In a recent post, I suggested that Latin-based languages are inherently more longwinded than Nordic-Germanic languages, and that this may have a bearing on differences in the way we use gestures in conversation (HERE).
A comparison of the words used for saying "Happy Christmas" in different languages showed that Latin-based languages took an average of 0.75 more syllables to communicate the same greeting (HERE).
When it comes to wishing someone "Happy New Year", Latin languages have a more decisive lead in the syllable stakes, with an average of twice as many as in English, Danish, Swedish and German:
LANGUAGE | WORDS | SYLLABLES |
English | Happy New Year | 4 |
Danish | Godt Nytaar | 3 |
Swedish | Gott nytt år | 3 |
German | Prosit Neujahr | 4 |
Average: | 3.00 | |
French | Bonne Année | 3 |
Portuguese | Feliz Ano Novo | 6 |
Italian | Felice Anno Nuovo | 8 |
Spanish | Feliz Ano Nuevo | 7 |
Average: | 6.00 |
4 comments:
huhuhuh....its really very useful and informative posting here that you share with us. thanks....
But which ones sound more poetic, more musical. Give me the Latins any day.
Donlast - I don't disagree, and hope you don't think my comments imply criticism of Latin languages. If you look at the earlier post on the subject, my point has to do with trying to explain the alleged differences in our gestural behavior. And I say 'alleged' because I'm not 100% convinced that there's as much difference as is commonly believed.
I dream about u evey night
I shiver when ur in sight
I long to hold u close n tight
I wanna be there with all my might
I am just hoping I'm the girl whos right
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