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Subject:
Comparison - Number of words in major world languages?
Category: Reference, Education and News > General Reference Asked by: ocidental-ga List Price: $2.00 |
Posted:
10 Dec 2002 19:26 PST
Expires: 09 Jan 2003 19:26 PST Question ID: 122793 |
I'm looking for a reliable source that can compare the number of words in the major world languages. I've heard English has between 1/4 million and 1 million words, depending on what you define as a word. However, according to a friend of mine from Spain, Spanish has 270 million words. It seems incomprehensible to have so many words. [Maybe it's because I find it so hard to think of any language being superior to English.] |
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Subject:
Re: Comparison - Number of words in major world languages?
Answered By: tlspiegel-ga on 11 Dec 2002 10:05 PST Rated: ![]() |
Hi ocicental, One of my favorite subjects! "All living language seem to have the ability to express what needs expressing; where a word doesn't exist, speakers find a way to come up with one whether by coining one, adapting an older word to a new use, or importing one from another language. That's no less true of Spanish than of English, so Spanish's smaller vocabulary shouldn't be seen as a sign of inferiority." From the site titled: Size of Spanish Vocabulary - Learn Spanish Language http://spanish.about.com/library/questions/aa-q-size_of_language.htm Google search terms used: "compare English language number words to Spanish" Regards, tlspiegel Google Answers Researcher |
ocidental-ga
rated this answer:![]() |
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Subject:
Re: Comparison - Number of words in major world languages?
From: robertskelton-ga on 10 Dec 2002 19:55 PST |
You might find this interesting: The Number of Words in the English Language http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/wordman005.html |
Subject:
Re: Comparison - Number of words in major world languages?
From: tlspiegel-ga on 10 Dec 2002 21:02 PST |
Hi ocidental, And, on the other side of the coin... I found this link! Size of Spanish Vocabulary - Learn Spanish Language http://spanish.about.com/library/questions/aa-q-size_of_language.htm tlspiegel Google Answers Researcher |
Subject:
Re: Comparison - Number of words in major world languages?
From: ocidental-ga on 11 Dec 2002 00:06 PST |
Robert: I actually came across that link in my own searches, but thanks anyway :) TLSpiegel: that's almost what I was looking for. I was tyring to refute the fact that "Spanish has more words than English", and that web site does just that. I consider that the answer, so feel free to post it as such. Thanks! Ocidental. |
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