# Any languages without contractions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351 "2008-01-28T19:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/21 "2008-01-29T05:38:54Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Chinese and Japanese anyone? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Sage Rat] I didn’t initially think that Japanese had contractions, but now I have to admit that they’ll contract long names down. [/QUOTE] I addressed Chinese earlier and **ignis\_glaciesque** expanded. As for Japanese, there are a lot more contractions than shortened names and nouns, especially in dialects. See: そっちんワープロじゃ、使えんっちゅうこっちゃないけど _Socchi’n waapuro ja, tsukaen 'chuu kotcha nai kedo_ (It’s not that it can’t be used with the word processor over there.) Versus: そちらのワードプロセッサでは、使えないということはないけれども _Sochira no waado-purosessa de wa, tsukaenai to iu koto wa nai keredomo_ That’s an extreme example but contractions like _'chatta_ for _te-shimatta_, _socchi_ for _sochira_ or _ja_ for _de wa_ are a fundamental part of the language. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/22 "2008-01-29T05:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] where “have to” and “can not” reduce while “have two” and “can knot” do not. [/QUOTE] I should also point out that, at least in such dialects as I’m familiar with, “have to”, “going to”, “want to”, etc., only reduce where “to” serves to introduce a (possibly elided) infinitival phrase. Thus, at least in my dialect, you can say “I’m gonna leave soon” but not \*“I’m gonna the store”. This is fairly similar to the sorts of things which happen with more “standard” contractions; e.g., “I can’t remember” vs. \*“I can’t only speak Russian, but read it as well” or “If I’d studied more, I would’ve done better” vs. \*“If I were rich, I would’ve a lot of money”. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/23 "2008-01-29T14:06:13Z")
To be complete, there are also spoken-only contractions, such as 'Worcester" (or a town down South, written “Maryville” but pronounced “Murrville” by those who live there). I suppose written-only contractions would be called abbreviations. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/24 "2008-01-29T15:21:01Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond] EDIT: also, I’m assuming non-alphabetic written languages like Chinese are out? I wonder about syllabic systems such as many of the languages of India? [/QUOTE] Spoken Bengali and Hindi use some contractions. They can be written if you want to. (Anything that can be spoken can be written in the Indian writing systems.) I don’t have an extensive knowledge of written Bengali or Hindi, but I assume that “modern” literature that uses vernacular language would use written forms of the contractions. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/25 "2008-01-29T15:24:25Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] What about Espreranto? Aren’t they (theoretically, at least) strict about that? [/QUOTE] Nope! They’ll sometimes drop the final “o” on the nouns, as in this example from the Esperanto hymn: \* “Al la mond’ eterne militanta ĝi promesas sanktan harmonion.”\* ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/26 "2008-01-29T15:28:44Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] “Jew eat yet?” opens with a “contraction” [/QUOTE] That’s a rather formal register. 🙂 Down here in vernacular city, we say “Jeet yet?” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/27 "2008-01-29T15:32:21Z")
Seems Thai does have at least two contractons, as I was reminded today. _Dichan_, one of the words for “I,” is often shortened to _chan._ And _prachanan_, which means “therefore,” is occasionally _chanan_. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/28 "2008-01-29T17:30:16Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] What about Espreranto? Aren’t they (theoretically, at least) strict about that? [/QUOTE] I suppose it depends on whether you count slang. _Saluton_ (hello) has been shorted to _Luton_ pretty much as long as Esperanto has been around. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Jinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Captain\_Jinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Jinks)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351/29 "2008-01-29T18:08:00Z")
[QUOTE=ignis\_glaciesque] The Beijing dialect is also notorious throughout China for forming shortened words with the -r sound at the end. So, instead of the ‘standard’ 昨天 _zuótiān_, we get the Beijing 昨儿 _zuór_. This extends to a lot of expressions — you might hear 那儿 _nàr_ for 那里 _nàli_, 今儿 _jīnr_ for 今天 _jīntiān_, and so on. [/QUOTE] Not sure I would not call that a diminuative, as in the British “er” or “ers” practice (Association Football =\> soccer, f’rinstance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-languages-without-contractions/435351.md?page=1)