No, you will not find the very longest word in english in this article. Association of subordinate officials of the head office management. In todays video i want to present the 20 longest german words to you and tell you what they mean in english. German words starting with w words from w to wachsamkeit. Even a german or english scrabble board only has room. As mark twain put it, some german words are so long that they have. Jun 03, 20 such extended words are sometimes known as bandwurmworter tapeworm words. Sure, online translators will tell you that heimat means home, homeland, or heritage in english, but the german word is so much more. I fully agree with your proposal of less than 5 words shouldnt count. The writer mark twain once said that some german words are so long that they even have a perspective.
Even mark twain said that due to their length, some of the german words have their own perspective. The meanings of german last names are those as defined initially when these names became surnames. Surely i think less than 5 words shouldnt count, but there are some books voted for here with only 4 word titles. Yes, this article is about some of the longest english words on record. Jan 24, 2018 no one is quite sure why, but the idea of antidisestablishmentarianism being the longest word is a linguistic myth. The guinness book of world records gives the honor to marcel prousts elephantine remembrance of things past, weighing in at 9,609,000 characters including spaces. It means insurance companies providing legal protection. But some people feel that longer is better and prefer to read more involved books that they can really get lost in. Some german words are so long that they have a perspective. That means words can be created by just jamming other, smaller words together.
There is no longest german word because there is no largest natural number. Can you believe the longest german word contains no less than 80 letters. The meal is a spicy food thats cooked with the use of vegetables and beef. German language is known for its long words, especially in the common technical and scientific language. Also, subtitlesstraplines anything after a colon really shouldnt be included, i think. While cardinal numbers above 1 million are written in german as a sequence of separate words like zwei milliarden funfhundert millionen, ordinal numbers are always written as one word see 36. According to the 1995 guinness book of world records, the longest german word in everyday usage is rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften legal. From notorious german compound words to coined words from greek and finnish literature, here are the most popular longest words from twelve european languages. Same words in german and english german language workshop. Google book search finds only one example, not actually a book, but a web forum discussion in german of extremely long words. According to the total book of south african records, the longest word in the language is. German has the ability to string words together to form new vocabulary. The problem is that once someone removes duplicates, it can change which edition is listed to the most popular edition, and which is often a shortened version of the title.
Dec 21, 2019 but some people feel that longer is better and prefer to read more involved books that they can really get lost in. Good luck trying to say these 7 hilariously long german words out loud. No one is quite sure why, but the idea of antidisestablishmentarianism being the longest word is a linguistic myth. Top 10 longest novels in the english language listverse. It printed the first book in movable metal type the gutenberg bible. Its truly impressive how long certain words can be and what they are used for. In an essay on the germany language, mark twain observed. A look at some of the strangest, shortest, longest. Longest german word this project contains a list of german. Longest german word this project contains a list of. A 79 letter word, donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitatenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft, was named the longest published word in the german language by the 1972 guinness book of world records, but longer words are possible.
Creating compound words is not exclusive to the german language. The german language is renowned for its complex sentences some of which can. Usually, a maximum of three parts is accepted for compound words. Lets take a look at 10 of the longest pieces of literature that you can read and rank them according to word count. Ever thought, there should be a german word for that. How many pages were in the longest book ever written answers. Words consisting of hundreds, or even thousands of characters have been coined. Since the spelling reform, it now has officially 80 letters due to an additional f. The longest words in the 12 most common european languages. Since german is an ancestor to english, a lot of funny oh, and just for the lols, here is the longest word in german german.
Here are the examples of the longest words in german. Carl sandburg won two pulitzer prizes during his lifetime, one for a biography of abraham lincoln, and the other for a book of poetry. For example, the surname meyer means dairy farmer today, whereas, during the middle ages, meyer designated people who were stewards of landholders. He wasnt wrong the german language is notable for its compound nouns. The 20 longest german words and what they mean youtube. Sep 21, 2012 no wonder some purists fear anglicisms could make german a peripheral language published. Top german words you definitely need to learn mondly. Even nonagglutinative languages may allow word formation of theoretically limitless length in certain contexts. Most languages, even english, do this to some extent, but german seems to be particularly suited for it. Its the chemical name for the titin protein found in humans. Jun 25, 2015 some german words are so long that they have a perspective, quipped mark twain, in his 1880 book a tramp abroad. Its a mesmerizing word that is rather difficult to read. Yet, if youd like to play the longest word game, here are a few selected items to consider.
Sometimes theyre so long that they make it to the guinness book of world records. No wonder some purists fear anglicisms could make german a peripheral language published. There are several more languages where youll encounter compound words, although german is legendary for having very long words. Schottenfreude is a unique, musthave dictionary, complete with newly coined words that explore the idiosyncrasies of life as only the german language can. While cardinal numbers above 1 million are written in german as a sequence of separate words like zwei milliarden the spelling of these long german words is an even more sensitive subject. In contrast, the longest word in the english dictionary is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. But there is an important caveat an asterisk of sorts to the longest word in the book of esther. The longest word in any given language depends on the word formation rules of each specific language, and on the types of words allowed for consideration agglutinative languages allow for the creation of long words via compounding. Thank you, hello and yes in german learngermaneasily. What is the longest word in the german language answers.
So you could start to count the atoms in the universe count really quickly. Yet, if youd like to play the longestword game, here are a few selected items to consider. It is a word thats often used to describe a fictional dish mentioned in the ecclesiazusae or assemblywomen comedy. These books are rather long but never tedious, and will take the reader on unparalleled journeys which will likely be remembered for the rest of his or her lifetime. Association for subordinate officials of the head office management of the danube steamboat electrical services. German word in everyday use, according to the guinness book of world.
The word has only 40 characters and it is included in the guinness book of world records as being the longest german word in everyday use. The longest word in german german language workshop. The longest known example is a compound word of 195 sanskrit characters transliterating to 428 letters in the roman alphabet describing the region near kanci, tamil nadu, india, which appears in a. Guinness book of language records adhoc translations. Browse germanenglish dictionary words from w to wachsamkeit and view definitions. Well, thanks to the brilliantly original mind behind schotts original miscellany, now there is. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the book of word records. Even nonagglutinative languages may allow word formation of theoretically limitless. The second longest english term is composed of 182 letters. Agglutinative languages allow for the creation of long words via compounding. This weeks local list looks at ten tonguetwisting german words. Do you know any single word containing 65 characters. The 6 longest german words lange deutsche worter betaubungsmittelverschreibungsverordnung. The german language is often parodied for its love of mushing together a bunch of words to create one superlong one.
In this old wikipedia reference desk discussion someone claims to have seen it in print, but provides no citation or provenance. The longest word in any given language depends on the word formation rules of each specific. With 79 letters, we need not less than 15 words in english to translate the classic longest word in german. In colloquial german you will avoid using these looong words. So, just how many words make up the longest pieces of literature that you can read today. The longest words in the german language thoughtco. Is the longest word in the bible in the book of esther. I am croatian, so ill write down some of the longest words in my language and explain in english their meaning. Even a german or english scrabble board only has room for 15 letters, so you wont find much use for these. Before you start learning german, you should know that you already know some german words without actually being aware of it. Some say the longest word in the english language is the chemical name of titin, the largest known protein, which is a whopping 189,819 letters long. People will have difficulties to follow your discussion as they need some time to chop theses looong words into their p. Its more fun than practical and german just happens to offer us some really long words. Association for subordinate officials of the head office management of the danube.
The longest word in any given language depends on the word formation rules of each specific language, and on the types of words allowed for consideration. According to participants in a forum at, the longest german word that is not a compound word is unkameradschaftlichkeit unkameradschaftlichkeit is a kind of unsporting behavior among soldiers. The guinness book of world records recognizes this cumbersome word as the longest german word in everyday use. With such words theres no wonder why the famous american writer, mark twain, once joked that some german words are so long that they even have a perspective. A look at some of the strangest, shortest, longest, and overall most remarkable words in the english language kindle edition by cantrell, asher. Upon his death in 1967, sandburgs ashes were placed beneath a red granite boulder. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher.
What are some languages that have the longest words. Does the book of esther have the longest word in the. The novels mentioned above are some of the longest books ever written, which allow the reader to stay immersed in the stories and live the characters for a great amount of time. Looks like the english language wins for longest word, although one might argue that a medical term is actually latin and universal. Over the years, there has been some controversy over what constitutes the worlds longest novel. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Jun 24, 2019 its more fun than practical and german just happens to offer us some really long words. Remembrance rock was sandburgs only novel, and it clearly meant a lot to him, personally.