longest words

{{Short description|Longest words in various languages}}

{{redirect|Longest word|the longest English word|Longest word in English}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}

The longest word in any given language depends on the word formation rules of each specific language, and on the types of words allowed for consideration.

Agglutinative languages allow for the creation of long words via compounding. Words consisting of hundreds, or even thousands of characters have been coined. Even non-agglutinative languages may allow word formation of theoretically limitless length in certain contexts. An example common to many languages is the term for a very remote ancestor, "great-great-.....-grandfather", where the prefix "great-" may be repeated any number of times. The examples of "longest words" within the "Agglutinative languages" section may be nowhere near close to the longest possible word in said language, instead a popular example of a text-heavy word.

Systematic names of chemical compounds can run to hundreds of thousands of characters in length. The rules of creation of such names are commonly defined by international bodies, therefore they formally belong to many languages. The longest recognized systematic name is for the protein titin, at 189,819 letters.{{cite web | url = http://www.sarahmcculloch.com/luminary-uprise/2009/longest-word/ | title = Longest word in English | vauthors = McCulloch S | work = Sarah McCulloch.com | date = December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114221953/http://www.sarahmcculloch.com/luminaryuprise/longest-word.html |archive-date=14 January 2010 | access-date = 12 October 2016 }} While lexicographers regard generic names of chemical compounds as verbal formulae rather than words,{{cite web | author = Oxford Word and Language Service team | title = Ask the experts – What is the longest English word? | publisher = AskOxford.com / Oxford University Press | url = http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword | access-date = 13 January 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080913173417/http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword | archive-date = 13 September 2008 | url-status = dead}} for its sheer length the systematic name for titin is often included in longest-word lists.

Longest word candidates may be judged by their acceptance in major dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary or in record-keeping publications like Guinness World Records, and by the frequency of their use in ordinary language.

Agglutinative and polysynthetic languages

= Azerbaijani =

In Azerbaijani, which is an agglutinative language, there is theoretically no limit on word compounding.A. Babayev "Azərbaycan dili və nitq mədəniyyəti", Bakı, "Elm və Təhsil", 2008
An example is the 42-letter word {{lang|az|Elektrikləşdirdiklərimizdənsinizmişcəsinə}}; {{IPA|az|elektɾiklæʃdiɾdiklæɾimizˈdænsinizmiʃdʒæsinæ|pron|LL-Q9292 (aze)-Slowcuber7-elektrikləşdirdiklərimizdənsinizmişcəsinə.wav}}, which translates to "As if you were from those ones we have electrified".


There is a shorter more well-known 32-long word, which is a tongue twister, too — {{lang|az|Elektrikləşdirilmişlərdənsinizmi?}}; {{IPA|az|elektɾiklæʃdiɾilmiʃlæɾˈdænsinizmi|pron|LL-Q9292 (aze)-Slowcuber7-elektrikləşdirilmişlərdənsinizmi.wav}} meaning "Are you from the ones who are electrified?".

{{Cite web

|title=Kitab Facebook Post

|url=https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1714622831895927&id=246677182023840

|date=January 30, 2018

|access-date=October 20, 2024

|website=Facebook}}

{{Cite web

|title=Maraqlı Melumatlar Facebook Post

|url=https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=423472861022718&id=100067765714238

|date=August 2, 2012

|access-date=November 7, 2024

|website=Facebook}}

{{Cite web

|title=loddard's Sözaltı post

|url=https://soz6.com/entry/197088

|date=February 5, 2016

|access-date=November 7, 2024

|website=Sözaltı}}

== Word formation ==

class="wikitable" style="margin-right:auto;font-size:95%"

!Azerbaijani !! English

{{lang|az|Elektrik}}Electric
{{lang|az|Elektrik}}{{lang|az|ləş}}(To) get electrified
{{lang|az|Elektrikləş}}{{lang|az|dir}}(To) electrify
{{lang|az|Elektrikləşdir}}{{lang|az|dik}}We have electrified
{{lang|az|Elektrikləşdirdik}}{{lang|az|lərimiz}}The ones we have electrified
{{lang|az|Elektrikləşdirdiklərimiz}}{{lang|az|dən}}From the ones we have electrified
{{lang|az|Elektrikləşdirdiklərimizdən}}{{lang|az|siniz}}You are from the ones we have electrified
{{lang|az|Elektrikləşdirdiklərimizdənsiniz}}{{lang|az|miş}}You were from the ones we have electrified
{{lang|az|Elektrikləşdirdiklərimizdənsinizmiş}}{{lang|az|cəsinə}}As if you were from the ones we have electrified

= Basque =

The longest Basque toponym is {{lang|eu|Azpilicuetagaraicosaroyarenberecolarrea}} (40) which means "The lower field of the sheepfold (located in) the hight of Azpilicueta".{{in lang|eu}} Iñaki Arranz, Hitza azti, Alberdania, 2006, 283 pages. (Zein da euskal hitzik luzeena?)

= Esperanto =

Since Esperanto allows word compounding, there are no limits on how long a word can theoretically become. An example is the 39-letter word {{lang|eo|oranĝ-kanton-pafil-limig-aktivul-malamanto}}, meaning "Orange County gun control activist hater". Such clusters are not considered good style (the 8-word alternative {{lang|eo|oranĝkantona malamanto de aktivuloj por limigo de pafiloj}} is more standard), but they are permissible under the rules of Esperanto grammar.{{cite book |last=Jordan |first=David K. |author-link=David K. Jordan |date=1999-07-01 |title=Being colloquial in Esperanto: a reference guide |url=http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/eo/colloq/colloq040.html |publisher=Esperanto League for North Amer |chapter=Chapter 4 (Part 1): Nouns |chapter-url=http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/eo/colloq/colloq040.html#sec4-1-3 |isbn=9780939785049 |quote=The last, "silly" line is the same as the "wrong" one, but it is technically possible because it is a single noun.}} Hyphens are optional in Esperanto compounds,{{cite web|title=PMEG – Precizigaj antaŭelementoj – Kombinoj el kombinoj|url=https://bertilow.com/pmeg/vortfarado/principoj/antauelementoj.html#i-r67|website=Plena Manlibro de Esperanta Gramatiko|last=Wennergren|first=Bertilo|author-link=Bertilo Wennergren|access-date=2022-03-07}} so {{lang|eo|{{shy|oranĝ|kanton|pafil|limig|aktivul|malamanto}}}} is also technically a valid spelling.

Disregarding compounding, conjugation, and affixes, the longest Esperanto word formally recognized by the Akademio de Esperanto is the 15-letter proper noun {{lang|eo|Konstantinopolo}} (Constantinople). The next longest recognized words are the following 13-letter words:

  • {{lang|eo|administracio}} (administration),
  • {{lang|eo|aŭtobiografio}} (autobiography),
  • {{lang|eo|diskriminacio}} (discrimination),
  • {{lang|eo|konservatorio}} (conservatory),
  • {{lang|eo|paleontologio}} (palaeontology),
  • {{lang|eo|paralelogramo}} (parallelogram), and
  • {{lang|eo|trigonometrio}} (trigonometry).{{cite web|url=https://www.akademio-de-esperanto.org/akademia_vortaro/index.html|title=Akademia Vortaro|work=Akademio de Esperanto|access-date=22 September 2024}}

The longest word found in the dictionary Plena Ilustrita Vortaro as of its 2020 edition is the 24-letter proper noun {{lang|eo|Meklenburgio-Antaŭpomerio}} (the German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), followed by the 21-letter word {{lang|eo|{{shy|proviant|administracio}}}} (rations administration).

As of April 2024, the longest word found in the Tekstaro de Esperanto text corpus is the 66-letter word {{lang|eo|unue-volapukista-poste-esperantista-poste-idista-poste-denove-esperantista}}, meaning "first-volapukist-then-esperantist-then-idist-then-again-esperantist", which was used in a review published in Monato in 1997 to describe František Lorenz.{{cite magazine|url=https://esperanto.be/fel/mon/rec/blrf.html|title=Bontone pri la bretona|author=Gonçalo Neves|magazine=Monato|date=1997|access-date=2022-03-07}} However, this word does not follow normal Esperanto word formation rules. Other long words found in Tekstaro de Esperanto that follow regular word formation include:

  • {{lang|eo|sescent-kvindek-mil-kvadratkilometra}} (consisting of 650 000 square kilometers), 33 letters, used in an Esperanto version of a 2011 article by Marc Lavergne in Le Monde diplomatique,
  • {{lang|eo|tragedio-komedio-historio-pastoraloj}} (tragical-comical-historical-pastorals), 33 letters, used in L. L. Zamenhof's 1893 translation of Hamlet,
  • {{lang|eo|Nord-Atlantik-Traktad-Organizo}} (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), 27 letters, more commonly translated with two words: {{lang|eo|Nord-Atlantika Traktat-Organiz(aĵ)o}}.

= Estonian =

  • {{lang|et|Sünnipäevanädalalõpupeopärastlõunaväsimatus}} meaning "afternoon untiredness of a birthday week graduation party" which is 43 letters.{{Cite web |last=UusWeb.ee |title=Naljakad ja humoorikad sünnipäeva luuletused ja salmid |url=https://www.pistik.net/luuletused/naljakad-sunnipaeva-luuletused |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Meelelahutus - Pistik.net |language=et}}
  • 31 lettered word of {{lang|et|uusaastaöövastuvõtuhommikuidüll}} [uːsɑːstaøːvastuvɤtuhomikuidyl] meaning "morning idyll after the new year".{{Cite web|url=https://lingvo.info/en/lingvopedia/estonian|title=Estonian / Lingvopedia :: lingvo.info|website=lingvo.info|access-date=20 April 2020}}
  • There is also the 25 letter long word of {{lang|et|põllumajandusministeerium}} which is "Ministry of Agriculture".{{Cite web |title=Avaleht {{!}} Regionaal- ja Põllumajandusministeerium |url=https://www.agri.ee/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=www.agri.ee}}
  • The word {{lang|et|kuulilennuteetunneliluuk}} meaning "the hatch a bullet flies out of when exiting a tunnel" is 24 letters long and a palindrome. It could be one of the longest palindromes.{{Cite web |last=ERR |first=Moonika Oll {{!}} |date=2015-03-13 |title=The quirky side of the Estonian language |url=https://news.err.ee/115401/the-quirky-side-of-the-estonian-language |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=ERR |language=en}}

= Finnish =

Examples of long words that have been in everyday use in the Finnish language are {{lang|fi|kolmivaihekilowattituntimittari}} which means "three-phase kilowatt hour meter" (31 letters), {{lang|fi|liikekannallepanotarkastuskierros}} ("mobilization inspection round", 33 letters),Appears on page 97 in Laaksonen, Lasse: Viina, hermot ja rangaistukset - sotilasjohdon henkilökohtaiset ongelmat 1918-1945. Docendo, Helsinki 2017. {{lang|fi|peruspalveluliikelaitoskuntayhtymä}} ("a public utility of a municipal federation for provision of basic services", 34 letters),{{cite web|url=http://www.llky.fi/|title=Suupohjan peruspalveluliikelaitoskuntayhtymä – LLKY|work=llky.fi}} and {{lang|fi|lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas}} "airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student" (61 letters), an actual military term, although one which has been deprecated. The longest military term in current use is {{lang|fi|vastatykistömaalinosoitustutkakalustojärjestelmäinsinöörierikoisupseeri}} "counter-artillery targeting radar systems engineer specialist officer" with 71 characters, with 2 more if grammatically incorrect extra hyphens added for readability are counted.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} If conjugated forms are allowed, even longer real words can be made. Allowing derivatives and clitics allows the already lengthy word to grow even longer, although the usability of the word starts to degrade. Because Finnish uses free forming of composite words, new words can even be formed during a conversation. One can add nouns after each other without breaking grammar rules.

If one allows artificial constructs as well as using clitics and conjugated forms, one can create even longer words: such as {{lang|fi|kumarreksituteskenteleentuvaisehkollaismaisekkuudellisennesk-

enteluttelemattomammuuksissansakaankopahan}} (102 letters), which was created by Artturi Kannisto.Karilas, Yrjö: Antero Vipunen, arvoitusten ja ongelmien, leikkien ja pelien sekä eri harrastelualojen pikkujättiläinen, p. 226, 20th edition. WSOY 2003. {{ISBN|9510121770}}

The longest non-compound (a single stem with prefixes and suffixes) Finnish word recognised by the Guinness Book of Records is {{lang|fi|epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellänsäkäänköhänkään}} (see also Agglutination#Extremes), based on the stem {{lang|fi|järki}} (reason, sanity), and it means: "I wonder if – even with his/her quality of not having been made unsystematized".

{{lang|fi|Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä}} and a defunct bar named after it, {{lang|fi|Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi-baari}}, are the longest place names in use.

= Greenlandic =

The longest word in Greenlandic is {{lang|kl|Nalunaarasuartaateeraaranngualioqatigiiffissualioriataallaqqissupilorujussuanngortartuinnakasinngortinniamisa

alinnguatsiaraluallaqqooqigaminngamiaasiinngooq}}, which has 156 letters. The rough translation of this word is: "There were reports that they apparently – God knows for how many times – once again had considered whatever I, my poor condition despite, still could be considered to be quite adept and resourceful as initiator to put a consortium together for the establishment of a range of tiny radio stations."{{cite web | url=https://guidetogreenland.com/travel-blogs/lasse-kyed/the-longest-word-in-the-greenlandic-language/ | title=The longest word in the Greenlandic language | date=12 June 2020 }} The word is a tongue twister that forms an entire sentence, rather than being a word or phrase commonly heard in Greenland.

{{lang|kl|Inuussutissarsiorsinnaajunnaarnersiutilik}}, consisting of 41 letters, is the longest singular word in the Greenlandic dictionary.

= Hungarian =

{{lang|hu|Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért}}, with 44 letters, is the longest word in the Hungarian language, and approximately means "for your [plural] continued behaviour as if you could not be desecrated". It is already morphed, since Hungarian is an agglutinative language.

The Hungarian language has many causes for writing words together, but there are a few rules for avoiding undisciplined length, resulting in unreadability.

Words with less than six syllables can be written in one. Agglutinated words have to be separated by one dash, if they are more than six syllables altogether. If there are more than two words that are already written with a dash and more are needed, a new dash must be used to add it (like {{lang|hu|C-vitamin-adagolás}}, meaning "Vitamin C rationing"). If there would be two long words to be written, they are advised to be used separately (possible: {{lang|hu|békeszerződéstervezet-kidolgozás}} meaning "peace agreement plan elaboration", but advised rather {{lang|hu|a békeszerződés tervezetének kidolgozása}} meaning "the elaboration of the plan of the peace agreement").

139. point [

https://helyesiras.mta.hu/helyesiras/default/akh12] in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences: Rules of Hungarian Orthography

The longest dictionary form word is the word {{lang|hu|megszentségtelenített}}, with 21 characters (although it ultimately derives from the word {{lang|hu|szent}} meaning: "saint" or "sacred"), and it means "desecrated" or "profaned".See at the end of the entry [https://www.arcanum.hu/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Lexikonok-a-magyar-nyelv-ertelmezo-szotara-1BE8B/m-3C77D/megszentsegtelenit-3E9D8/ megszentségtelenít] in a monolingual dictionary of Hungarian

= Indonesian =

Indonesian belongs to the Austronesian language family. According to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, the longest word in the language is {{lang|id|mentransmigrasilokalkan}},{{Cite web |title=Arti kata transmigrasi lokal - Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Online |url=https://kbbi.web.id/transmigrasi%20lokal |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=kbbi.web.id}}{{Cite web |title=Hasil Pencarian - KBBI VI Daring |url=https://kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id/entri/mentransmigrasilokalkan |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id}} which is 23 letters long, meaning "conducting transmigration within the boundaries of a single region or area" in English, as well as {{lang|id|heksakosioiheksekontaheksafobia}}, a 30-letter-long word meaning "hexacosioihexecontahexaphobia" in English.{{cite web|url=https://www.detik.com/edu/detikpedia/d-6344492/ini-3-kata-terpanjang-dalam-kbbi-kamu-bisa-mengucapkannya|title= 3 kata terpanjang dalam KBBI}}

= Korean =

There is some disagreement about what is the longest word in the Korean language, which arises from a misunderstanding of the Korean language. All of these examples below contain spaces in Hangul and do not qualify as a single word.

The longest word appearing in the Standard Korean Dictionary published by the National Institute of the Korean Language is {{lang|ko|청자 양인각 연당초상감 모란 문은구 대접}} ({{lang|ko|靑瓷陽印刻蓮唐草象嵌牡丹文銀釦대접}}); Revised Romanization: {{Transliteration|ko|cheongjayang-in-gakyeondangchosang-gammoranmuneun-gudaejeop}}, which is a kind of ceramic bowl from the Goryeo dynasty; that word is 17 syllable blocks long, and contains a total of 46 hangul letters.{{cite book|chapter-url=http://krdic.naver.com/detail.nhn?docid=37415500|chapter=청자양인각연당초상감모란문은구대접|title=Naver Dictionary|access-date=6 August 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://money.joins.com/news/article/article.asp?total_id=11709502&ctg=1200|title=독일에서 가장 긴 단어 사라진다|trans-title=Longest word in Germany disappears|work=JoongAng Ilbo|date=4 June 2013|access-date=6 August 2015}} {{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} However, to call this a word would be incorrect. It simply consists of many words that act as adjectives for the one word {{lang|ko|대접}}.

The word {{lang|ko|니코틴아마이드 아데닌 다이뉴클레오타이드}} ({{Transliteration|ko|nikotin-amaideu adenin dainyukeulle-otaideu}}), a phonetic transcription of "nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide", has a larger number of syllable blocks (19) but a smaller number of letters (41). It does not qualify as a single word.

In proper nouns, many Korean monarchs have overly long posthumous names built from many different Sino-Korean nouns describing their positive characteristics, for example Sunjo of Joseon, whose full posthumous name is the 77-syllable-block {{lang|ko|순조 선각 연덕현도 경인순희 체성응명흠광석경계천배극융원돈휴의행소윤희화준렬대중지정 홍훈철 모건시태형창 운홍기고명박후강건수정계통수력 공유범문안무정영경 성효대왕}} ({{Transliteration|ko|sunjoseongag-yeondeoghyeondogyeong-insunhuicheseong-eungmyeongheumgwangseoggyeong-gyecheonbaegeug-yung-wondonhyuuihaengsoyunhuihwa-junlyeoldaejungjijeonghonghuncheolmogeonsitaehy-eongchang-unhong-gigomyeongbaghugang-geonsujeong-gyetongsulyeoggong-yubeommun-anmujeong-yeong-gyeongseonghyodaewang}}).{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} This is simply writing the phrase in Hanja (Hanzi) {{lang|ko|純祖先覺淵德顯道景仁純禧體聖凝命欽光錫慶繼天配極隆元敦休懿行昭倫熙化峻烈大中至正洪勳哲謨乾始泰亨昌運弘基高明博厚剛健粹精啓統垂曆建功裕範文安武靖英敬成孝肅皇帝}}, being transliterate in Hangul. It is not a single word and does not qualify as a lexical entry.

= Malay =

Malay, just like Indonesian, is an agglutinative language (at least in the formal language) and it belongs to the Austronesian language family. The longest word in Malay is {{lang|ms|mempertanggungjawabkan}}, which is 22 letters long, meaning "take responsibility" in English.

= Mongolian =

A popular example of the longest suffixed word in Mongolian is "{{lang|mn|Цахилгаанжуулалтыхантайгаа}}" ({{Transliteration|mn|tsakhilgaanjuulaltykhantaigaa}}) which is 26 letters long. Here is a table showing, with translations, which suffixes are added.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}

class="wikitable"

!Word

!Translation

{{lang|mn|Цахилгаан}}

|electricity (power)

{{lang|mn|Цахилгаан}}{{lang|mn|жуул}}

|electrify

{{lang|mn|Цахилгаанжуул}}{{lang|mn|алт}}

|electrification

{{lang|mn|Цахилгаанжуулалт}}{{lang|mn|ын}}

|electrifications

{{lang|mn|Цахилгаанжуулалты}}{{lang|mn|ха}}н

|electricians

{{lang|mn|Цахилгаанжуулалтыхан}}{{lang|mn|тай}}

|with electricians

{{lang|mn|Цахилгаанжуулалтыхантай}}{{lang|mn|гаа}}

|do (action) with electricians

= Ojibwe =

The longest word in the Ojibwe language is {{lang|oj|miinibaashkiminasiganibiitoosijiganibadagwiingweshiganibakwezhigan}} (66 letters), meaning "blueberry pie". This literally translates to "blueberry cooked to jellied preserve that lies in layers in which the face is covered in bread".[http://anishinaabemodaa.com/lessons?category_id=17 "Grammar Pro"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213060156/http://anishinaabemodaa.com/lessons?category_id=17 |date=13 December 2017 }}, a page of the collaborative Anishinaabe language revitalization effort

= Tagalog =

Tagalog can make long words by adding on affixes, suffixes, and other root words with a connector.

The longest published word in the language is {{lang|tl|pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-pagsisinungasinungalingan}}, with 59 letters. This compound word means "to keep making up a lie that causes the most extreme anger while pretending you are not."{{Cite news|url=https://www.tagaloglang.com/pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-pagsisinungasinungalingan/|title=Pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-Pagsisinungasinungalingan |date=30 December 2015|work=TAGALOG LANG|access-date=25 April 2018|language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210708123541/https://www.tagaloglang.com/pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-pagsisinungasinungalingan/ |archive-date= 8 July 2021 }}

= Turkish =

{{Main|Longest word in Turkish}}

Turkish, an agglutinative language, carries the potential for words of arbitrary length.

{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine}}, at 70 letters, has been cited as the longest Turkish word. It was used in a contrived story designed to use this word.{{Cite web|url=https://www.yenimesaj.com.tr/index.php?haberno=8001752&tarih=2008-03-08|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718172642/http://www.yenimesaj.com.tr/index.php?haberno=8001752&tarih=2008-03-08|url-status = dead|title= Mehmet'le Fatma'yı geçen yok |archivedate=18 July 2011|website=Yeni Mesaj }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.papatyam.org/index.php?topic=1833.0;wap|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727163116/http://www.papatyam.org/index.php?topic=1833.0;wap|url-status = dead|title=Türkçeni̇n Rekorlari |archivedate=27 July 2011|website=Papatyam Forum }} The word means "As if you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones" and its usage was illustrated as follows:

{{lang|tr|Kötü amaçların güdüldüğü bir öğretmen okulundayız. Yetiştirilen öğretmenlere öğrencileri nasıl}} {{lang|tr|muvaffakiyetsizleştir}}{{lang|tr|ecekleri öğretiliyor. Yani öğretmenler birer}} {{lang|tr|muvaffakiyetsizleştirici}} {{lang|tr|olarak yetiştiriliyorlar. Fakat öğretmenlerden biri}} {{lang|tr|muvaffakiyetsizleştirici}} {{lang|tr|olmayı, yani}} {{lang|tr|muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştirilme}}{{lang|tr|yi reddediyor, bu konuda ileri geri konuşuyor. Bütün öğretmenleri kolayca}} {{lang|tr|muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriverebileceğ}}{{lang|tr|ini sanan okul müdürü bu duruma sinirleniyor, ve söz konusu öğretmeni makamına çağırıp ona diyor ki:}} {{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine}} {{lang|tr|laflar ediyormuşsunuz ha?}}

We are in a teachers' training school that has evil purposes. The teachers who are being educated in that school are being taught how to make unsuccessful ones from students. So, one by one, teachers are being educated as makers of unsuccessful ones. However, one of those teachers refuses to be maker of unsuccessful ones, in other words, to be made a maker of unsuccessful ones; he talks about and criticizes the school's stand on the issue. The headmaster who thinks every teacher can be made easily/quickly into a maker of unsuccessful ones gets angry. He invites the teacher to his room and says "You are talking as if you were one of those we can not easily/quickly turn into a maker of unsuccessful ones, huh?"

Other well-known very long Turkish words are:{{Cite web|url=https://nasil.yazilir.com/cekoslavakyalilastiramadiklarimizdan-misiniz/|title=Çekoslavakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdan mısınız? TDK'ye Göre Doğru Yazılışı – Çekoslavakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdan mısınız? Doğru Yazımı Nasıldır?|website=nasil.yazilir.com|date=23 December 2016}}

  • {{lang|tr|Çekoslovakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdanmışsınızcasına}} means "As if you are one of those people whom we could not turn into a Czechoslovakian".
  • {{lang|tr|Afyonkarahisarlılaştırabildiklerimizdenmişsinizcesine}} means "As if you are one of the people that we made resemble from Afyonkarahisar". (Afyonkarahisar is a city in Turkey.)

== Word formation ==

class="wikitable" style="margin-right:auto;font-size:95%"

!Turkish !! English

{{lang|tr|Muvaffak}}Successful
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyet}}Success
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyet}}{{lang|tr|siz}}Unsuccessful ({{'}}without success')
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsiz}}{{lang|tr|leş}}({{lang|tr
mek}})(To) become unsuccessful
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleş}}{{lang|tr|tir}}({{lang|tr
mek}})(To) make one unsuccessful
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiri}}{{lang|tr|ci}}Maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştirici}}{{lang|tr|leş}}({{lang|tr
mek}})(To) become a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileş}}{{lang|tr|tir}}({{lang|tr
mek}})(To) make one a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiri}}{{lang|tr|ver}}(-)(To) easily/quickly make one a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştirivere}}{{lang|tr|bil}}({{lang|tr
mek}})(To) be able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştirivere}}{{lang|tr|meye}}{{lang|tr|bil}}({{lang|tr
mek}})To be able to not make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebil}}{{lang|tr|ecek}}One who is not able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebilecek}}{{lang|tr|ler}}Those who are not able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebilecekleri}}{{lang|tr|miz}}Those whom we cannot make easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimiz}}{{lang|tr|den}}From those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizden}}{{lang|tr|miş}}(Would be) from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmiş}}{{lang|tr|siniz}}You would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones
{{lang|tr|Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsiniz}}{{lang|tr|cesine}}As if you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones

Fusional, analytic, and isolating languages

= Afrikaans =

Afrikaans, as it is a daughter language of the Dutch language, is capable of forming compounds of potentially limitless length in the same way as in the Dutch language. According to the Total Book of South African Records, the longest word in the language is{{cite book|last=Rosenthal|first=Eric|title=Total Book of South African records|year=1982|publisher=Delta Books|isbn=0-908387-19-9|page=61|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_QMAQAAIAAJ&q=editions:ISBN0908387199}}

{{lang|af|{{shy|Tweedehandse|motor|verkoops|manne|vakbond|stakings|vergadering|sameroepers|toespraak|skrywers|pers|verklaring|uitreikings|media|konferensie|aankondiging}}}} (136 letters), which means "issuable media conference's announcement at a press release regarding the convener's speech at a secondhand car dealership union's strike meeting". This word, however, is contrived to be long and does not occur in everyday speech or writing.

= Arabic =

Currently, the longest word in Arabic is the 16-letter-long word {{lang|ar|أَفَإِستَسقَينَاكُمُوهما}}.{{cite book |last1=الكاش |first1=علي |title=الصوفية والصفوية، خصائص وأهداف مشتركة |date=9 January 2021 |publisher=البُرهان |page=195 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=260jBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 }} Which means "Did we ask you to let us drink them both?" However, according to some online sources the 20-letter-long word {{lang|ar|أَفَيَسْتَكْتِبونَكُمانيهِما}} is the longest word in Arabic meaning "Are they forcing you to write both of them?". Regardless, official sources supporting such a stance cannot be found.

= Bulgarian =

The Bulgarian online etymological dictionary claims that longest word in Bulgarian to be the 39-letter-long {{lang|bg|непротивоконституционствувателствувайте}} ({{Transliteration|bg|neprotivokonstitutsionstvuvatelstvuvayte}}), introduced in the Constitution of Bulgaria of 1947 (Dimitrov Constitution).{{cite web|url=http://rechnik.info/%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%83%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D1%83%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D1%83%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82%D0%B5|title=непротивоконституционствувателствувайте|publisher=rechnik.info|access-date=28 October 2013}} The word means "do not perform actions against the constitution" (addressed to more than one person).

=Catalan=

The longest word in Catalan is considered to be {{lang|ca|Anticonstitucionalment}}, an adverb meaning "[done in a way that is] against the constitution", however, the scientific word {{lang|ca|Psiconeuroimmunoendocrinologia}}, related to endocrinology, has been proposed by the University of Barcelona to be the true longest word.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ub.edu/vocabularia/archives/3214|title=Psiconeuroimmunoendocrinologia: la paraula més llarga de la UB? – Vocabulària|website=www.ub.edu|language=ca|access-date=18 November 2017}}

=Croatian=

The longest known word in Croatian is {{lang|hr|prijestolonasljednikovičičinima}},[http://www.dalmacijanews.hr/clanak/pt8e-jeste-li-znali-da-najdulja-hrvatska-rijec-ima-31-slovo Jeste li znali da najdulja hrvatska riječ ima 31 slovo?], Dalmacija News, 22 February 2014. meaning "to those who belong to the throne successor's little wife." The 30-letter word ("lj" is considered as one letter in Croatian) is the dative case of {{lang|hr|prijestolonasljednikovičica}} "the throne successor's little wife" which is the diminutive of {{lang|hr|prijestolonasljednikovica}} "the throne successor's wife."

= Czech =

Traditionally, the word {{lang|cs|nejneobhospodařovávatelnějšími}} ("of the least cultivable", 28 letters) is considered as the longest Czech word, but there are some longer artificial words. Most of them are compound adjectives in dative, instrumental or other grammatical case and derived from the iterative or frequentative verbal form or the ability adjective form (like "-able").

  • {{lang|cs|Nejnezdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnějšími}} (47; Instrumental case of the ones least multipliable by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis)
  • {{lang|cs|Nejnezdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější}} (Those who are the least multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
  • {{lang|cs|Nejzdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější}} (Those who are the most multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
  • {{lang|cs|Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější}} (Those who are more multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
  • {{lang|cs|Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelní}} (Those who are multiplable by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis)
  • {{lang|cs|Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávat}} (Alternative of "multiply out by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis")
  • {{lang|cs|Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovat}} (Multiply out by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis — continuous grammatical aspect)
  • {{lang|cs|Zdevětadevadesáteroznásobovat}} (Multiply by ninety-nine on a regular basis – continuous grammatical aspect)
  • {{lang|cs|Zdevětadevadesáteroznásobit}} (Multiply by a group of ninety-nine once)
  • {{lang|cs|Zdevětadevadesáteronásobit}} (Multiply by a group of ninety-nine)
  • {{lang|cs|Devětadevadesátero}} (A group of ninety-nine)
  • {{lang|cs|Devětadevadesát}} (Inverse of {{lang|cs|devadesát devět}} = ninety-nine)

= Danish =

Danish, like many Germanic languages, is capable of compounding words to create ad hoc compounds of potentially limitless length. Nevertheless, the constructed word {{lang|da|{{shy|special|læge|praksis|planlægnings|stabiliserings|periode}}}} – which means "a period of stabilising the planning of a specialist doctor's practice" – was cited in 1993 by the Danish version of the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest word in the Danish language at 51 letters long. It is however not possible (using Google) to find a text, which actually uses this word, except for in the context of discussing the longest Danish word.

= Dutch =

Dutch, like many Germanic languages, is capable of forming compounds of potentially limitless length. The 49-letter word {{lang|nl|{{shy|Kinder|carnavals|optocht|voorbereidings|werkzaamheden}}}}, meaning "preparation activities plan for a children's carnival procession", was cited by the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest Dutch word.{{cite web|url=http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/oddities/words11.html|title=A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia|publisher=francesfarmersrevenge.com|access-date=7 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427085234/http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/oddities/words11.html|archive-date=27 April 2009}}

The longest word in the authoritative Van Dale Dutch dictionary (2009 edition) in plural form is {{lang|nl|{{shy|meervoudige|persoonlijkheids|stoornissen}}}};{{cite web|url=http://levenslangleren.be/taal.php/wat-is-het-langste-woord-in-het-nederlands|title=Wat is het langste woord in het Nederlands|work=levenslangleren.be}} 38 letters long, meaning "multiple personality disorders". The entry in the dictionary however is in the singular, counting 35 letters.

The free {{lang|nl|OpenTaal}} dictionary,{{cite web|url=http://www.opentaal.org|title=Welkom bij OpenTaal|work=opentaal.org}} which has been certified by the Dutch Language Union (the official Dutch language institute) and is included in many open-source applications, contains the following longest words, which are 40 letters long:

  • {{lang|nl|{{shy|vervoerders|aansprakelijkheids|verzekering}}}}, "carriers' liability insurance";
  • {{lang|nl|{{shy|bestuurders|aansprakelijkheids|verzekering}}}}, "drivers' liability insurance";
  • {{lang|nl|{{shy|overeenstemmings|beoordelings|procedures}}}}, "conformity assessment procedures" (38 letters)

The word often said to be the longest in Dutch – probably because of its funny meaning and alliteration – which has also appeared in print, is {{lang|nl|{{shy|Hottentotten|soldaten|tenten|tentoonstellings|bouwterrein}}}} ("construction ground for the Hottentot soldiers' tents exhibition"); counting 53 letters.

= English =

{{Main|Longest word in English}}

The 45-letter word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest English word that appears in a major dictionary.{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis| title={{shy|pneumono|ultra|microscopic|silico|volcano|coni|osis}} definition |publisher=reference.com|access-date=7 March 2009}} Originally coined to become a candidate for the longest word in English, the term eventually developed some independent use in medicine.{{cite web|url=http://www.pathology.med.ohio-state.edu/pews/glossary/DisplayGlossaryImage.aspx?Keyword=PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS|title={{shy|PNEUMONO|ULTRA|MICROSCOPIC|SILICO|VOLCANO|CONI|OSIS}}|publisher=pathology.med.ohio-state.edu|access-date=7 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608004303/http://www.pathology.med.ohio-state.edu/pews/glossary/DisplayGlossaryImage.aspx?Keyword=PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS|archive-date=8 June 2009}} It is referred to as "P45" by researchers.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A24833397|title=BBC – h2g2 – {{shy|Pneumono|ultra|microscopic|silico|volcano|coni|osis}} – The Longest Word|date=6 August 2007 |publisher=BBC |access-date=7 March 2009}}

The 30-letter word pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism refers to an inherited disorder,{{Cite web |title=Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism {{!}} Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD) – an NCATS Program |url=https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/7860/pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism |access-date=2017-01-31 |website=rarediseases.info.nih.gov |language=en}} named for its similarity to pseudohypoparathyroidism in presentation, which is in turn named for its similarity to hypoparathyroidism. This is the longest word that was not contrived with the sole intention of becoming the longest word.{{cite web |title=What is the longest English word? |url=http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022192048/http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword |archive-date=2008-10-22 |access-date=2010-08-22 |publisher=AskOxford}}

wiktionary:floccinaucinihilipilification, at 29 letters and meaning the act of estimating something as being worth so little as to be practically valueless, or the habit of doing so, is the longest non-technical, coined word in Oxford Dictionaries of the English language.

Antidisestablishmentarianism (word), at 28 letters, is the longest non-coined, non-systematic English word in Oxford Dictionaries.[https://web.archive.org/web/20170106011750/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/what-is-the-longest-english-word "What is the longest English word?"] (oxforddictionaries.com) It refers to a 19th-century political movement that opposed the disestablishment of the Church of England as the state church of England.

=French=

{{main|Longest word in French}}The longest word, hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobie (36 letters) is the fear (or phobia) of long words. The word is formed from the Latin word sesquipedalia (singular sesquipedalis), which the Ancient Roman poet Horace used in Ars Poetica to describe excessively long words; literally, it means "a foot-and-a-half long".

Like the other phobias in the list, {{Lang|fr|hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobie}} can be pluralised by adding the letter s to the end. The adjective interdépartemental (18 letters), which also appears in the list, can be made longer by appending the letters es, which gives its plural, grammatically gendered form.

= German =

In German, whole numbers (smaller than 1 million) can be expressed as single words, which makes {{lang|de|{{shy|sieben|hundert|sieben|und|siebzig|tausend|sieben|hundert|sieben|und|siebzig}}}} (777,777) a 65 letter word. In combination with {{lang|de|-malig}} or, as an inflected noun, {{lang|de|(des …) -maligen}}, all numbers can be written as one word. A 79 letter word, {{lang|de|Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft}}, was named the longest published word in the German language by the 1972 Guinness Book of World Records, but longer words are possible. The word was the name of a prewar Viennese club for subordinate officials of the headquarters of the electrical division of the company named the {{lang|de|Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft}}, "Danube steam boat operation company".

The longest word that is not created artificially as a longest-word record seems to be {{lang|de|Rinderkennzeichnungs- und Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz}} at 63 letters. The word means "law delegating beef label monitoring" but as of 2013, it was removed from the books because European Union regulations have changed and that particular law became obsolete, leading to news reports that Germany "had lost its longest word".{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/06/03/law_change_spells_end_for_germanys_longest_word_ap/|title=Law change spells end for Germany's longest word|agency=Associated Press|work=salon.com|date=4 June 2013}}

In December 2016 the 51-letter word {{lang|de|Bundespräsidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung}} ("deferral of the second iteration of the federal presidential run-off election") was elected the Austrian Word of the Year 2016.[http://www.thelocal.at/20161209/austria-chooses-its-word-of-the-year Austria chooses its Word of the Year], The Local, 9 Dec. 2016. The jury called it a "descriptive word" which "in terms of its content as well as its length, is a symbol and an ironic form of commentary for the political events of this year, characterized by the very long campaign for the presidential election, the challenges of the voting process, and its reiteration."[http://www.oedeutsch.at/OEWORT/2016/01_Begr16/Pressemitteilung-Oewort%202016.pdf Presseerklärung der Jury zur Wahl des Österreichischen Worts des Jahres], Forschungsstelle Österreichisches Deutsch, 9 Dec. 2016

The tongue twister {{lang|de|Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbier}} gave rise to the novelty song Barbara's Rhubarb Bar (Barbaras Rhabarberbar), which became a viral phenomenon in 2024.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/01/world/europe/germany-rhubarb-rap.html|title=How Rhubarb Conquered Germany, Then the World|first=Sarah|last=Maslin Nir|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 1, 2024|page=A1}}{{cite web|url=https://www.worldtranslationcenter.com/blog-posts/the-longest-german-word|title=The Longest German Word|publisher=World Translation Center|date=January 17, 2017|accessdate=June 7, 2024}}

= Greek =

In his comedy Assemblywomen (c. 392 BC), Aristophanes coined the 182-letter word {{lang|grc|Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|{{shy|Lopado|temacho|selacho|galeo|kranio|leipsano|drim|hypo|trimmato|silphio|karabo|melito|katakechy|meno|kichl|epi|kossypho|phatto|perister|alektryon|opte|kephallio|kigklo|peleio|lagoio|siraio|baphe|tragano|pterygon}}}}), a fictional food dish consisting of a combination of fish and other meat. The word is cited as the longest ancient Greek word ever written.{{cite book | last = De Luca | first = Kenneth M. | title = Aristophanes' male and female revolutions : a reading of Aristophanes' Knights and Assemblywomen | publisher=Lexington Books | year = 2005 | location = Lanham, MD | pages = 124 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vXj70WVFw58C&pg=PA124 | isbn = 978-0-7391-0833-8}}

A modern Greek word of 22 letters is {{lang|el|ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογράφημα}} ({{Transliteration|el|ilektroenkefalográfima}}) (gen. {{lang|el|ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογραφήματος}} ({{Transliteration|el|ilektroenkefalografímatos}}), 25 letters) meaning "electroencephalogram".

= Hebrew =

The longest Hebrew word is the 19-letter-long (including vowels) {{lang|he|וכשלאנציקלופדיותינו}} ({{Transliteration|he|u'chshelentsiklopediotenu}}), which means "And when to our encyclopedias..." The Hebrew word {{lang|he|אנציקלופדיה}} (encyclopedia) is of a European origin.

The longest word in Hebrew that doesn't originate from another language is {{lang|he|וכשלהתמרמרויותינו}}, ({{Transliteration|he|u'chshelehitmarmeruyotenu}}) which crudely means "And when, to our resentments/ grievances"

The 11-letter-long (including vowels) {{lang|he|וְהָאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים}} ({{Transliteration|he|veha'aḥashdarpením}}) is the longest word to appear in the Hebrew Bible. – Its meaning is "And the satraps". It also does not originate from Hebrew. {{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Other very long Hebrew words include:

  • {{lang|he|וכשבהשתעשעויותיהם}} ({{Transliteration|he|u'chshebehishta'ashuateyhem}}) meaning: "And when they were having fun" or "And while in their playfulness".וכשאימפריותיכן

= Hindi =

Hindi has a finite list of compound words which are based on established grammatical rules of the language. The word commonly cited as the longest in Hindi is {{lang|hi|लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिका}} ({{Transliteration|hi|lauhpathagāminīsūchakdarshkaharitatāmralauhpaṭṭikā}}), which consists of 24 consonants and 10 vowel diacritics, making up a total of 34 characters. The word literally means "a green railway warning signboard made of copper-iron". Its plural would be {{lang|hi|लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिकाएँ}} ({{Transliteration|hi|lauhpathagāminīsūchakdarshkaharitatāmralauhpaṭṭikāẽ}}), which has an additional vowel and a diacritic. It is a neologism and not in common use. However this word is a direct loan word or borrowing from Sanskrit rather than a Hindi word.{{cite web|title=हिंदी भाषा का अब तक निर्मित किया गया सबसे बड़ा शब्द है?|url=https://uptocricket.com/News/Hindi/11042/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227125657/https://uptocricket.com/News/Hindi/11042/|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 February 2021|work=Upto Cricket|language=Hindi|access-date=28 February 2021}}

A much smaller word borrowed from Sanskrit which is in common use and is also often cited as the longest word is {{lang|hi|किंकर्तव्यविमूढ़}} ({{Transliteration|hi|kinkartavyavimūṛh}}). It consists of 8 consonants and 5 vowel diacritics, making up a total of 13 characters. The word literally means "confused about what to do", meaning to be bewildered or flabbergasted.

= Icelandic =

Icelandic has the ability to form compounds of arbitrary length by stringing together genitives ({{lang|is|eignarfallssamsetning}}), so no single words of maximal length exist in the language. However, {{lang|is|vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúr}} and {{lang|is|vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúraútidyralyklakippuhringur}} are sometimes cited as particularly long words;{{cite web|last=Helgason|first=Haukur Már|title=Hvernig hljóðar lengsta orð í heimi á íslensku?|url=http://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=979|work=Vísindavefurinn|publisher=University of Iceland|access-date=28 December 2013}} the latter has 64 letters and means "a keychain ring for the outdoor key of road workers shed in a moor called Vaðlaheiði".

Analysis of a corpus of contemporary Icelandic texts by Uwe Quasthoff, Sabine Fiedler and Erla Hallsteinsdóttir identified {{lang|is|Alþjóðaflutningaverkamannasambandsins}} ("of the International Transport Workers' Federation"; 37 letters) and {{lang|is|Norðvestur-Atlantshafsfiskveiðistofnunarinnar}} ("of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries' Organization"; 45 letters) as the longest unhyphenated and hyphenated words.{{cite book|editor1-first=Uwe|editor1-last=Quasthoff|editor2-first=Sabine|editor2-last=Fiedler|editor3-first=Erla|editor3-last=Hallsteinsdóttir|title=Frequency Dictionary Icelandic / Íslensk tíðniorðabók|date=14 May 2012|isbn=978-3-86583-656-4|publisher=Leipziger Universitätsverlag|oclc=808247819}}

The longest word occurring at least twice in the University of Leipzig isl-is_web_2015 corpus is {{lang|is|Auðmannastjórnvaldaembættisstjórnmálaverkalýðsverðlausraverðbréfaábyrgðarlausrakvóta-ræningjaaftaníossaspilling}} (110 letters).http://cls.corpora.uni-leipzig.de/de/isl-is_web_2015/3.5.6_Longest%20Words.html {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}

= Irish =

The longest non-compound word in Irish is {{lang|ga|grianghrafadóireacht}}, a 20-letter-long word meaning "photography".{{Cite web|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): grianghrafadóireacht|url=https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/grianghrafad%C3%B3ireacht|access-date=2022-01-13|website=www.teanglann.ie|language=en}}

= Italian =

The longest word in Italian is traditionally {{lang|it|precipitevolissimevolmente}}, which is a 26-letter-long adverb.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_E9AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA884 |title=Dizionario della lingua italiana ...|last1=Crusca|first1=Accademia Della|year=1829}} It is formed by subsequent addition of postfixes to the original root:

  1. {{lang|it|precipitevole}}: "hasty";
  2. {{lang|it|precipitevolissimo}}: "very hasty";
  3. {{lang|it|precipitevolissimevole}}: "[of someone/something] that acts very hastily", (not grammatically correct{{citation needed|date=March 2019}});
  4. {{lang|it|precipitevolissimevolmente}}: "in a way like someone/something that acts very hastily" (not grammatically correct, but nowadays part of the language).

The word is never used in every-day language, but in jokes. Nevertheless, it is an official part of Italian language; it was coined in 1677 by poet Francesco Moneti:

{{blockquote|{{lang|it|perché alla terra alfin torna repente / precipitevolissimevolmente}}|Francesco Moneti, Cortona Convertita, canto III, LXV}}

The word technically violates Italian grammar rules, the correct form being {{lang|it|precipitevolissimamente}}, which is three letters and one syllable shorter. The poet coined the new word to have 11 syllables in the second verse.

Other words can be created with a similar (and grammatically correct) mechanism starting from a longer root, winding up with a longer word. Some examples are:

  • {{lang|it|sovramagnificentissimamente}} (cited by Dante Alighieri in De vulgari eloquentia), 27 letters, "in a way that is more than magnificent by far" (archaic);{{cite web|url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/dante/vulgar2.shtml|title=Dante: De Vulgari Eloquentia II|access-date=22 July 2016}}
  • {{lang|it|incontrovertibilissimamente}}, 27 letters, "in a way that is very difficult to falsify";
  • {{lang|it|particolareggiatissimamente}}, 27 letters, "in an extremely detailed way";
  • {{lang|it|anticostituzionalissimamente}}, 28 letters, "in a way that strongly violates the constitution".

The longest accepted neologism is {{lang|it|psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia}} (30 letters).{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}.

Other long words are:

  • {{lang|it|nonilfenossipolietilenossietanolo}} (33 letters – chemical)
  • {{lang|it|pentagonododecaedrotetraedrico}} (30 letters – 3D geometric figure)
  • {{lang|it|esofagodermatodigiunoplastica}} (29 letters – surgery)
  • {{lang|it|elettroencefalograficamente}} (27 letters – medical adverb: electroencephalographically)
  • {{lang|it|diclorodifeniltricloroetano}} (27 letters – chemical: DDT)

= Láadan =

Láadan is not agglutinating as there is no mechanism to combine arbitrary words into one without intermediating grammatical mechanisms (such as the {{section link|relativizer|In other languages}}); however, there are a number of affixes that further elucidate the contextual meaning of a word. These are ignored when determining the longest words in the language. The primary reference for vocabulary is the 3rd edition of the official dictionary and grammar.

  • {{lang|ldn|oshetham éelenethilethu}}, 22 letters not counting the space, or 17 phonemes (since for example ée is a toneme of e, and th is a separate sound from *t or *h separately—the asterisks indicate that neither sound exists in Láadan) – a set phrase for a wreath of grapevine, a common symbol of the language{{Cite web|url=http://laadanlanguage.org/l2e.html#otho|title=Láadan-to-English|website=laadanlanguage.org}}
  • {{lang|ldn|shineshidethóo}}, 14 letters or 10 phonemes – an invited guest{{Cite web|url=https://laadanlanguage.com/laadan-to-english-sh/|title=Láadan to English – Sh|date=25 October 2015|website=laadanlanguage.org}}

= Latin =

The longest attested word in Classical Latin is {{lang|la|subductisupercilicarptor}}, which was coined by the obscure poet Laevius in the 1st century. In Medieval Latin, the longest known word is {{lang|la|honorificabilitudinitas}}, which was first attested in a treatise written by the 8th century Grammarian Peter of Pisa. One can further increase the length of the words by using their dative plural form, which would result in the words {{lang|la|subductisupercilicarptoribus}} and {{lang|la|honorificabilitudinitatibus}} respectively; the latter word is quoted by Shakespeare in Love's Labour's Lost.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

= Lithuanian =

The longest Lithuanian word is 40 letters long:

  • {{lang|lt|nebeprisikiškiakopūstlapiaujančiuosiuose}} – "in those, of masculine gender, who aren't gathering enough wood sorrel's leaves by themselves anymore." – the plural locative case of past iterative active participle of verb {{lang|lt|kiškiakopūstlapiauti}} meaning "to pick wood-sorrels' leaves" (leaves of edible forest plant with sour taste, word by word translation "rabbit cabbage"). The word is attributed to software developer / writer Andrius Stašauskas.{{Cite web|url=https://jeff560.tripod.com/words11.html|title=A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia|website=jeff560.tripod.com}}{{unreliable source?|date=October 2015}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.teoti.com/geek/10217-loooooooong-words.html |title=Loooooooong words |access-date=20 April 2016 |archive-date=9 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509052126/http://www.teoti.com/geek/10217-loooooooong-words.html |url-status=dead }}{{unreliable source?|date=April 2016}}

= Māori =

The Māori-language 85-letter place name {{lang|mi|Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu}} is the longest place name in English-speaking countries and second longest in the world, according to Wises New Zealand Guide and The New Zealand Herald.{{cite news

|author= NZPA

|title= Nasa turns to Kiwi when it needs expert space advice

|newspaper= New Zealand Herald

|quote= Three years ago, Mr Coleman, a website designer, posted a message on an internet bulletin board about {{lang|mi|{{shy|Taumata|whakatangihanga|koauau|o|tamatea|turi|pukaka|piki|maunga|horo|nuku|pokai|whenua|ki|tana|tahu}}}} in southern Hawkes Bay. It is the second-longest place name in the world, according to Wises New Zealand Guide.

|date= 11 August 2003

|url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3517312

|access-date= 28 March 2011

}}

= Polish =

Very long Polish words can be created as adjectives from numerals and nouns. For example, {{lang|pl|Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcionarodowościowego}}, 54 letters, is the genitive singular form of an adjective meaning roughly "of nine-hundred and ninety-nine nationalities". Similar words are rather artificial compounds, constructed within allowed grammar rules, but are seldom used in spoken language, although they are not nonsense words.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}} It is possible to make even longer words in this way, for example:

{{lang|pl|Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmiliardówdziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmilionów-dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćtysięcydziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcioletniego}} (176 letters, meaning "of 999,999,999,999 years old").

One of the longest common words is 31-letter {{lang|pl|dziewięćdziesięciokilkuletniemu}} – the dative singular form of "ninety-and-some years old one". Another known long word is {{lang|pl|konstantynopolitańczykowianeczka}}{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}} (32 letters), "a daughter of a man who lives in Constantinople" and {{lang|pl|pięćdziesięciogroszówka}} (23 letters), "a 50 groszy coin".{{Cite web|url=https://sjp.pl/pi%C4%99%C4%87dziesi%C4%99ciogrosz%C3%B3wka|title=pięćdziesięciogroszówka – Słownik SJP|website=sjp.pl}}

= Romanian =

{{main|Longest word in Romanian}}

The longest Romanian word is {{lang|ro|pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcaniconioză}}, with 44 letters,{{cite news|url=https://adevarul.ro/locale/iasi/cate-litere-mai-lung-cuvant-limba-romana-singurul-termen-contine-vocalele-1_587a0aa75ab6550cb86dda62/index.html|title=Câte litere are cel mai lung cuvânt din limba română și care este singurul termen ce conține toate vocalele|first=Paul|last=Bălhuc|newspaper=Adevărul|date=15 January 2017|language=ro}} but the longest one admitted by the {{lang|ro|Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române}} ("Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language", DEX) is {{lang|ro|electroglotospectrografie}}, with 25 letters.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.webdex.ro/online/dictionarul_explicativ_al_limbii_romane_dex98/51078/electroglotospectrografie|title=Electroglotospectrografie|dictionary=Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române|access-date=10 February 2021|language=ro}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dictie.ro/curiozitati-lingvistice-cele-mai-lungi-cuvinte-din-limba-romana|title=Curiozități lingvistice: cele mai lungi cuvinte din limba română|website=Dicție.ro|date=2 December 2020 |access-date=10 February 2021|language=ro}}

= Russian =

Most likely one of the longest Russian words is a chemical term, {{lang|ru|{{shy|тетра|гидро|пиранил|цикло|пентил|тетра|гидро|пиридо|пириди|новая}}}} ({{Transliteration|ru|{{shy|tetra|gidro|piranil|ciklo|pentil|tetra|gidro|pirido|piridi|novaya}}}}), which contains 55 letters. It was used in Russian patent [https://patents.google.com/patent/RU2285004C2/en RU2285004C2] (granted and published in 2006). This word is an adjective that can describe e.g. a chemical formula. As a noun, it is without the last 4 letters.

Another one is {{lang|ru|{{shy|превысоко|много|рассмотрительствующий}}}} ({{Transliteration|ru|{{shy|prevysoko|mnogo|rassmotritel'stvuyushchiy}}}}), which contains 35 letters. It is an adjective in the bureaucratic language of the 19th century "meaning a very polite form of addressing clerks, something like Your Excellency, Your Highness, Your Majesty all together" (Guinness World Records 2003{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}). Its dative singular form, {{lang|ru|{{shy|превысоко|много|рассмотрительствующему}}}} ({{Transliteration|ru|{{shy|prevysoko|mnogo|rassmotritel'stvuyushchemu}}}}, with 36 letters) can be an example of excessively official vocabulary of the 19th century.

Numeral compounds can be long as well, such as {{lang|ru|{{shy|Тысячево|сьмисот|восьми|десяти|девяти|микро|метровый}}}} ({{Transliteration|ru|{{shy|Tysyachevo|s'misot|vos'mi|desyati|devyati|mikro|metrovyy}}}}), which is an adjective containing 46 letters, meaning "1889-micrometers long".{{Cite web|url=https://lingvotech.com/slitnoe_i_razdelnoe_napisanie_imen_chislitelnih|title=Слитное и раздельное написание имён числительных – Агентство переводов Lingvotech|website=lingvotech.com}}

= Sanskrit =

Sanskrit allows word compounding of arbitrary length. Nouns and verbs can be expressed in a sentence.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}

The longest sentence ever used in Sanskrit literature is (in Devanagari):

:{{lang|sa|निरन्तरान्धकारितदिगन्तरकन्दलदमन्दसुधारसबिन्दुसान्द्रतरघनाघनवृन्द-सन्देहकरस्यन्दमानमकरन्दबिन्दुबन्धुरतरमाकन्दतरुकुलतल्पकल्पमृ-दुळसिकताजालजटिलमूलतलमरुवकमिलदलघुलघुलयकलितरमणीय-पानीयशालिकाबालिकाकरारविन्दगलन्तिकागलदेलालवङ्गपाटलघनसा-रकस्तूरिकातिसौरभमेदुरलघुतरमधुरशीतलतरसलिलधारानिराकरिष्णुत-दीयविमलविलोचनमयूखरेखापसारितपिपासायासपथिकलोकान्}}

In IAST transliteration:

:{{Transliteration|sa|nirantarāndhakārita-digantara-kandaladamanda-sudhārasa-bindu-sāndratara-ghanāghana-vṛnda-sandehakara-syandamāna-makaranda-bindu-bandhuratara-mākanda-taru-kula-talpa-kalpa-mṛdul̥a-sikatā-jāla-jaṭila-mūla-tala-maruvaka-miladalaghu-laghu-laya-kalita-ramaṇīya-pānīya-śālikā-bālikā-karāra-vinda-galantikā-galadelā-lavaṅga-pāṭala-ghanasāra-kastūrikātisaurabha-medura-laghutara-madhura-śītalatara-saliladhārā-nirākariṣṇu-tadīya-vimala-vilocana-mayūkha-rekhāpasārita-pipāsāyāsa-pathika-lokān}}

from the Varadāmbikā Pariṇaya Campū by Tirumalāmbā,{{cite web|url=http://hellenisteukontos.blogspot.in/2010/03/what-is-longest-word-of-sanskrit.html|title=Ἡλληνιστεύκοντος|work=hellenisteukontos.blogspot.in|date=13 March 2010}} composed of 195 Sanskrit letters (428 letters in the roman transliteration, dashes excluded), thus making it the longest word ever to appear in worldwide literature.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zgoFN4QKARsC&q=Guinness+Book+of+World+Records%2C+1991+longest+word|title=Guinness Book of World Records, 1991|isbn=9780553289541|last1=McFarlan|first1=Donald|last2=McWhirter|first2=Norris|year=1991|publisher=Bantam Books }}{{cite web|title=Guinness World Records – Longest word|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-word|access-date=23 September 2017}}

Each hyphen separates every individual word this word is composed of.

The approximate meaning of this word is:

:"In it, the distress, caused by thirst, to travellers, was alleviated by clusters of rays of the bright eyes of the girls; the rays that were shaming the currents of light, sweet and cold water charged with the strong fragrance of cardamom, clove, saffron, camphor and musk and flowing out of the pitchers (held in) the lotus-like hands of maidens (seated in) the beautiful water-sheds, made of the thick roots of vetiver mixed with marjoram, (and built near) the foot, covered with heaps of couch-like soft sand, of the clusters of newly sprouting mango trees, which constantly darkened the intermediate space of the quarters, and which looked all the more charming on account of the trickling drops of the floral juice, which thus caused the delusion of a row of thick rainy clouds, densely filled with abundant nectar."

= Slovak =

Traditionally, the word {{lang|sk|najneobhospodarovávateľnejšieho}} ("of the least cultivable", 31 letters) is considered as the longest Slovak word, but there are some longer artificial words. Most of them are compound adjectives in dative, instrumental or other grammatical case and derived from the iterative or frequentative verbal form or the ability adjective form (like -able).{{cite web|url=http://jazykovaporadna.sme.sk/q/1973/|title=Aké je najdlhšie slovo v slovenčine?|work=sme.sk}}

http://www.juls.savba.sk/ediela/ks/2012/4/ks2012-4.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}

Artificial words, lexically valid but never used in language:

  • {{lang|sk|znajneprekryštalizovávateľnejšievajúcimi}}, 40 letters, "through the least crystallised ones"
  • {{lang|sk|znajnepreinternacionalizovateľnejšievať}}, 39 letters
  • {{lang|sk|najnezrevolucionalizovateľnejšiemu}}, 34 letters {{Cite web|url=https://hl.rs/viete-ktore-slovo-slovenskeho-jazyka-je-najdlhsie/|title = Viete, ktoré slovo slovenského jazyka je najdlhšie?|date = 23 November 2021}}
  • {{lang|sk|najnerozkrasokorčuľovateľnejšieho}}, 33 letters

Artificial words using Slovak towns or places, lexically valid but never used in language:

  • {{lang|sk|znajneprehornádskodružstevnianskovávateľnejšievajúcimi}}, 54 letters
  • {{lang|sk|znajneprechminianskojakubovianskovávateľnejšievajúcimi}}, 54 letters

Numerals:

  • {{lang|sk|deväťstodeväťdesiatdeväťtisícštyristodeväťdesiatdeväť}}, 53 letters, "999499" {{Cite web|url=https://korpus.sk/promo(2f)NocVyskumnikov2011(2f)Kviz.html|title=Promo/NocVyskumnikov2011/Kviz|access-date=3 September 2021|archive-date=23 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123143508/https://korpus.sk/promo(2f)NocVyskumnikov2011(2f)Kviz.html|url-status=dead}}
  • {{lang|sk|sedemstodeväťdesiatsedemtisícsedemstodeväťdesiatsedem}}, 53 letters, "797797" {{Cite web|url=https://zaujimavosti.top/najdlhsie-slova-v-slovencine-ake-dokazeme-povedat-a-vyslovit/|title = Najdlhšie slová v slovenčine, aké dokážeme povedať a vysloviť|date = 8 December 2016}}

= Spanish =

{{Main|Longest word in Spanish}}

The longest word in Spanish is {{lang|es|esternocleidomastoideitis}} (inflammation of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, 30 letters).{{cite book |title=Me la juego a letras |last=Roldán Calzado |first=Juan Luis |chapter=La palabra más larga |date=2 October 2008 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TUHuAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |page=34 |publisher=Lulu Press |isbn=978-1-4092-2893-6 |language=es |access-date=15 March 2017 |via=Google Books}} Runners-up are {{lang|es|anticonstitucionalmente}} ([proceeding in a manner that is] contrary to the constitution (anticonstitutionally)) and {{lang|es|electroencefalografistas}} (specialists that do electrical scans on brains (electroencephalographists)), both 23 letters.

The word {{lang|es|anticonstitucionalmente}} is usually considered the longest word in general use. This word can be made even longer by the addition of the absolute superlative suffix, rendering {{lang|es|anticonstitucionalísimamente}} (i.e.: "very strongly against the constitution"). Some dictionaries (but not the RAE dictionary{{Cite web|url=http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=anticonstitucional|title = Anticonstitucional | Diccionario de la lengua española}}) removed its root word ({{lang|es|anticonstitucional}}) in 2005, causing comments about it not "being a valid word anymore" and suggesting the use of {{lang|es|inconstitucional}} as a replacement.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

= Swedish =

{{lang|sv|Realisationsvinstbeskattning}} (28 letters) is the longest word in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista. It means "capital gains taxation", and is usually shortened to {{lang|sv|Reavinstskatt}} (same meaning).

However, Swedish grammar makes it possible to create arbitrarily long words. One such word is {{lang|sv|Spårvagnsaktiebolagsskensmutsskjutarefackföreningspersonalbeklädnadsmagasinsförråd-sförvaltarens}} (94 letters) which means: "[belonging to] The manager of the depot for the supply of uniforms to the personnel of the track cleaners' union of the tramway company".{{cite book|title=The Guinness Book of Records 1985|year=1985|publisher=Guinness Books|page=89|isbn=0-85112-419-4}}

= Toki Pona =

File:Kijetesantakalu - linja pona.svg|42x42px]]

The longest word in Toki Pona is {{lang|tok|{{shy|kijete|san|takalu}}}} (15 letters), which was proposed in 2009 as an April Fools' joke by the language's creator Sonja Lang as a word for any animal of the Procyonidae family, which includes raccoons and related species.{{cite web|url=http://forums.tokipona.org/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1033|title=New official word / Nova oficiala vorto|author=Sonja Lang|access-date=2022-03-07}} The word has since entered into common use, and it has become common to define {{lang|tok|{{shy|kijete|san|takalu}}}} more broadly as any animal from the Musteloidea superfamily.{{cite book|year=2021|author=Sonja Lang|title=Toki Pona Dictionary|publisher=Tawhid |isbn=978-0-9782923-6-2}}{{cite web|url=https://linku.la/words/kijetesantakalu |title=kijetesantakalu |website=lipu Linku |access-date=2024-04-05}} In 2019 James Flear designed a glyph for {{lang|tok|{{shy|kijete|san|takalu}}}} in Toki Pona's Sitelen Pona writing system, which has become a popular icon within the Toki Pona community.{{Cite web |date=2019-07-13 |title=Facebook post |first1=James |last1=Flear |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/sitelen/posts/2351528398234865/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Facebook |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240402215400/https://www.facebook.com/groups/sitelen/posts/2351528398234865/ |archive-date= 2 April 2024 |quote=After a lot of demand for a Sitelen Pona glyph for the extinct words {{lang|tok|“apeja”}} and {{lang|tok|“{{shy|kijete|san|takalu}}”}} (believe it or not), I've decided to make a proposition for new glyphs.}}

As a minimalistic isolating constructed language, most words in Toki Pona are much shorter, the median being 4 letters. The longest words featured in the 2014 book Toki Pona: The Language of Good, Lang's first official Toki Pona publication, are the 7-letter words {{lang|tok|kepeken}} ("to use, by means of") and {{lang|tok|sitelen}} ("symbol, picture"). The list of proposed country names in the same book also mentions {{lang|tok|ma {{shy|Papuwa|nijukini}}}} ("Papua New Guinea"), which includes a 14-letter proper adjective.{{cite book|year=2014|author=Sonja Lang|title=Toki Pona: The Language of Good|publisher=Tawhid |isbn=978-0-9782923-0-0|pages=118, 127, 132}}

= Vietnamese =

Vietnamese is an isolating language, which naturally limits the length of a morpheme. The longest, at seven letters, is {{wikt-lang|vi|nghiêng}}, which means "inclined" or "to lean".{{cite news|title="Lộ" sai sót mới tại CK Đường lên đỉnh Olympia 2012?|author1=Phan Ngọc Linh|author2=Phạm Thịnh|work=Dân Trí|access-date=18 October 2013|url=http://dantri.com.vn/su-kien/lo-sai-sot-moi-tai-ck-duong-len-dinh-olympia-2012-612416.htm}} This is the longest word that can be written without a space. However, not all words in Vietnamese are single morphemes. Indeed, {{lang|vi|nghiêng}} can be reduplicated as {{wikt-lang|vi|nghiêng nghiêng}}.

The written language abounds with compound words in which each constituent word is delimited by spaces, just like any freestanding word. Moreover, the grammar lacks inflection to mark parts of speech, and prepositions are often optional. Therefore, the boundary between a word and a phrase is poorly defined.{{cite book|title=Vietnam and the Colonial Condition of French Literature|first=Leslie|last=Barnes|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|date=2014|page=125|isbn=978-0-8032-66759|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-iqrBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT125|via=Google Books|quote=The formal characteristics of Vietnamese compounds are not completely clear, however, and because no obvious graphic boundaries exist to demarcate one word from another, the distinction between word and phrase is often very difficult to discern.}} Examples of this ambiguity include:

  • {{wikt-lang|vi|chủ nghĩa phân biệt chủng tộc|Chủ nghĩa phân biệt chủng tộc}} ("racism"), which is composed of the words {{wikt-lang|vi|chủ nghĩa}} ("ideology"), {{wikt-lang|vi|phân biệt}} ("discriminate"), and {{wikt-lang|vi|chủng tộc}} ("race")
  • {{lang|vi|Cơm gà xào sả ớt}}, which literally describes a dish of grilled chicken sauteed with lemongrass and peppers on rice
  • {{wikt-lang|vi|ông bà anh chị em|Ông bà anh chị em}}, a polite pronoun composed of five kinship terms

Unlike locally coined compound words, compound words in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary are less ambiguous, because of the use of premodifiers (as in English) as opposed to the native postmodifiers. Long Sino-Vietnamese words include {{wikt-lang|vi|bách khoa toàn thư}} ("encyclopedia") and {{wikt-lang|vi|thủy động lực học}} ("hydrodynamics").

Loanwords and pronunciation respellings from other languages can also result in long words. For example, "consortium" is {{wikt-lang|vi|côngxoocxiom}} (12 letters), and "Indonesia" may be left as-is or spelled {{wikt-lang|vi|In-đô-nê-xi-a}} (13 counting hyphens).{{cite web|title=Thông tin cơ bản về các nước, khu vực và quan hệ với Việt Nam|trans-title=Basic information on countries, regions, and relations with Vietnam|publisher=Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs|url=http://www.mofahcm.gov.vn/mofa/cn_vakv/|language=vi}} The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Vietnam systematically respells foreign names, introducing long names into an official Vietnamese lexicon:

  • {{lang|vi|Kômixacjepxkaia}} ("Komissarzhevskaya", 15 letters){{cite encyclopedia|title=Kômixacjepxkaia V. F.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Vietnam|year=2005|url=http://bachkhoatoanthu.vass.gov.vn/noidung/tudien/Lists/GiaiNghia/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=12695|language=vi}}
  • {{lang|vi|Rôjơđextơvenxki}} ("Rozhdestvensky", 15 letters){{cite encyclopedia|title=Rôjơđextơvenxki G. N.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Vietnam|year=2005|url=http://bachkhoatoanthu.vass.gov.vn/noidung/tudien/Lists/GiaiNghia/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=23846|language=vi}}
  • {{lang|vi|Mêtơrôpôliten Ôpêra}} ("Metropolitan Opera", 18 letters){{cite encyclopedia|title=Mêtơrôpôliten Ôpêra|encyclopedia=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Vietnam|year=2005|url=http://bachkhoatoanthu.vass.gov.vn/noidung/tudien/Lists/GiaiNghia/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=16335|language=vi}}

Long initialisms in Vietnamese include:

  • {{wikt-lang|vi|CHXHCNVN}} ({{lang|vi|Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam}}, "Socialist Republic of Vietnam", 8 characters)
  • {{wikt-lang|vi|MTDTGPMNVN}} ({{lang|vi|Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam}}, "Viet Cong", 10 characters)

In modern Vietnamese, compound words can be identified fairly easily within title cased text: a morpheme that begins with a capital letter followed by one or more morphemes that begin with a lowercase letter. For example, {{wikt-lang|vi|xã hội chủ nghĩa}} ("socialism") is capitalized as one component within {{lang|vi|Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam}}.

= Welsh =

{{lang|cy|Llanfairpwllgwyngyll}}, a railway station on the island of Anglesey in Wales, is the longest place name in the Welsh language. At 51 letters in the Welsh alphabet (the digraphs {{lang|cy|ll}} and {{lang|cy|ch}} are each collated as single letters) the name can be translated as "St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave". However, it was artificially contrived in the 1860s as a publicity stunt, to give the station the longest name of any railway station in the United Kingdom.

Long words are comparatively rare in Welsh. Candidates for long words other than proper nouns include the following (the digraph {{lang|cy|dd}} is also treated as a single letter, as is {{lang|cy|ng}} in many instances including in the last word below):

  • {{lang|cy|gwrthddatgysylltiadaeth}} (antidisestablishmentarianism)
  • {{lang|cy|microgyfrifiaduron}} (microcomputers)
  • {{lang|cy|gwrthgyfansoddiaethwyr}} (anticonstitutionalists)
  • {{lang|cy|lled-ddargludyddion}} (semiconductors)
  • {{lang|cy|tra-arglwyddiaethasant}} (they tyrannised)
  • {{lang|cy|cyfrwngddarostynedigaeth}} (intercession){{cite web|url=https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0011&L=welsh-l&D=1&O=A&T=0&P=739|title=LISTSERV 15.5 – WELSH-L Archives|work=heanet.ie}} ({{lang|cy|-au}} can be added to form the plural, and the word can be further lengthened slightly by initial mutation: {{lang|cy|fy nghyfrwngddarostynedigaethau}}, "my intercessions")

See also

References