HAS III A'S, I B, I C, I D, II E'S, I F, II G'S, III H'S, XLVI I'S, I J, I K, II L'S, II M'S, III N'S, I O, I P, I Q, I R, XVII S'S, III T'S, I U, III V'S, I W, III X'S, I Y, I Z.

THIS PANGRAM HAS IV A'S, I B, I C, I D, I E, I F, II G'S, III H'S, XXXIV I'S, I J, I K, I L, II M'S, II N'S, I O, II P'S, I Q, II R'S, XV S'S, II T'S, I U, VI V'S, I W, V X'S, I Y, I Z.

Counting in binary (I and O represent 1 and 0 respectively, in counts) :

BINARY CONTAINS II A'S, IO B'S, IO C'S, I D, I E, I F, I G, I H, IOOOOI I'S, I J, I K, I L, I M, IOO N'S, IOOIO O'S, I P, I Q, IO R'S, IIOO S'S, IO T'S, I U, I V, I W, I X, IO Y'S, I Z.

EUREKA HAS II A'S, I B, I C, I D, II E'S, I F, I G, IO H'S, IOOOOI I'S, I J, IO K'S, I L, I M, I N, IIOO O'S, I P, I Q, IO R'S, IOII S'S, I T, IO U'S, I V, I W, I X, I Y, I Z.

INDIA HAS II A'S, I B, I C, IO D'S, I E, I F, I G, IO H'S, IOOOOI I'S, I J, I K, I L, I M, IO N'S, IIOO O'S, I P, I Q, I R, IOOI S'S, I T, I U, I V, I W, I X, I Y, I Z.

THIS PANGRAM HAS IOO A'S, I B, I C, I D, I E, I F, IO G'S, II H'S, IOOOOO I'S, I J, I K, I L, IO M'S, IO N'S, IOOIO O'S, IO P'S, I Q, IO R'S, IIIO S'S, IO T'S, I U, I V, I W, I X, I Y, I Z.

Created on May 01, 2006