what is the longest German word?

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mercalia
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what is the longest German word?

Post by mercalia »

I came across this monster

Fachkräftezuwanderungsgesetz
(skilled labour immigration law)

how on earth do they ever learn to spell such?
reohn2
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by reohn2 »

Haven't you been to Wales? :?
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

The longest train station name: Luebeck-Travemuende Skandinavienkai

One may devise ones own words, I do :wink:
Spelling is not so hard, takes a few years to learn mind, and a committee of experts changes the rules occasionally :wink:

The long words are just made of many short words joined together, simples

German allows triple letters too: *Schifffahrt* for example
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Fachkraeftezuwanderungsgesetzberatungsgremienzeitplan

Advisory committee timetable for skilled labour immigration law
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Syd
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by Syd »

Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

Association for Subordinate Officials of the Head Office Management of the Danube Steamboat Electrical Services
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Spinners
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by Spinners »

Superkalifragilistischexpiallegetisch.
Cycling UK Life Member
PBP Ancien (2007)
Cyril Haearn
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

reohn2 wrote:Haven't you been to Wales? :?

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychyweryndrobwlllllantisoliogogogoch
Or Llanfair PG :wink:
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Mike Sales
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by Mike Sales »

Cyril Haearn wrote:
reohn2 wrote:Haven't you been to Wales? :?

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychyweryndrobwlllllantisoliogogogoch
Or Llanfair PG :wink:

Surely that should be Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch ?
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
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661-Pete
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by 661-Pete »

Wiki offers the following monster in Polish:
Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmiliardówdziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmilionówdziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćtysięcydziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcioletniego
meaning "of 999,999,999,999 years old".
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
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661-Pete
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by 661-Pete »

Mike Sales wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:
reohn2 wrote:Haven't you been to Wales? :?

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychyweryndrobwlllllantisoliogogogoch
Or Llanfair PG :wink:

Surely that should be Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch ?

Both wrong. I have it as Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch.
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Mike_Ayling
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by Mike_Ayling »

Cyril Haearn wrote:The long words are just made of many short words joined together, simples



Exactly.

Mike
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Some human languages are agglutinating!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agglutinative_language

German shows some features but is not fully agglutinating.

Ps.
Finnish is agglutinating.

Flagrantly copied and pasted:-

(The longest known word in Finnish (and possibly in the whole world) is 103 letters long:

Kumarreksituteskenteleentuvaisehkollaismaisekkuudellisenneskenteluttelemattomammuuksissaansakaankopahan

As its creator, professor Artturi Kannisto, has died, nobody has been able to actually interpret its meaning -- or even tell how many morphemes there are in it. However, it is definitely a real word.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Ag ... e_language

------
I'll get me coat.
drossall
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by drossall »

I hadn't come across the term agglutinative, but German has a high tendency to create compound words, of which Syd and Cyril Haearn have given examples. By contrast, English is traditionally reluctant to do so, although it has done so much more easily over the last couple of decades.

I've always assumed that this made a discussion of longest words in German less meaningful than one in English, because German can always join a couple more words into a longer compound. Compounds are usually excluded from longest words in English. Although antidisestablishmentarianism (which isn't the longest anyway) is often considered, it's more than a compound because it signifies specific opposition to disestablishmentarianism.

The difference being that real compound words don't have any independent existence and can't be found in dictionaries. You just have a set of rules under which you're allowed to join shorter words together when the combination of them expresses what you want to say. So, you can't define a longest word, because it's simply constructed at need.

That's my 2p anyway :D
Cyril Haearn
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Another queer thing about German is that the verb often comes at the end of a sentence, usually one can guess it, mind

Mrs Thatcher was at a conference where Helmut Kohl was speaking. 'The Pear' droned one for a while, the translator was silent
-'What's he saying!?' demanded the Iron Lady
-'Patience Madam, I am waiting for the verb! '

Welsh is the other way, often the verb is the first word in a sentence, or there is no verb :wink:
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Re: what is the longest German word?

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Cyril Haearn wrote:
Welsh is the other way, often the verb is the first word in a sentence, or there is no verb :wink:


It is my understanding that without a verb it is never a full sentence!
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