2006-07-16 12:45:44 · 15 answers · asked by tausif h 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
English is an evolving language that picks up so many words from other languages.
It has roots in German, Norse, French and Latin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language
Also it has spead to USA, Canada, Australia and NewZEaland with many regional differences.
In the UK a car has a bonnet & a boot but in Canada & US it's a hood & a trunk.
Notice the difference with Canadian English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_English
2006-07-16 13:03:07 · answer #1 · answered by èmm© 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are 26 letters in the one English alphabet, and the two reasons that the English vocabulary is so big is that it borrows heavily from other languages, and has been spoken in many parts of the world (England, Ireland, America, India, Australia, Africa, Guyana) for many centuries. The effect of the latter is that the language has thus evolved in many different ways in different environments and has also come in contact with many different cultures, leading to even more borrowing. Furthermore, from my experience in foreign languages, English has far more words that mean the same thing and are not used that often than most others.
2006-07-16 19:57:58 · answer #2 · answered by Lmeister 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The English language has a purpose to be All inclusive.
26 Letters +1
2006-07-16 19:52:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The claim that English (or any language) has the largest vocabulary is impossible to make. You'd have to have complete agreement about what counts (only root words, or all words?), then agree on definitions (what counts as a root word?), then decide whether all words that clearly signal their foreign roots and are pronunced as foreign words (fiancé, for example) should count, then…
Really, it's an impossible task…and the link below lays out the issues better than I do.
2006-07-16 21:00:49 · answer #4 · answered by fuz 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The English language has the largest vocabulary of all the world's languages.
"English has the world’s largest vocabulary, a result of English being an inclusive language that has borrowed words from many other languages and also because it has its origin in two different language sources, Anglo-Saxon and French..."
From: Athabasca University: If English is not Your First Language http://www.athabascau.ca/courses/engl/155/support/if_english_is_not_your_first_language.htm
Which language has largest vocabulary?
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/lang/vocab.html
Popularity of Languages
http://www.stanford.edu/group/wais/Language/language_popularity.html
2006-07-16 20:38:27 · answer #5 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's 26 letters in the alphabet.
English uses words from a lot of other languages.
And while it's practically impossible to answer for sure that English has the most words, it's probable for the above reason.
2006-07-16 19:49:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because, unlike other languages, English adopts words from almost every language.
2006-07-16 19:47:39 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no english dosent have the largest vocabulary.most of the asian languages like Tamil,Hindi can easily beat it.Especially tamil is said to be the oldest language in the world.and if you get to know the details of tamil you would have never imagined such a rich language exists.
2006-07-16 20:42:44 · answer #8 · answered by Ram S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
With 26 different characters, you can create many variations. Its just a matter of subject.
2006-07-16 19:48:42 · answer #9 · answered by jdevinefour20 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't believe that...what's your source of information?
btw english only has 1 alphabet
2006-07-16 19:48:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋