Non-agglutinative languages
Afrikaans
Afrikaans, as it is a daughter language of the Dutch language, is capable of forming compounds of potentially limitless length in the same way as in the Dutch language. According to the Total Book of South African Records, the longest word in the language is[21] Tweedehandsemotorverkoopsmannevakbondstakingsvergaderingsameroeperstoespraakskrywerspersverklaringuitreikingsmediakonferensieaankondiging (136 letters), which means "issuable media conference's announcement at a press release regarding the convener's speech at a secondhand car dealership union's strike meeting". This word, however, is contrived to be long and does not occur in everyday speech or writing.
Arabic
Currently, the longest word in Arabic is the 15-letter-long word فَإِستَسقَينَاكُمُوهما.[22] Which means "Did we ask you to let us drink it?" However, according to some online sources the 20-letter-long word أَفَيَسْتَكْتِبونَكُمانيهِما is the longest word in Arabic meaning "Are they force you to write both of them?". Regardless, official sources supporting such a stance cannot be found.
Bulgarian
The Bulgarian online etymological dictionary claims that longest word in Bulgarian to be the 39-letter-long непротивоконституционствувателствувайте (neprotivokonstitutsionstvuvatelstvuvayte), introduced in the Constitution of Bulgaria of 1947 (Dimitrov Constitution).[23] The word means "do not perform actions against the constitution" (addressed to more than one person).
Catalan
The longest word in Catalan is considered to be Anticonstitucionalment, an adverb meaning "[done in a way that is] against the constitution", however, the scientific word Psiconeuroimmunoendocrinologia, related to endocrinology, has been proposed by the University of Barcelona to be the true longest word.[24]
Croatian
The longest known word in Croatian is prijestolonasljednikovičičinima,[25] meaning "to those who belong to the throne successor's little wife." The 31-letter word is the dative case of prijestolonasljednikovičica "the throne successor's little wife" which is the diminutive of prijestolonasljednikovica "the throne successor's wife."
Czech
Traditionally, the word nejneobhospodařovávatelnějšími ("of the least cultivable", 28 letters) is considered as the longest Czech word, but there are some longer artificial words. Most of them are compound adjectives in dative, instrumental or other grammatical case and derived from the iterative or frequentative verbal form or the ability adjective form (like "-able").
- Nejnezdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnějšími (47; Instrumental case of the ones least multipliable by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Nejnezdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are the least multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Nejzdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are the most multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are more multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelní (Those who are multiplable by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávat (Alternative of "multiply out by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis")
- Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovat (Multiply out by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis — continuous grammatical aspect)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroznásobovat (Multiply by ninety-nine on a regular basis – continuous grammatical aspect)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroznásobit (Multiply by a group of ninety-nine once)
- Zdevětadevadesáteronásobit (Multiply by a group of ninety-nine)
- Devětadevadesátero (A group of ninety-nine)
- Devětadevadesát (Inverse of devadesát devět = ninety-nine)
Danish
Danish, like many Germanic languages, is capable of compounding words to create ad hoc compounds of potentially limitless length. Nevertheless, the constructed word speciallægepraksisplanlægningsstabiliseringsperiode – which means "a period of stabilising the planning of a specialist doctor's practice" – was cited in 1993 by the Danish version of the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest word in the Danish language at 51 letters long. It is however not possible (using Google) to find a text, which actually uses this word, except for in the context of discussing the longest Danish word.
Dutch
Dutch, like many Germanic languages, is capable of forming compounds of potentially limitless length. The 53-letter word Kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedenplan, meaning "preparation activities plan for a children's carnival procession", was cited by the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest Dutch word.[26]
The longest word in the authoritative Van Dale Dutch dictionary (2009 edition) in plural form is meervoudigepersoonlijkheidsstoornissen;[27] 38 letters long, meaning "multiple personality disorders". The entry in the dictionary however is in the singular, counting 35 letters.
The free OpenTaal dictionary,[28] which has been certified by the Dutch Language Union (the official Dutch language institute) and is included in many open-source applications, contains the following longest words, which are 40 letters long:
- vervoerdersaansprakelijkheidsverzekering, "carriers' liability insurance";
- bestuurdersaansprakelijkheidsverzekering, "drivers' liability insurance";
- overeenstemmingsbeoordelingsprocedures, "conformity assessment procedures" (38 letters)
The word often said to be the longest in Dutch – probably because of its funny meaning and alliteration – which has also appeared in print, is Hottentottensoldatententententoonstellingsbouwterrein ("construction ground for the Hottentot soldiers' tents exhibition"); counting 53 letters.
English
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Main article: Longest word in English |
The 45-letter word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest English word that appears in a major dictionary.[29][30] Originally coined to become a candidate for the longest word in English, the term eventually developed some independent use in medicine.[31] It is referred to as "P45" by researchers.[32]
The 30-letter word pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism refers to an inherited disorder,[33] named for its similarity to pseudohypoparathyroidism in presentation, which is in turn named for its similarity to hypoparathyroidism. This is the longest word that was not contrived with the sole intention of becoming the longest word.[34]
Floccinaucinihilipilification, at 29 letters and meaning the act of estimating something as being worth so little as to be practically valueless, or the habit of doing so, is the longest non-technical, coined word in Oxford Dictionaries of the English language.[29]
Antidisestablishmentarianism, at 28 letters, is the longest non-coined, non-systematic English word in Oxford Dictionaries.[29] It refers to a 19th-century political movement that opposed the disestablishment of the Church of England as the state church of England.
French
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Main article: Longest word in French |
The longest word, hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobie (36 letters) is, ironically, the fear (or phobia) of long words. The word is formed from the Latin word sesquipedalia (singular sesquipedalis), which the Ancient Roman poet Horace used in Ars Poetica to describe excessively long words; literally, it means "a foot-and-a-half long".
Like the other phobias in the list, hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobie can be pluralised by adding the letter s to the end. The adjective interdépartemental (18 letters), which also appears in the list, can be made longer by appending the letters es , which gives its plural, grammatically gendered form.
German
In German, whole numbers (smaller than 1 million) can be expressed as single words, which makes siebenhundertsiebenundsiebzigtausendsiebenhundertsiebenundsiebzig (777,777) a 65 letter word. In combination with -malig or, as an inflected noun, (des …) -maligen, all numbers can be written as one word. A 79 letter word, Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft, was named the longest published word in the German language by the 1972 Guinness Book of World Records, but longer words are possible. The word was the name of a prewar Viennese club for subordinate officials of the headquarters of the electrical division of the company named the Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft, "Danube steam boat operation company".
The longest word that is not created artificially as a longest-word record seems to be Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz at 63 letters. The word means "law delegating beef label monitoring" but as of 2013, it was removed from the books because European Union regulations have changed and that particular law became obsolete, leading to news reports that Germany "had lost its longest word".[35]
In December 2016 the 51-letter word Bundespräsidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung ("deferral of the second iteration of the federal presidential run-off election") was elected the Austrian Word of the Year 2016.[36] The jury called it a "descriptive word" which "in terms of its content as well as its length, is a symbol and an ironic form of commentary for the political events of this year, characterized by the very long campaign for the presidential election, the challenges of the voting process, and its reiteration."[36][37]
Greek
In his comedy Assemblywomen (c. 392 BC), Aristophanes coined the 182-letter word λοπαδοτεμαχοσελαχογαλεοκρανιολειψανοδριμυποτριμματοσιλφιοκαραβομελιτοκατακεχυμενοκιχλεπικοσσυφοφαττοπεριστεραλεκτρυονοπτοκεφαλλιοκιγκλοπελειολαγῳοσιραιοβαφητραγανοπτερύγων (Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon), a fictional food dish consisting of a combination of fish and other meat. The word is cited as the longest ancient Greek word ever written.[38] A modern Greek word of 22 letters is ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογράφημα (ilektroenkefalográfima) (gen. ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογραφήματος (ilektroenkefalografímatos), 25 letters) meaning "electroencephalogram".
Hebrew
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Main article: Longest words in Hebrew |
The longest Hebrew word is the 19-letter-long (including vowels) וכשלאנציקלופדיותינו (u'chshelentsiklopediotenu),[39] which means "And when to our encyclopedias..." The Hebrew word אנציקלופדיה (encyclopedia) is of a European origin.
The longest word in Hebrew that doesn't originate from another language is וכשלהתמרמרויותינו, (u'chshelehitmarmeruyotenu) which crudely means "And when, to our resentments/ grievances"
The 11-letter-long (including vowels) וְהָאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים (veha'aḥashdarpením) is the longest word to appear in the Hebrew Bible. – Its meaning is "And the satraps". It also does not originate from Hebrew.[citation needed]
Other very long Hebrew words include:
- וכשבהשתעשעויותיהם (u'chshebehishta'ashuateyhem) meaning: "And when they were having fun" or "And while in their playfulness".
Hindi
Hindi has a finite list of compound words which are based on established grammatical rules of the language. The word commonly cited as the longest in Hindi is लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिका (lauhpathagāminīsūchakdarshkaharitatāmralauhpaṭṭikā), which consists of 24 consonants and 10 vowel diacritics, making up a total of 34 characters. The word literally means "a green railway warning signboard made of copper-iron". Its plural would be लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिकाएँ (lauhpathagāminīsūchakdarshkaharitatāmralauhpaṭṭikāẽ), which has an additional vowel and a diacritic. It is a neologism and not in common use. However this word is a direct loan word or borrowing from Sanskrit rather than a Hindi word.[40]
A much smaller word borrowed from Sanskrit which is in common use and is also often cited as the longest word is किंकर्तव्यविमूढ़ (kinkartavyavimūṛh). It consists of 8 consonants and 5 vowel diacritics, making up a total of 13 characters. The word literally means "confused about what to do", meaning to be bewildered or flabbergasted.
Icelandic
Icelandic has the ability to form compounds of arbitrary length by stringing together genitives (eignarfallssamsetning), so no single words of maximal length exist in the language. However, vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúr and vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúraútidyralyklakippuhringur are sometimes cited as particularly long words;[41] the latter has 64 letters and means "a keychain ring for the outdoor key of road workers shed in a moor called Vaðlaheiði".
Analysis of a corpus of contemporary Icelandic texts by Uwe Quasthoff, Sabine Fiedler and Erla Hallsteinsdóttir identified Alþjóðaflutningaverkamannasambandsins ("of the International Transport Workers' Federation"; 37 letters) and Norðvestur-Atlantshafsfiskveiðistofnunarinnar ("of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries' Organization"; 45 letters) as the longest unhyphenated and hyphenated words.[42]
The longest word occurring at least twice in the University of Leipzig isl-is_web_2015 corpus is Auðmannastjórnvaldaembættisstjórnmálaverkalýðsverðlausraverðbréfaábyrgðarlausrakvóta-ræningjaaftaníossaspilling (110 letters).[43]
Indonesian
Indonesian belongs to the Austronesian language family. According from Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. The longest word in the language is mempertanggungjawabkan, which is 22 letters long, meaning "take responsibility" in English, as well as heksakosioiheksekontaheksafobia, a 30-letter-long word meaning "hexacosioihexecontahexaphobia" in English.[44]
Irish
The longest non-compound word in Irish is grianghrafadóireacht, a 20-letter-long word meaning "photography".[45]
Italian
The longest word in Italian is traditionally precipitevolissimevolmente, which is a 26-letter-long adverb.[46] It is formed by subsequent addition of postfixes to the original root:
- precipitevole: "hasty";
- precipitevolissimo: "very hasty";
- precipitevolissimevole: "[of someone/something] that acts very hastily", (not grammatically correct[citation needed]);
- precipitevolissimevolmente: "in a way like someone/something that acts very hastily" (not grammatically correct, but nowadays part of the language).
The word is never used in every-day language, but in jokes. Nevertheless, it is an official part of Italian language; it was coined in 1677 by poet Francesco Moneti:
perché alla terra alfin torna repente / precipitevolissimevolmente
— Francesco Moneti, Cortona Convertita, canto III, LXV
The word technically violates Italian grammar rules, the correct form being precipitevolissimamente, which is three letters and one syllable shorter. The poet coined the new word to have 11 syllables in the second verse.
Other words can be created with a similar (and grammatically correct) mechanism starting from a longer root, winding up with a longer word. Some examples are:
- sovramagnificentissimamente (cited by Dante Alighieri in De vulgari eloquentia), 27 letters, "in a way that is more than magnificent by far" (archaic);[47]
- incontrovertibilissimamente, 27 letters, "in a way that is very difficult to falsify";
- particolareggiatissimamente, 27 letters, "in an extremely detailed way";
- anticostituzionalissimamente, 28 letters, "in a way that strongly violates the constitution".
The longest accepted neologism is psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia (30 letters).[citation needed].
Other long words are:
- nonilfenossipolietilenossietanolo (33 letters – chemical)
- pentagonododecaedrotetraedrico (30 letters – 3D geometric figure)
- esofagodermatodigiunoplastica (29 letters – surgery)
- elettroencefalograficamente (27 letters – medical adverb: electroencephalographically)
- diclorodifeniltricloroetano (27 letters – chemical: DDT)
Láadan
Láadan is not agglutinating as there is no mechanism to combine arbitrary words into one without intermediating grammatical mechanisms (such as the relativizer § In other languages); however, there are a number of affixes that further elucidate the contextual meaning of a word. These are ignored when determining the longest words in the language. The primary reference for vocabulary is the 3rd edition of the official dictionary and grammar.
- oshetham éelenethilethu, 22 letters not counting the space, or 17 phonemes (since for example ée is a toneme of e, and th is a separate sound from *t or *h separately—the asterisks indicate that neither sound exists in Láadan) – a set phrase for a wreath of grapevine, a common symbol of the language[48]
- shineshidethóo, 14 letters or 10 phonemes – an invited guest[49]
Latin
The longest attested word in Classical Latin is subductisupercilicarptor, which was coined by the obscure poet Laevius in the 1st century. In Medieval Latin, the longest known word is honorificabilitudinitas, which was first attested in a treatise written by the 8th century Grammarian Peter of Pisa. One can further increase the length of the words by adding the Dative plural case to them, which would result in the words subductisupercilicarptoribus and honorificabilitudinitatibus respectively.[citation needed]
Lithuanian
The longest Lithuanian word is 40 letters long:
- nebeprisikiškiakopūstlapiaujančiuosiuose – "in those, of masculine gender, who aren't gathering enough wood sorrel's leaves by themselves anymore." – the plural locative case of past iterative active participle of verb kiškiakopūstlapiauti meaning "to pick wood-sorrels' leaves" (leaves of edible forest plant with sour taste, word by word translation "rabbit cabbage"). The word is attributed to software developer / writer Andrius Stašauskas.[50][unreliable source?][51][unreliable source?]
Māori
The Māori-language 85-letter place name Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is the longest place name in English-speaking countries and second longest in the world, according to Wises New Zealand Guide and The New Zealand Herald.[52]
Polish
Very long Polish words can be created as adjectives from numerals and nouns. For example, Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcionarodowościowego, 54 letters, is the genitive singular form of an adjective meaning roughly "of nine-hundred and ninety-nine nationalities". Similar words are rather artificial compounds, constructed within allowed grammar rules, but are seldom used in spoken language, although they are not nonsense words.[citation needed] It is possible to make even longer words in this way, for example:
Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmiliardówdziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmilionów-dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćtysięcydziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcioletniego (176 letters, meaning "of 999,999,999,999 years old").
One of the longest common words is 31-letter dziewięćdziesięciokilkuletniemu – the dative singular form of "ninety-and-some years old one". Another known long word is konstantynopolitańczykowianeczka[citation needed] (32 letters), "a daughter of a man who lives in Constantinople" and pięćdziesięciogroszówka (23 letters), "a 50 groszy coin".[53]
Romanian
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Main article: Longest word in Romanian |
The longest Romanian word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcaniconioză, with 44 letters,[54] but the longest one admitted by the Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române ("Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language", DEX) is electroglotospectrografie, with 25 letters.[55][56]
Russian
Most likely one of the longest Russian words is a chemical term, тетрагидропиранилциклопентилтетрагидропиридопиридиновая (tetragidropiranilciklopentiltetragidropiridopiridinovaya), which contains 55 letters. It was used in Russian patent RU2285004C2 (granted and published in 2006). This word is an adjective that can describe e.g. a chemical formula. As a noun, it is without the last 4 letters.
Another one is превысокомногорассмотрительствующий (prevysokomnogorassmotritel'stvuyushchiy), which contains 35 letters. It is an adjective in the bureaucratic language of the 19th century "meaning a very polite form of addressing clerks, something like Your Excellency, Your Highness, Your Majesty all together" (Guinness World Records 2003[citation needed]). Its dative singular form, превысокомногорассмотрительствующему (prevysokomnogorassmotritel'stvuyushchemu, with 36 letters) can be an example of excessively official vocabulary of the 19th century.
Numeral compounds can be long as well, such as Тысячевосьмисотвосьмидесятидевятимикрометровый (Tysyachevos'misotvos'midesyatidevyatimikrometrovyy), which is an adjective containing 46 letters, meaning "1889-micrometers long".[57]
Sanskrit
Sanskrit allows word compounding of arbitrary length. Nouns and verbs can be expressed in a sentence.[citation needed]
The longest sentence ever used in Sanskrit literature is (in Devanagari):
- निरन्तरान्धकारितदिगन्तरकन्दलदमन्दसुधारसबिन्दुसान्द्रतरघनाघनवृन्द-सन्देहकरस्यन्दमानमकरन्दबिन्दुबन्धुरतरमाकन्दतरुकुलतल्पकल्पमृ-दुळसिकताजालजटिलमूलतलमरुवकमिलदलघुलघुलयकलितरमणीय-पानीयशालिकाबालिकाकरारविन्दगलन्तिकागलदेलालवङ्गपाटलघनसा-रकस्तूरिकातिसौरभमेदुरलघुतरमधुरशीतलतरसलिलधारानिराकरिष्णुत-दीयविमलविलोचनमयूखरेखापसारितपिपासायासपथिकलोकान्
In IAST transliteration:
- nirantarāndhakārita-digantara-kandaladamanda-sudhārasa-bindu-sāndratara-ghanāghana-vṛnda-sandehakara-syandamāna-makaranda-bindu-bandhuratara-mākanda-taru-kula-talpa-kalpa-mṛdul̥a-sikatā-jāla-jaṭila-mūla-tala-maruvaka-miladalaghu-laghu-laya-kalita-ramaṇīya-pānīya-śālikā-bālikā-karāra-vinda-galantikā-galadelā-lavaṅga-pāṭala-ghanasāra-kastūrikātisaurabha-medura-laghutara-madhura-śītalatara-saliladhārā-nirākariṣṇu-tadīya-vimala-vilocana-mayūkha-rekhāpasārita-pipāsāyāsa-pathika-lokān
from the Varadāmbikā Pariṇaya Campū by Tirumalāmbā,[58] composed of 195 Sanskrit letters (428 letters in the roman transliteration, dashes excluded), thus making it the longest word ever to appear in worldwide literature.[59][60]
Each hyphen separates every individual word this word is composed of.
The approximate meaning of this word is:
- "In it, the distress, caused by thirst, to travellers, was alleviated by clusters of rays of the bright eyes of the girls; the rays that were shaming the currents of light, sweet and cold water charged with the strong fragrance of cardamom, clove, saffron, camphor and musk and flowing out of the pitchers (held in) the lotus-like hands of maidens (seated in) the beautiful water-sheds, made of the thick roots of vetiver mixed with marjoram, (and built near) the foot, covered with heaps of couch-like soft sand, of the clusters of newly sprouting mango trees, which constantly darkened the intermediate space of the quarters, and which looked all the more charming on account of the trickling drops of the floral juice, which thus caused the delusion of a row of thick rainy clouds, densely filled with abundant nectar."
Slovak
Traditionally, the word najneobhospodarovávateľnejšieho ("of the least cultivable", 31 letters) is considered as the longest Slovak word, but there are some longer artificial words. Most of them are compound adjectives in dative, instrumental or other grammatical case and derived from the iterative or frequentative verbal form or the ability adjective form (like -able).[61] [62]
Artificial words, lexically valid but never used in language:
- znajneprekryštalizovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 40 letters, "through the least crystallised ones"
- znajnepreinternacionalizovateľnejšievať, 39 letters
- najnezrevolucionalizovateľnejšiemu, 34 letters [63]
- najnerozkrasokorčuľovateľnejšieho, 33 letters
Artificial words using Slovak towns or places, lexically valid but never used in language:
- znajneprehornádskodružstevnianskovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 54 letters
- znajneprechminianskojakubovianskovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 54 letters
Numerals:
- deväťstodeväťdesiatdeväťtisícštyristodeväťdesiatdeväť, 53 letters, "999499" [64]
- sedemstodeväťdesiatsedemtisícsedemstodeväťdesiatsedem, 53 letters, "797797" [65]
Spanish
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Main article: Longest word in Spanish |
The longest word in Spanish is esternocleidomastoideitis (inflammation of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, 30 letters).[66] Runners-up are anticonstitucionalmente ([proceeding in a manner that is] contrary to the constitution) and electroencefalografistas (specialists that do electrical scans on brains (electroencephalographists)), both 23 letters.
The word anticonstitucionalmente is usually considered the longest word in general use. This word can be made even longer by the addition of the absolute superlative suffix, rendering anticonstitucionalísimamente (i.e.: "very strongly against the constitution"). Some dictionaries (but not the RAE dictionary[67]) removed its root word (anticonstitucional) in 2005, causing comments about it not "being a valid word anymore" and suggesting the use of inconstitucional as a replacement.[citation needed]
Swedish
Realisationsvinstbeskattning (28 letters) is the longest word in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista. It means "capital gains taxation", and is usually shortened to Reavinstskatt (same meaning). However, Swedish grammar makes it possible to create arbitrarily long words. One such word is Spårvagnsaktiebolagsskensmutsskjutarefackföreningspersonalbeklädnadsmagasinsförråd-sförvaltarens (94 letters) which means: "[belonging to] The manager of the depot for the supply of uniforms to the personnel of the track cleaners' union of the tramway company".[68]
Toki Pona
The longest word in Toki Pona is kijetesantakalu (15 letters), which was proposed in 2009 as an April Fools' joke by the language's creator Sonja Lang as a word for any animal of the Procyonidae family, which includes raccoons and related species.[69] The word has since entered into common use, and it has become common to define kijetesantakalu more broadly as any animal from the Musteloidea superfamily.[70] In 2019 James Flear designed a glyph for kijetesantakalu in Toki Pona's sitelen pona writing system, which has become a popular icon within the Toki Pona community.[71]
As a minimalistic isolating constructed language, most words in Toki Pona are much shorter, the median being 4 letters. The longest words featured in the 2014 book Toki Pona: The Language of Good, Lang's first official Toki Pona publication, are the 7-letter words kepeken ("to use, by means of") and sitelen ("symbol, picture"). The list of proposed country names in the same book also mentions ma Papuwanijukini ("Papua New Guinea"), which includes a 14-letter proper adjective.[72]
Vietnamese
Vietnamese is an isolating language, which naturally limits the length of a morpheme. The longest, at seven letters, is nghiêng, which means "inclined" or "to lean".[73] This is the longest word that can be written without a space. However, not all words in Vietnamese are single morphemes. Indeed, nghiêng can be reduplicated as nghiêng nghiêng.
The written language abounds with compound words in which each constituent word is delimited by spaces, just like any freestanding word. Moreover, the grammar lacks inflection to mark parts of speech, and prepositions are often optional. Therefore, the boundary between a word and a phrase is poorly defined.[74] Examples of this ambiguity include:
- Chủ nghĩa phân biệt chủng tộc ("racism"), which is composed of the words chủ nghĩa ("ideology"), phân biệt ("discriminate"), and chủng tộc ("race")
- Cơm gà xào sả ớt, which literally describes a dish of grilled chicken sauteed with lemongrass and peppers on rice
- Ông bà anh chị em, a polite pronoun composed of five kinship terms
Unlike locally coined compound words, compound words in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary are less ambiguous, because of the use of premodifiers (as in English) as opposed to the native postmodifiers. Long Sino-Vietnamese words include bách khoa toàn thư ("encyclopedia") and thủy động lực học ("hydrodynamics").
Loanwords and pronunciation respellings from other languages can also result in long words. For example, "consortium" is côngxoocxiom (12 letters), and "Indonesia" may be left as-is or spelled In-đô-nê-xi-a (13 counting hyphens).[75] The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Vietnam systematically respells foreign names, introducing long names into an official Vietnamese lexicon:
- Kômixacjepxkaia ("Komissarzhevskaya", 15 letters)[76]
- Rôjơđextơvenxki ("Rozhdestvensky", 15 letters)[77]
- Mêtơrôpôliten Ôpêra ("Metropolitan Opera", 18 letters)[78]
Long initialisms in Vietnamese include:
- CHXHCNVN (Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam, "Socialist Republic of Vietnam", 8 characters)
- MTDTGPMNVN (Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam, "Viet Cong", 10 characters)
In modern Vietnamese, compound words can be identified fairly easily within title cased text: a morpheme that begins with a capital letter followed by one or more morphemes that begin with a lowercase letter. For example, xã hội chủ nghĩa ("socialism") is capitalized as one component within Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam.
Welsh
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a railway station on the island of Anglesey in Wales, is the longest place name in the Welsh language. At 51 letters in the Welsh alphabet (the digraphs ll and ch are each collated as single letters) the name can be translated as "St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave". However, it was artificially contrived in the 1860s as a publicity stunt, to give the station the longest name of any railway station in the United Kingdom.
Long words are comparatively rare in Welsh. Candidates for long words other than proper nouns include the following (the digraph dd is also treated as a single letter, as is ng in many instances including in the last word below):
- gwrthddatgysylltiadaeth (antidisestablishmentarianism)
- microgyfrifiaduron (microcomputers)
- gwrthgyfansoddiaethwyr (anticonstitutionalists)
- lled-ddargludyddion (semiconductors)
- tra-arglwyddiaethasant (they tyrannised)
- cyfrwngddarostynedigaeth (intercession)[79] (-au can be added to form the plural, and the word can be further lengthened slightly by initial mutation: fy nghyfrwngddarostynedigaethau, "my intercessions")