20 Long and Hard Words to Pronounce from Europe
LingQ 25th Apr 17 3:16 pmThe majority of European languages belong to the Indo-European language family. There are several branches of this family such as Germanic, Romance, Baltic, Albanian, Slavic, Armenian, Hellenic (Greek) and Celtic.
Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian, are also present in Europe but are part of a separate family – the Uralic languages. The other language families present in Europe include Mongolic, Turkic, Northwest, Northeast Caucasian, and Kartvelian. Maltese is the only language in Europe that has national language status and origins from the Sicilian Arabic language.
The most spoken languages in Europe are:
1) English – 33%,
2) German – 22.4%
3) French – 19.71%
4) Italian – 14.31%
5) Spanish – 12.66%
6) Polish – 8.52%
7) Dutch – 4.92%
8) Romanian – 4.76%
9) Russian – 3.84%
10) Czech – 2.73%
11) Hungarian – 2.7%
12) Portuguese – 2.61%
13) Greek – 2.43%
14) Swedish – 2.4%
Each language has its own value and role in history. There have been many conflicts in the past caused by language differences, even wars. Today, the true value of a learned language is higher than ever before. So, when you decide to learn a new language, don’t let these hard words to pronounce discourage you.
20 Long and Hard Words to Pronounce
1. Ancient Greek: 183 letters
The comic playwright Aristophanes created this amazing word, which is the longest recorded word by Guinness:
Lopado-temacho-selacho-galeo-kranio-leipsano-drim-hupotrimmatosilphio-karabo-melito-katakechumeno-kichl-epikossuphophatto-peristeralektruon-opto-kephallio-kigklo-peleio-lagoio-siraio-baphe-traganopterugon
It’s a dish of fish, fowl, dainties and sauces.
2. Swedish: 131 letters
Nordvästersjökustartilleriflygspaningssimulatoranläggningsmaterielunderhåll – suppföljningssystemdiskussionsinläggsförberedelsearbeten
refers to ‘North West sea coastal artillery reconnaissance flight simulator facility equipment maintenance follow-up discussion post-preparatory work’.
3. Turkish: 70 letters
This language has many long words – this is because words can be extended with the inclusion of place, time or other modifiers. So
muvaffakiyetsizlestiricilestiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmissinizcesine
means ‘acting as if you are one of the people who are supporting bad manners’. There is also the 31 letter long
çekostravakyalılardanmısınızsiz
which means ‘are you from Cekostravakyali?’, and the 28 letter long
Afyonkarahisarlilardanlarmis
meaning ‘they belong to the family that came from Afyonkarahisar’.
4. German: 67 letters
Grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigungszuständigkeitsübertragungsverordnung
is ‘an authorization for the transfer of land permits’.
5. Finnish: 61 letters
lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas
is a ‘technical warrant officer trainee specialized in aircraft jet engines’.
6. Welsh: 58 letters
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
is a village on the island of Anglesey in Wales, and it means literally ‘St. Mary’s Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel near the Rapid Whirlpool of Llantysilio of the Red Cave’.
7. Danish: 52 letters
Speciallægepraksisplanlægningsstabiliseringsperiode
is the ‘period in which the planning of a specialist doctor’s practice is established’.
8. Dutch: 48 letters
Kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamheden
preparation activities for a children’s carnival procession’.
9. Greek: 47 letters
Aktinochrysofaidrovrontolamprofengofotostolistos
refers to ‘one dressed in golden-shining, thundering and incandescent clothes’. The 24 letter long word
ypodimatoepidiorthotirion
means ‘by mending shoes’ and
skoulikomyrmigkotrypa
refers to an ant hill.
10. English: 45 letters
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
is a technical word for a lung disease, while the 34-letter
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
originates from the Mary Poppins film. Also, the 33-letter
hippopotomonstrosesquipedalianism
means the love of long words. There is also the 28-letter
antidisestablishmentarianism
the longest non-technical and non-coined word in the English language.
11. Hungarian: 44 letters
You will break your tongue trying to say
megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért
which means ‘for your [plural] continued behavior’.
12. Bulgarian: 40 letters
The word
neprotivokonstitutsionstvuvatelstvuvayte
means ‘something against the constitution’.
13. Polish: 31 letters
Konstantynopolitanczykiewiczówna
refers to a girl who lives in Constantinople.
14. Lithuanian: 30 letters
The word
nebeprisikiškiakopusteliaudavome
means ‘we didn’t pick rabbit cabbage’.
15. Italian: 30 letters
Psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia
is a term for a discipline dealing with the relationships between the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. There is also the 26-letter
precipitevolissimevolmente
which is the Italian way to say that you do something in a hurry.
16. Latvian: 28 letters
Pretpulksteņrādītājvirziens
means ‘in a counterclockwise direction’, while the 15-letter
virs-apakšcepure
means ‘underneath the hat’.
17. Portuguese: 29 letters
The word
anticonstitucionalissimamente
has 29 words and it simply means ‘unconstitutionally’.
18. Latin: 27 letters
Honorificabilitudinitatibus
is the state of being able to achieve honors.
19. Slovak: 26 letters
Sternocleidomastoidian
means the ‘less farmed’, while the 23-letter najnevypocítavatelnejší refers to the ‘most difficult example to calculate’.
20. Romanian: 22 letters
Najneobhospodárovateľnejší
means the ‘sternocleidomastoid muscle’, which is located in the front of the neck. There is also the 19-letter
najnevypocítavatelnejší
which means ‘otorhinolaryngology’, or ORL specialist.
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Martha Simons is a freelance writer and editor. She has solid experience in marketing and is fluent in four languages. Martha’s goal is to help people around the world communicate more effectively and benefit from it. She currently works at Translateshark.