http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=89 A Blog about Words and Language(s) from alphaDictionary.com Tue, 21 May 2013 19:53:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.6 http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=89&cpage=1#comment-4357 Dr. Goodword’s Language Blog » Blog Archive » Yet Again on ‘How Many Words?’ Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:29:31 +0000 http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=89#comment-4357 [...] Last week I discussed the impossibility of even estimating the number of words in a language. Today I discovered an old (1998) CBC News article on the longest dictionary every written (click here) Consisisting of 40 volumes, it took 147 years to compile, edit, proof-read, and publish. It documents Dutch and Flemish (a dialect of Dutch) words dating back to 1500. By the time it was finished, it was already 29 years out of date. [...] [...] Last week I discussed the impossibility of even estimating the number of words in a language. Today I discovered an old (1998) CBC News article on the longest dictionary every written (click here) Consisisting of 40 volumes, it took 147 years to compile, edit, proof-read, and publish. It documents Dutch and Flemish (a dialect of Dutch) words dating back to 1500. By the time it was finished, it was already 29 years out of date. [...]

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