Word matrices are powerful tools for organising thoughts about word structure.
In Word Microscope you can fill in your own word matrix, exploring and testing your own knowledge of word structure, or you can ask the program to make one up for you.
A word matrix is a graphical shorthand for illustrating families of inter-related word sums. Here is an example matrix for the base <cover>.
The word in bold is the base element.
Word Microscope will automatically build a word matrix for you from the current set of word sums in your word family.
You can also edit the matrix directly.
Read from left to right.
Make only single, complete words from a matrix.
If you are not sure that a word you build from a matrix is a real word, then check to see if it is in your dictionary.
You may use only one element from a column at a time.
You don’t have to take an element from every column of a matrix – but you must not “leapfrog” over a column.