One of the beautiful opportunities for communication and growth in the world of language is rooted in a great deal with a rich history. Language first evolved during the time of the modern homo sapiens around 50,000-150,000 years ago; since then, over 7,000 different languages have been spoken.
In the vast universe of languages, it is pretty standard for it to be full of exciting and fun facts to whip out whenever you are trying to impress your buddies, like the fact that the word ‘language’ itself comes from the Latin word ‘lingua’ meaning tongue.
In this blog, BrainsBrew has brought more exciting facts about languages that you’d be craving by now. So keep reading to learn more.
9. The longest word in the world
It is hard to believe, but ‘Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis’ is not just a word but also the world’s longest word. Even though it is tough to find a clear consensus on the official longest word in the world, this 45-letter word is undoubtedly top of the list.
If you are wondering about its meaning, it refers to a specific lung disease that a person may suffer from inhaling fine silica dust, primarily from a volcano.
8. You can find around 160 different English dialects
While it is impossible to gauge the exact total of the English dialects, as per the estimates, over 160 dialects are spoken worldwide. Although it is not always easy to discern when you first learn the language, native English speakers may often quickly understand the origin of their fellow countrymen when they hear the accent.
7. Russian is the topmost spoken language in Europe
It is not French, German, or Italian, but Russian, spoken widely in Europe. The reason is that Russia has a strong lead when discussing the common language in Europe. You can find about 120 million native speakers of Russian. German is the second most spoken language, with 95 million. However, one thing to note here is that German is still the most widely used language in commerce and trade.
6. Learning a second language boosts your brain
If you speak more than one language, it comes with a bunch of benefits. The top one is that it challenges your brain in ways that studies have shown could make you smarter. Does it make you ponder if you learn a different language? Well, it depends on you. But one thing for sure is that learning another language is a good challenge you can bring up yourself. The best part about it is that it slows down the brain’s aging process and keeps your mind sharper as your start growing old.
5. ‘Go’ is the shortest grammatically correct sentence
The English language is one of the proud winners of the award for the shortest grammatical right sentence. The command ‘Go!’ instructs a person to take action. Even though you do not write any subject here, spoken or written, the message is understandable.
4. The US has no official language
While English is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the US, it is quite a wonder that there’s no official language in the country. The US has more than 300 languages spoken, making it both linguistically and culturally diverse. It is not a wonder because it is quite tricky to appoint an official language.
3. William Shakespeare invented 1700 words
William Shakespeare came up with a large collection of novel terms on the subject of talking new words. He did this by combining changing nouns to verbs and then changing verbs to adjectives. After this, there is also a process of combining words, adding suffixes and prefixes, and just straight-up inventing brand-new ones.
2. English language has the most words
English is one of those languages that takes the cake in the category of 750,000 words, with new ones added all the time. About 5,400 new words are created annually. Although only about a thousand of these get to be incorporated into the general public’s vocabulary.
1. Chinese Mandarin is the hardest language in the world
When you consider that the Chinese Mandarin alphabet is made entirely of symbols, the fact is not much surprising. The average Chinese local is estimated to be familiar with over 3000 to be the minimum, and over 8000 can read the newspaper. There are also four tones for the pronunciation for the differentiation between words and most characters with the same sound.
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