HAPPY NEW YEAR (in different languages)

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

4 comments:

Love new year sms said...

huhuhuh....its really very useful and informative posting here that you share with us. thanks....

Donlast said...

But which ones sound more poetic, more musical. Give me the Latins any day.

Max Atkinson said...

Donlast - I don't disagree, and hope you don't think my comments imply criticism of Latin languages. If you look at the earlier post on the subject, my point has to do with trying to explain the alleged differences in our gestural behavior. And I say 'alleged' because I'm not 100% convinced that there's as much difference as is commonly believed.

valentine sms said...

I dream about u evey night
I shiver when ur in sight
I long to hold u close n tight
I wanna be there with all my might
I am just hoping I'm the girl whos right