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 |