Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios

Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios

Share this post

Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios
Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios
How Stripped Down Can a Language Get?
Q&A

How Stripped Down Can a Language Get?

Do we need thousands of words — or even verb tenses — to communicate?

John McWhorter's avatar
John McWhorter
Jul 01, 2023
∙ Paid
7

Share this post

Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios
Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios
How Stripped Down Can a Language Get?
1
Share

James Austin wants to know:

How stripped down could a language be and still function well and not just for communication but to live in? Could you sketch out what that would look like? For example, how much would it need in the way of tense, aspect, and mood; would it need a counterfactual (like “si” in French or “too” in English); how many words would it need — 10,000, 2,000, fewer? more?; how many phonemes would it need; and which subject pronouns? More generally, what features would you strip out of a language or not include in one that you were building?

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Lexicon Valley
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share