1. A reduced keyboard apparatus for word recognition in text input devices, adapted to be finger activated, the apparatus comprising; a keyboard adapted for displaying at least two letters and characterized by having no discrete boundary between the at least two letters, and adapted for enabling input of a word by a succession of finger-activated keystrokes on the keyboard, wherein a single keystroke on the keyboard activates an at least one keyboard region defined according to characteristics of the single keystroke and contains at least one letter candidate; probability computing means for computing a probability value associated with the at least one letter candidate in the at least one keyboard region; an at least one dictionary having an at least one word class categorized according to the first or last letters of an at least one word of the at least one dictionary, wherein the at least one word is associated with a frequency of use value; and list builder means for generating an at least one candidate word list derived from the at least one word class of the at least one dictionary for providing a best candidate word for the input word based on the probability value associated with the at least one letter candidate, the number of keystrokes performed during input of a word, and the frequency of use value associated with the at least one candidate word.