* Defining a "word" is tricky: Is a slang term a word? What about a technical term? Does a different grammatical form of a word count as a separate word?
* Languages are constantly evolving: New words are constantly being coined, and old ones fall into disuse. Dictionaries struggle to keep up.
* Regional variations: Even within the same language, different dialects and regions have unique words and expressions.
Instead of a single number, here are some factors that affect a language's vocabulary:
* Size of the speaker population: Larger speaker populations tend to have more words, as more people create and use them.
* Age of the language: Older languages often have more words, having accumulated over time.
* Cultural factors: Languages used in societies with complex technological or scientific developments may have larger vocabularies.
What dictionaries can tell us:
* Dictionaries offer a snapshot of a language's vocabulary at a specific point in time. However, they are inherently incomplete and don't capture all the words in use.
* They also tend to focus on "core" vocabulary and may not include specialized jargon or slang.
In conclusion, there is no single "total stock of words" for any language. It's a dynamic and constantly changing concept.