Is Classical Chinese the shortest language?

Question

Generally speaking, when a lengthy document or a book is translated into different languages, will the classical Chinese be the shortest translation?

To put in another way, if the same book is printed in different languages with basically the same font size, will the classical Chinese one be the shortest?

For example, for Psalm 119 from the Old Testament:

• English (King James Version): 2,598 words.
• German (Hoffnung für Alle): 3,050 words.
• French (La Bible du Semeur): 2,574 words.
• Japanese (聖書新改訳): 7,348 characters.
• Korean: (현대인의성경): 7,099 characters.
• Classical Chinese (文理和合)：3,417 characters. Since "each 1000 Chinese characters will usually be translated into about 600-700 English words", this is roughly 2,000 English words.

Answer 1

it depends on the topic; style of writing, and translation.

[for alphabetic language, one word might contain numerous characters, while for ideographic language, one word = one character]

when classical chinese is longer

"traduttore, traditore" (to translate is to betray) - 迻譯即背叛　⋯　2 vs 5 words

nautical terms, such as cutter, ketch, schooner; in which, one can grep its meaning and form an mental image directly.

in classical chinese, the word is longer

cutter - 雙頭帆小船　⋯　1 vs 5 words

ketch - 高前桅雙桅帆船　⋯　1 vs 7 words

schooner - 高後桅雙桅帆船　⋯　1 vs 7 words

or, buddhism terms, such as:

अनुत्तरा सम्यक् सम्बोधि (anuttarā samyak sambodhi) - 阿耨多羅三藐三菩提　⋯　3 vs 9 words

bhūtânityatā - 諸行無常　⋯　1 vs 4 words

bhūtânātmatā - 諸法無我　⋯　1 vs 4 words

śāntaṃnirvâṇam - 涅槃寂靜　⋯　1 vs 4 words

http://cbeta.kepan.org/sahant/7

http://cbeta.kepan.org/sahant/37

when classical chinese is shorter

well, chinese poem should be the shortest, amongst any languages.

taoism related text is, also. e.g. in 周易參同契:

金伐木榮．三五與一

cutting down by metal, the wood prosperous; three, five and one. (frankly, i don't think this book is "translatable"; i just give a word-to-word translation here, omitting background knowledges, assumptions; and implications)

https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=99940&page=59

now, 8 classical chinese word vs 11 english words.

when a lengthy document or a book is translated into different languages, will the classical Chinese be the shortest translation

imo, again, it depends on the topic; style of writing, and translation.

have fun :)

Answer 2

yes，Classical Chinese is the shortest language（in my memory）.

classical chinese：

关关雎鸠，在河之洲。窈窕淑女，君子好逑。

modern Chinese：

关关鸣叫的水鸟，栖居在河中沙洲。善良美丽的姑娘，好男儿的好配偶。

English：

merrily the ospreys cry, on the islet in the stream.gentle and graceful is the girl,a fit wife foe the gentleman.

if you read the 《山海经》(Classic of Mountains and Seas or Shan Hai Jing),pre-Qin China book.you will know it.