English marks a million
Economist article. "English does indeed have lots of words, almost certainly more than any other tongue. That is the consequence of its evolution. Basically Germanic, it was expanded by the conquering Normans, who introduced French, and the medieval scholars and clergy, who used Latin. As the global language of the modern world, it now has lots of local variants--some recompense perhaps for the words it helps to obliterate as more and more languages become extinct."
http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12494445&d=2009
Economist article. "English does indeed have lots of words, almost certainly more than any other tongue. That is the consequence of its evolution. Basically Germanic, it was expanded by the conquering Normans, who introduced French, and the medieval scholars and clergy, who used Latin. As the global language of the modern world, it now has lots of local variants--some recompense perhaps for the words it helps to obliterate as more and more languages become extinct."
http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12494445&d=2009