Oligosynthetic (from the Greek ολίγοι, meaning "few") is a hypothetical designation for a language using an extremely small array of morphemes, perhaps numbering only in the hundreds, which combine synthetically to form statements. The chief difference between a polysynthetic and an oligosynthetic language is the total number of morphemes, which for the latter would be much smaller. Such a language would possess, in a manner of speaking, an "oligarchy" of morphemes. Speech would depend heavily on the creation of lengthy compound words, to an extent far exceeding that of regular synthetic languages. Typology is the classification of languages by grammatical features. ... Morphological typology was developed by brothers Friedrich and August von Schlegel. ... An analytic language (or isolating language) is a language in which the vast majority of morphemes are free morphemes and considered to be full-fledged words. By contrast, in a synthetic language, a word is composed of agglutinated or fused morphemes that denote its syntactic meanings. ... A Synthetic language, in linguistic typology, is a language with a high morpheme-to-word ratio. ... A fusional language is a type of synthetic language, distinguished from agglutinative languages by its tendency to squish together many morphemes in a way which can be difficult to segment. ... An agglutinative language is a language in which the words are formed by joining morphemes together. ... Polysynthetic languages are highly synthetic languages, i. ... In linguistics, morphosyntactic alignment is the system used to distinguish arguments of transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. ... In linguistics, a theta role or θ-role is the semantic role a noun phrase plays in a sentence. ... The syntactic pivot is the verb argument around which sentences revolve, in a given language. ... A nominative-accusative language (or simply accusative language) is one that marks the direct object of transitive verbs distinguishing them from the subject of both transitive and intransitive verbs. ... A nominative-absolutive language is one that marks the subject of a transitive verb or a voluntary subject of an intransitive verb distinctly from the object of a transitive verb or an involuntary subject of an intransitive verb. ... An ergative-absolutive language (or just ergative language) is one that marks the subject of transitive verbs distinctly from the subject of intransitive verbs and the object of transitive verbs. ... A tripartite language is one that marks the agent, experiencer, and patient verb arguments each in different ways. ... Time Manner Place is a term used in linguistic typology to state the general order of adpositional phrases in a languages sentences: yesterday by car to the store. It is common among SOV languages. ... Place Manner Time is a term used in linguistic typology to state the general order of adpositional phrases in a languages sentences: to the store by car yesterday. It would seem that it is common among SVO languages. ... In linguistic typology, subject-verb-object (SVO) is the sequence subject verb object in neutral expressions: Sam ate oranges. ... In linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb (SOV) is the general order of words in a languages sentences: Sam oranges ate. The SOV type is the most common type found in natural languages. ... Verb Subject Object—commonly used in its abbreviated form VSO—is a term in linguistic typology. ... Verb Object Subject - commonly used in its abbreviated form VOS - is a term in Linguistic typology. ... Object Subject Verb (OSV) is one of the permutations of expression used in Linguistic typology. ... Object Verb Subject (OVS) is one of the permutations of expression used in linguistic typology. ... The Greek language (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of some 3,000 years. ... A hypothesis (= assumption in ancient Greek) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. ... As with any complex, emergent concept, language is somewhat resistant to definition. ... In Linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a given language. ... A Synthetic language, in linguistic typology, is a language with a high morpheme-to-word ratio. ... Polysynthetic languages are highly synthetic languages, i. ... Oligarchy is a form of government where most political power effectively rests with a small segment of society (typically the most powerful, whether by wealth, military strength, ruthlessness, or political influence). ...

At this time, oligosynthesis is almost entirely theoretical, as linguists have yet to discover an actual human language that meets the criteria for classification. Certain Native American languages, namely Nahuatl and Blackfoot, have in the past been claimed to exhibit oligosynthetic qualities (most notably by Benjamin Whorf). However, the linguistic community has largely rejected these assertions, preferring to categorize Nahuatl and Blackfoot as polysynthetic. The following is a list of linguists, those who study linguistics. ... Native American languages are the indigenous languages of the Americas, spoken from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America. ... Nahuatl is a native language of central Mexico. ... Blackfoot is the name of any of the Algonquian languages spoken by the Blackfeet tribe of Native Americans, currently in the northwestern plains of North America. ... Benjamin Lee Whorf (April 24, 1897 - July 26, 1941) was an American linguist. ...

Indeed, the very concept of oligosynthetic language has always been regarded as somewhat far-fetched. The fact that no existing language, living or dead, has been demonstrably shown to exhibit oligosynthetic properties has led some linguists to regard true oligosynthesis as impossible (or at any rate, wildly impractical) for productive use by human beings. An extinct language is a language which is no longer natively spoken: it is estimated that one natural human language dies every two weeks. ...