13-year-old Arvind Mahankali won the National Spelling Bee for spelling the word "knaidel," which is a Yiddish word for a type of Jewish dumpling. Many Yiddish speakers and experts believe the word wasn't spelled correctly. Despite the controversy, Mahankali will be able to keep his title.

The spelling of the National Spelling Bee is based on the Merriam-Webster dictionary, and both judges and contestants are well aware that they use this as their standard for spelling. The word is spelled "knaidel" in the dictionary, it was spelled correctly by Mahankali, and so by the rules of the competition he will keep his trophy.

However, the word has opened a big debate about linguists, who say the word can be spelled "kneydl," "knadel," or "kneidel."

The dispute arises due to the issue that Yiddish, which uses a non-Roman alphabet, has no standardized transliteration into English, so one specific spelling is difficult to agree on, according to The Atlantic Wire.

Scholars at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research say the preferred historical spelling in "kneydl," The New York Times reports.

According to UPI.com, the publisher of the dictionary, Merriam-Webster, defends the spelling as "knaidel" because it is the most common variant of the word, based off of Hebrew.

Yiddish has no native country or official language authority. Many speakers of Yiddish turn to organizations like YIVO for guidance should such issues arise.

According to The Telegraph, Mahankali said he probably won't enter another spelling bee after this victory. Mahankali came in third place at the National Spelling Bee for the last two years.

Mahankali, from New York, has never seen or tasted a knaidel. His seventh-grade teacher, Carol Lipton, has promised to bring him one for Monday's class.