An Explanation of Why Some Languages Use Long Words and Some Use Mostly Short Words

Tom Scott addresses why some languages use many short words while others use fewer long words in a recent video written with linguist Gretchen McCulloch. Generally it has to do with how or whether morphemes—the smallest meaningful units in a language—are combined in accordance with the sometimes ambiguous morphological typography of each language. A series of illustrations help explain the concept.

images by Phineas Q. Phlogiston, Ph.D.