An innovative scientific study manages to identify the language with more words to designate snow

We have heard it a hundred times: Inuit peoples use many different words for the terms “snow” and “white.” However, for decades, this statement has been subject to controversies, lit critics and misunderstandings. Accused of being the result of an exotic vision of traditional cultures sometimes, denied their veracity other, this belief has oscillated between myth and partial truth. However, a new study by an interdisciplinary team headed by Temuulen Khishigsuren, from the University of Melbourne, has provided a rigorous approach that allows to evaluate these statements on a global scale. Thanks to the analysis of more than 1500 bilingual dictionaries, The study has confirmed that certain languages, in effect, present a remarkable “lexical elaboration” around concepts such as snow. Thus, this new research reveals how linguistic patterns is based on ecological and cultural contexts.

What is the “lexical elaboration”?

In linguistics, lexical elaboration refers to the number of different terms that a language uses to refer to the same concept. It does not apply only to synonyms, but also to the words that distinguish nuances, functions, parts or cultural associations of the object or phenomenon in question. For example, the terms can refer to specific snow types, tools related to it or even forms of interaction with this phenomenon.

The new study proposes an operational definition of lexical elaboration based on the relative frequency of terms in bilingual dictionaries. To do this, use as a key element the number of times the English word snow It appears in definitions or examples translated into other languages.

The Bila Project: Dictionaries as a linguistic data source

To address this phenomenon systematically, the researchers developed the BILA database (Bilingual Lexicon Assembly), a data set composed of 1,574 bilingual dictionaries that cover 616 different languages. This base allows comparing the frequency of terms related to thousands of concepts, from natural elements such as “snow” or “wind” to cultural notions such as “dance”.

Bila combines the data present in the Hathitrust Digital Library repository with dictionaries from other platforms such as dictionary or webonary. Although the limitations of corpus – especially with regard to the complete coverage of the dictionaries – force to maintain a certain caution, The set represents the most rigorous attempt, until now, of empirically quantify the lexical elaboration at a global scale.Nevertheless, The authors warn of certain limitations of the approach: The absence of the full text of many dictionaries, the possible influence of English as a pivot language or biases introduced by the lexicographers themselves.

What is the language with more words to refer to snow?

The answer, backed by the statistical model developed in the study, is clear: The language with the greatest lexical elaboration for the concept of snow is the Canadian Eastern Inuktitut. This Inuit language leads the ranking among more than 600 languages ​​analyzed, with numerous terms documented in the dictionaries used.

Among the words recorded in Inuktitut, are at “Snow scattered”, auverk “Snow block for construction”, panar “Snow knife”, kadgitak “Snow made deer trap”, mauyasortpok “Travel on soft snow” and kikailik “Walking loudly on the hard snow.” These words not only denote different types of snow, but also tools and actions associated culturally with their presence.

A confirmed myth?

For years, the idea of ​​the “One Hundred Inuit for Snow” was the target of criticism by anthropologists and linguists, who described it as an exaggeration or a misinterpretation of the sources. Geoffrey Pullum’s article “The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax “synthesized this skepticism.

This new analysis published in the academic magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences It offers a different vision. Although popular versions excessively simplified the phenomenon, empirical data support the existence of a high lexical elaboration in Inuit languages ​​for the snow concept. It is not an unfounded fantasy, but a linguistic reality that reflects the ecological and cultural relevance of the phenomenon in these villages.

Unexpected Languages ​​on the Podium

The study also identified other languages ​​with a rich snow -related terminology. Next to Inuktitut, the lakotahe navajohe plains cree and the Dakotaall indigenous languages ​​of North America. Another surprise provided by the study was the case of the Scottishwhich includes terms such as doon-lay “A strong snow fall”, feughter “A slight sudden snow” and bliss “Snow that blows intermittently.”

The connection with the natural environment

One of the central hypotheses of the study argues that the ecological environment significantly influences lexical elaboration. Indeed, languages ​​with more snow terms tend to be spoken in cold regions. A statistical analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between the average annual temperature and the number of snow and ice terms.

In other words, The colder the climate, the greater the probability that the local language has a specialized vocabulary to refer to snow. This conclusion is based on the comparison of thousands of terms and logistics regression models that control other variables, such as population size or forms of their speaker.

A new way of studying language

This study not only provides solid evidence around a longly discussed topic, but Open new doors for the systematic study of vocabulary in different languages ​​of the world. This computational approach allows to explore thousands of concepts simultaneously and compare linguistic patterns with climatic and cultural variables. In the specific case of snow, Bila’s analysis Does not deny the myth, but transforms it into a verifiable fact with scientific methods.