Here are 10 amazing and interesting facts about English language vocabulary:
1. English has the largest vocabulary of any language in the world - estimates range from 250,000 to over 1 million words! Much of this comes from English's incorporation of words from other languages.
2. On average, a new word enters the English language every 98 minutes. Language is always evolving to keep up with changing times.
3. The word "set" has the highest number of definitions of any word in the English language, with over 430 meanings listed in the Oxford English Dictionary.
4. The most commonly used noun in English is "time," and the most commonly used verb is "be." Simple but essential to communication!
5. The longest one-syllable word in English is "screeched." At 9 letters long, it packs a lot into just one syllable!
6. The longest alphabetic word in English is "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis," a term for a lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust. At 45 letters, it's quite a mouthful!
7. English has many words for the same concept borrowed from other languages. For example, "brotherly love" (English), "fraternité" (French), "brüderlichkeit" (German), and "fratellanza" (Italian) all mean the same thing.
8. The most commonly used letter in English is "E" - it appears in approximately 11% of all English words. Vowels do a lot of heavy lifting!
9. The hardest English word to spell is said to be "mischievous." It violates many typical spelling rules which is why many struggle with it.
10. The word "onomatopoeia" - meaning a word that sounds like what it means - is itself an example of onomatopoeia. The word sounds like what it's describing!