Speaking of Words: How Many Words Could English Have?
If you count chemical names such as dimethylformamide and monothioglycerol, or medicines such as rivaroxaban and zanubrutinib, you would think the number of possible English words is effectively infinite, even if you place a limit on the number of syllables they can have.
But there is another limit besides length: they have to be pronounceable using English sounds (or phonemes).
Author's summary: English words have limits despite seeming infinite.
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