which language contains the most words? - GoFuckYourself.com

Jakki · 05-28-2003, 02:51 AM

hi everybody,

I had a discussion last night on how many words the english language contains vs. the german... I am convinced that there are more english than german words... does anybody know?

Cheers, Jakki

greentea · 05-28-2003, 02:58 AM

ebonics

Theo · 05-28-2003, 03:01 AM

Greek language has probably more words than any language

If i had to take a guess I would say German has more words than English.

Stramm · 05-28-2003, 03:10 AM

most words I guess has some asian language... chinese probably...

to german - english
the Oxford English Dictionary has ~600k words listed. But there's no comparable collection for germany. The biggest one has ~200+ k words and doesn't have scientific, chemical, medical words. Scientist guess that the german language has ~400-800k words including the above mentioned.

Mishi · 05-28-2003, 03:12 AM

Inuit has hundreds of words for snow.

slavdogg · 05-28-2003, 03:18 AM

russian has a lot
also Persian (farcy)
i would guess Chinease has a lot too

marttali · 05-28-2003, 03:20 AM

my guess is russian has the most words

ADL Colin · 05-28-2003, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mishi
Inuit has hundreds of words for snow.

Cool article. I have one of Pinker's books but not that one. I'll order it.

Kapitan Ivanov · 05-28-2003, 03:24 AM

English definately has more words than german. English uses some four words where the German equivalent is one great long one. like 'the red box with balls in it' is gonna be something like 'grecheshlefertosen'.

Kapitan Ivanov · 05-28-2003, 03:25 AM

Wait I just argued the opposite of what I intended... cos that would give German the more words..

bah.

(going to fuck myself)

ADL Colin · 05-28-2003, 03:26 AM

Some numbers for English.
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/JohnnyLing.shtml

500k-1M, 650-750k,616.5k,450k.

What are some other similarly high estimates for other languages?

Theo · 05-28-2003, 03:38 AM

Mr. Athan Anagnostopoulos, who (along with his wife) established and operates the well-regarded Greek Institute in Cambridge MA, has spent the last 6 years assembling Greek words over the 3,000-year compendium of the Greek language. So far, he has gathered more than 50 million words from the time of Homer to present.
http://www.prometheas.org/newsletter...newsletter.doc

nice hobby

jayeff · 05-28-2003, 03:41 AM

If you dig around at http://www.linguistlist.org/ you will find they claim that English has most words in its dictionaries. 500,000 in the current unabridged Oxford Dictionary is about double the number of what many recognise as the next most extensive. There is some debate about which language that is, but Spanish seems to be the most popular choice.

Dictionary size is not a wholly accurate guide to vocabulary size (some countries work harder at producing extensive dictionaries). But since English is so far ahead on that score, it seems unlikely that it does not have the biggest vocabulary.

Theo · 05-28-2003, 03:46 AM

of course we use a fraction of the total words our dictionary has. Probably chinese must use the most. I think it can take you close to a decade to learn chinese.

ADL Colin · 05-28-2003, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Soul_Rebel
of course we use a fraction of the total words our dictionary has. Probably chinese must use the most. I think it can take you close to a decade to learn chinese.

Any word count estimates?

Theo · 05-28-2003, 04:20 AM

i'll check at google,im curious too

i remember there was a study that took place in various countries regarding the # of words we use in our day life. The number was hilarious, something like 5k to 15k words i think

Aza · 05-28-2003, 04:50 AM

i think the language with the most words is
DOUBLE DUTCH

and most of the people on this board are fluent in it

Calvinguy · 05-28-2003, 05:11 AM

English is such a poor language

yall · 05-28-2003, 05:16 AM

it was spanish, untill we added "Foshizel" to the english language.

gothweb · 05-28-2003, 05:17 AM

The original numbers I heard said that English had by far the most words, with approximately 300,000... The next runner-up was German with 60,000.

The reason should be obvious. English counts as its roots Greek, Latin, French, and German. We have so many words for the same things (and subtle distinctions), and continue to borrow words from many languages. Clearly the vocabulary will be huge.

Project-Shadow · 05-28-2003, 05:24 AM

Try japanese

okdesign · 05-28-2003, 05:33 AM

chinese, I think

GeorgeTH · 05-28-2003, 05:49 AM

German certainly has one advantage: you put 3 to 4 words together and you have a new word... Works at least in most cases...

Just think of all the german words english adopted during the last decades, like 'waldsterben' (die-back of forests due to polution) - simple: 'wald" (forest) was an existing word, and as soon as it started to die you just add this... voilà: a new word!

GeorgeTH · 05-28-2003, 05:52 AM

Disadvantage: in german you might have words that long that in a normal newspaper layout they run over three lines with two hyphons ~ easy to lose track

Jakki · 05-28-2003, 06:27 AM

Well, Mr. GeorgTH if you put jumping and jack together it also means something else... do you know what a jumpingjack is? :-)

There are many words in both german and english that can be put together and you have a new meaning.... so not clear at all, I guess...

Cheers, Jakki

Corleone · 05-28-2003, 06:31 AM

don't know

never counted the words

Kapitan Ivanov · 05-28-2003, 06:52 AM

******talk?

05-28-2003, 02:51 AM	#1
Jakki Registered User Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 90	which language contains the most words? hi everybody, I had a discussion last night on how many words the english language contains vs. the german... I am convinced that there are more english than german words... does anybody know? Cheers, Jakki __________________ Jakki

05-28-2003, 02:58 AM	#2
greentea Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: South Florida Posts: 6,580	ebonics __________________ blunts Last edited by greentea; 05-28-2003 at 03:03 AM..

05-28-2003, 03:12 AM	#5
Mishi Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 1,054	Inuit has hundreds of words for snow. __________________ Looking for PHP/MySQL solutions? Check out Cyboriginal - custom scripts, installation services and more.

05-28-2003, 03:18 AM	#6
slavdogg Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 3,570	russian has a lot also Persian (farcy) i would guess Chinease has a lot too __________________ Adult Traffic for Sale

05-28-2003, 03:24 AM	#9
Kapitan Ivanov Confirmed User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Thank you for posting! You will now be taken to your post. If the administrator has selected to moderate all posts in this forum, you will be taken back to the forum and your post will be displayed presently. If you opted to post a poll, you will now Posts: 1,000	English definately has more words than german. English uses some four words where the German equivalent is one great long one. like 'the red box with balls in it' is gonna be something like 'grecheshlefertosen'. __________________ Ivanov:Never posting again. (666)

05-28-2003, 03:01 AM	#3
Theo HAL 9000 Industry Role: Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 34,515	Greek language has probably more words than any language If i had to take a guess I would say German has more words than English.

05-28-2003, 03:10 AM	#4
Stramm Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: NL Posts: 342	most words I guess has some asian language... chinese probably... to german - english the Oxford English Dictionary has ~600k words listed. But there's no comparable collection for germany. The biggest one has ~200+ k words and doesn't have scientific, chemical, medical words. Scientist guess that the german language has ~400-800k words including the above mentioned.

05-28-2003, 03:20 AM	#7
marttali Confirmed User Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 265	my guess is russian has the most words

05-28-2003, 03:25 AM	#10
Kapitan Ivanov Confirmed User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Thank you for posting! You will now be taken to your post. If the administrator has selected to moderate all posts in this forum, you will be taken back to the forum and your post will be displayed presently. If you opted to post a poll, you will now Posts: 1,000	Wait I just argued the opposite of what I intended... cos that would give German the more words.. bah. (going to fuck myself) __________________ Ivanov:Never posting again. (666)

05-28-2003, 03:26 AM	#11
ADL Colin Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Tube Titans, USA Posts: 11,929	Some numbers for English. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/JohnnyLing.shtml 500k-1M, 650-750k,616.5k,450k. What are some other similarly high estimates for other languages? __________________ Adult Date Link - $50 PPS starting NOW! -- good and JUICY! skype = "adultdatelink"

05-28-2003, 03:38 AM	#12
Theo HAL 9000 Industry Role: Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 34,515	Mr. Athan Anagnostopoulos, who (along with his wife) established and operates the well-regarded Greek Institute in Cambridge MA, has spent the last 6 years assembling Greek words over the 3,000-year compendium of the Greek language. So far, he has gathered more than 50 million words from the time of Homer to present. http://www.prometheas.org/newsletter...newsletter.doc nice hobby

05-28-2003, 03:41 AM	#13
jayeff Confirmed User Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 2,944	If you dig around at http://www.linguistlist.org/ you will find they claim that English has most words in its dictionaries. 500,000 in the current unabridged Oxford Dictionary is about double the number of what many recognise as the next most extensive. There is some debate about which language that is, but Spanish seems to be the most popular choice. Dictionary size is not a wholly accurate guide to vocabulary size (some countries work harder at producing extensive dictionaries). But since English is so far ahead on that score, it seems unlikely that it does not have the biggest vocabulary.

05-28-2003, 03:46 AM	#14
Theo HAL 9000 Industry Role: Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 34,515	of course we use a fraction of the total words our dictionary has. Probably chinese must use the most. I think it can take you close to a decade to learn chinese.

05-28-2003, 04:20 AM	#16
Theo HAL 9000 Industry Role: Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 34,515	i'll check at google,im curious too i remember there was a study that took place in various countries regarding the # of words we use in our day life. The number was hilarious, something like 5k to 15k words i think

05-28-2003, 04:50 AM	#17
Aza Confirmed User Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 818	i think the language with the most words is DOUBLE DUTCH and most of the people on this board are fluent in it __________________ Dollars 4 Babes Now with PPS! 13 Of The Highest Quality Sites To Promote Over 1000 Of The Best Free Hosted Galleries Hotlink Thumbs & Multiple Description Lengths

05-28-2003, 05:11 AM	#18
Calvinguy Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: European Union Posts: 1,752	English is such a poor language

05-28-2003, 05:16 AM	#19
yall Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 175	it was spanish, untill we added "Foshizel" to the english language.

05-28-2003, 05:17 AM	#20
gothweb Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Back in the USSA Posts: 8,849	The original numbers I heard said that English had by far the most words, with approximately 300,000... The next runner-up was German with 60,000. The reason should be obvious. English counts as its roots Greek, Latin, French, and German. We have so many words for the same things (and subtle distinctions), and continue to borrow words from many languages. Clearly the vocabulary will be huge. __________________ Photos by Ian X.: Distinctive photos of goth babes. Blood Money:Your traffic, my sites, our money. MojoHost: Still the best.

05-28-2003, 05:24 AM	#21
Project-Shadow Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 7,340	Try japanese

05-28-2003, 05:33 AM	#22
okdesign ICQ 278367136 Industry Role: Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 24,772	chinese, I think

05-28-2003, 05:49 AM	#23
GeorgeTH Confirmed User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: too much in front of my monitor... Posts: 367	German certainly has one advantage: you put 3 to 4 words together and you have a new word... Works at least in most cases... Just think of all the german words english adopted during the last decades, like 'waldsterben' (die-back of forests due to polution) - simple: 'wald" (forest) was an existing word, and as soon as it started to die you just add this... voilà: a new word! __________________ Spam me with design ideas for my signature - LOL!

05-28-2003, 05:52 AM	#24
GeorgeTH Confirmed User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: too much in front of my monitor... Posts: 367	Disadvantage: in german you might have words that long that in a normal newspaper layout they run over three lines with two hyphons ~ easy to lose track __________________ Spam me with design ideas for my signature - LOL!

05-28-2003, 06:27 AM	#25
Jakki Registered User Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 90	Well, Mr. GeorgTH if you put jumping and jack together it also means something else... do you know what a jumpingjack is? :-) There are many words in both german and english that can be put together and you have a new meaning.... so not clear at all, I guess... Cheers, Jakki __________________ Jakki

05-28-2003, 06:31 AM	#26
Corleone C.R.E.A.M Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 15,262	don't know never counted the words

05-28-2003, 06:52 AM	#27
Kapitan Ivanov Confirmed User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Thank you for posting! You will now be taken to your post. If the administrator has selected to moderate all posts in this forum, you will be taken back to the forum and your post will be displayed presently. If you opted to post a poll, you will now Posts: 1,000	******talk? __________________ Ivanov:Never posting again. (666)