0
Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary
Newspaper/magazine with most copious vocabulary
Hello, in a textbook of Enlish "Anglictina pro dospelé III" (English for Adults III) published in Prague in 1966 (5th edition) there is a conversation of which I quote and excerpt as follows:
Mr. Hubka: "I shall certainly try to have a look at The Times now." [...]
Mr. Harvey: "You might find it pretty hard reading, though. Before the war it was estimated that a vocabulary of 50,000 words was necessary to understand The Times from beginning to end." [...]
I think this is not the only time I have come across a statement like this. Is it still valid today, and if not, which of the newspapers or magazines written in the English language has the most copious vocabulary? Could you also make clear whether the periodical you mention has gratis or limited on-line access or whether you have to register or subscribe to peruse it on the Internet?
Thank you for your answers.
Mr. Hubka: "I shall certainly try to have a look at The Times now." [...]
Mr. Harvey: "You might find it pretty hard reading, though. Before the war it was estimated that a vocabulary of 50,000 words was necessary to understand The Times from beginning to end." [...]
I think this is not the only time I have come across a statement like this. Is it still valid today, and if not, which of the newspapers or magazines written in the English language has the most copious vocabulary? Could you also make clear whether the periodical you mention has gratis or limited on-line access or whether you have to register or subscribe to peruse it on the Internet?
Thank you for your answers.
Top answer
I'm having a hard time believing the 50,000 figure. There was a study done by Francis and Kucera in 1982 which surveyed one million words of written English. 8% of the text required only 15,851 lemmas.
- I'm having a hard time believing the 50,000 figure.
- There was a study done by Francis and Kucera in 1982 which surveyed one million words of written English.
- 8% of the text required only 15,851 lemmas.
- So it would take some work to convince me that "The Times" (whether it be the London Times, the New York Times, or some other newspaper called "The Times") had actually used 50,000 unique lemmas, especeially over the short period of time which was World War II.
- I don't know of any particularly erudite newspapers nowadays, and your search might be impaired by the fact that style guides the world over recommend simplicity rather than complexity in writing.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
2 Answers
0
I'm having a hard time believing the 50,000 figure. There was a study done by Francis and Kucera in 1982 which surveyed one million words of written English. They found that to understand 97.8% of the text required only 15,851 lemmas. So it would take some work to convince me that "The Times" (whether it be the London Times, the New York Times, or some other newspaper called "The Times") had act
00
Thank you for your reply. I do appreciate it, especially because of two of your remarks that I find insightful.
Firstly, it is the study to which you refer. It is always nice to see some down-to-earth statistics or the like. On the other hand, I do not deem the 50,000 figure exaggerated. Just think of the fact how many different fields and aspects does a newspaper cover in its columns: Sp
Firstly, it is the study to which you refer. It is always nice to see some down-to-earth statistics or the like. On the other hand, I do not deem the 50,000 figure exaggerated. Just think of the fact how many different fields and aspects does a newspaper cover in its columns: Sp
0
Related Questions