The number of letters and the reading time of the longest word in the world can exceed the wildest guesses. Disputes about whether lexical forms that are not used in ordinary speech can be considered champions in such a competition are ongoing. The longest words are selected and marked in all languages. And let the primacy be given to the name of the chemical element, which is not so often mentioned, but the fact remains: the longest word in the world of 189,819 letters is pronounced 3.5 hours!
Selection criteria
The discussion is mainly about how to choose:
- Should we take into account when counting and comparing only the main form of the word, or also modified ones, which are often several letters longer?
- Is it right to betmetalanguages (scientific superlanguages) on a par with the main ones and take into account their terms, which in some areas of knowledge have no restrictions on the formation of their composition and may include numbers and symbols?
- Should the stock of the lexical stock of a group of polysynthetic (incorporate) languages be taken into account? These include Chukchi, Korean, Eskimo, Koryak, Aleut. A distinctive feature is the presence of a unique model adapted to express the thought: "the beginning of the word - the author's thought - the end of the word." In such cases, the line between word and thought is almost erased.
- How to calculate the length - by the number of capital letters or by sounds? Count the hyphen in the word or leave it out of the total number of letters?
- Should we consider in this context words that are understandable and composed according to the rules of word formation of the language, but are not separate units taken into account by dictionaries (for example, complex numbers like two thousand nine hundred ninety nine kilograms)?
- In the case of choosing the longest word in common use, which dictionary should be used as a reference source of information?
World record
Declared the longest name for the protein titin, or otherwise - connectin, consisting of 189,819 letters, according to linguists, it is not a word in the usual sense. This is just a verbal formula - the voiced composition of an organic compound. This word is not included in any dictionary of the world, although its existence is already universally known.
It takes a lot of space in the text and even more time and perseverance to read it, but for those who want to listen, attempts have already been made to read the name of a chemical element in front of a video camera.
The world's longest word starts with "methionyl" and ends with "isoleucine".
This organic compound is a giant protein with 244 regions connected by an unstructured peptide sequence.
In addition to other highest indicators, the titin gene (the name itself is taken from the Greek designation for a giant of divine origin - titan) is known for containing the largest number of DNA sections called exons - there are 363 of them in the titin gene.
Titin is involved in muscle contraction. But the protein still gained the greatest fame thanks to its name, the longer of which does not yet exist in our world.
Common terms
There are no strict rules for choosing the longest word in the world that is not related to specialized vocabulary or its non-standard forms, but still preference is usually given to nouns in the nominative case. Although adjectives, numerals, and nouns in other cases, especially the instrumental, usually take advantage of several letters in length and are often listed in record books as the longestwords.
If you choose those that are used in real life, then each language, of course, has its own champion.
The longest word in Russian
There is a joke in the world of the Internet that the longest word in Russian is "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".
Seriously speaking, Russian records do not differ in a large number of letters in the composition, and various sources highlight their longest words in each part of speech.
The Guinness Book of Records, according to the results of data correction made in 2003, considers the adjective - highly contemplative to be the longest word in the Russian language, formed from 35 letters.
However, if you neglect the logic in word formation, you can create very serious competition to other languages.
How to make a very long Russian word
Russian speech has a number of features that allow it to form incredibly long verbal forms:
- He has no quantitative restrictions in the use of the prefix "great-", expressing the degree of relationship. So when transmitting in speech a connection with a very distant descendant or ancestor, there is no limit on the size of the word.
- If you give a chance to participate in the word length competition for chemical terms, then here in Russian the winning word denoting a substance involved in plant photosynthesis will consist of 40 letters:patented remedy, - from 55 letters: tetrahydropyranylcyclopentyltetrahydropyridopyridine.
- The numerals denoting the time of existence can be very long, since all components are written in one word with the "-year" part. If you characterize the age of ancient fossils or other historical phenomena, the value of the word can be very large.
- By the same principle, it is possible to compose numerals denoting quantitative quantities expressing length, weight, time. Due to the parts that characterize what is measured (kilogram, millisecond, etc.), such words can be even longer than those that express age.
- As funny as a fact is, it remains a fact. The term that expresses a mental disorder - the fear of long words, consists of 33 letters: hippopotatomonstrosesskippedalophobia. It is a kind of joke on the mass of Greek names denoting various fears and being made up of words borrowed from different languages, it stands for: Greek ἱπποπόταΜος - "river horse", or in other words - a hippopotamus; Latin monstrum - "monster" and sesquipedalian - "foot and a half", and again the Greek word φόβος - "fear".
Long words in English
In British speech, the first place in length with an indicator of 1913 letters, as well as among the words of the whole world, is occupied by the name of a chemical element. However, in the generally acceptedVocabulary contains rather long words:
- Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu - 85 letters - such an unpronounceable and difficult to write name is assigned to one of the hills in New Zealand).
- Slightly behind it is another geographical name belonging to a city in Wales - Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch - 59 letters.
- Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters).
German Achievements
German speech is famous for its simple pronunciation and complex word formation, which occurs due to the sequential addition of several words in their full form, in order to create one.
Therefore, one of the longest words in the world used in ordinary speech can be attributed to the German language.
This is the name of a professional organization, a society of junior employees, belonging to the building supervision body under the head office of the electrical service of the shipping company on the Danube River, consisting of 79 letters:
Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft.
Lithuanian language
Not the longest word in the world, but it has an interesting meaning in the Lithuanian language: Nebeprisikiskiakopusteliaujanciuosiuose. It is made up of 39 letters and characterizes the representatives of the stronger sex, who are no longer able to get what they need for themselves.amount of wood.
Turkish
Mysterious oriental soul and a penchant for ornate expressions gave rise to the following 43-letter word: Çekoslovakyalilastipamadiklarimizdanmisiniz - you are the kind of person who cannot be made a Czechoslovakian.
Spanish longest word
Electroencefalografistas is the name of a medical instrument. It consists of 24 letters.
What distinguishes French speech
Anticonstitutionnellement - 25 letters Denotes one who violates the constitution.
Swedish record
The Swedes are undoubtedly in the lead. The longest recorded word consists of 130 characters:
nordöstersjökustartilleriflygspaningssimulatoranlä gg-ningsmaterielunderhållsuppföljningssystemdiskussions-inläggsförberedelsearbeten.
It was coined to indicate the preparation of documents in the discussion about the maintenance of the system based on materials obtained by aerial reconnaissance of the location of artillery batteries in the northeastern part of the B altic coast.
Records are undoubtedly interesting. Finding out which word is the longest in the world is quite exciting and educational. The main thing is that words are not formed specifically for such a competition, and the pursuit of superiority does not harm the functionality of the language. Speech, written and oral, is primarily a way of conveying information, and excessively long verbal forms hardly contribute to its easy perception.
