Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
http://www.derose.net/steve/guides/snowwords/

So how many already?
Pullum cites several sources on how many words certain Inuit dialects
actually have for snow. The two main ones a

The Dictionary of the West Greenlandic Eskimo Language (C. W.
Schultz-Lorentzen, Copenhagan: Reitzels, 1927) gives just two words:
qanik for snowflakes in the air, and aput for snow on the ground.


We don't even have that, considering that "snowflakes" is
just "snow flakes" pretending to be a single word. English
being such a flexible language, we could even make it three
words "flakes of snow." 3 + 2 plus your suggested two makes
7 words for snow! The problem is that there is really only
one word: "snow" the rest is just creative accounting.



As Pullum again points out, anyone concerned about a particular subject
has a proportionately detailed vocabulary for it.

Sure, that's elementary. For example, there are huge numbers
of odd & wonderful words for all the different parts of a boat.

Any specialized field of knowledge has it's vocabulary,
medicine, computers, etc etc. To know the field one must
master the vocabulary.


... There is little
surprising or interesting about this,


Surprising? Not to smart people, agreed.
Interesting? I guess that all depends.

.... it doesn't seem to have much
affect on communication, realism, or anything else

Horse puckey. Try discussing a medical issue with a doctor:
2/3 of the conversation will be him explaining what the
words mean. Yet to another medical professional, the
communication is efficient and accurate.



.... beyond signalling
that you are (or aren't) an expert on a precise topic:


Yep.
Tell me again, how is it that we spot the BS'ers and fakers
and wanna-bees in this newsgroup?




So if some language(s) did have many words for snow, it should be no
more interesting than these other everyday cases. But if you think about
it, people who live in ever-snowful lands may perhaps care no more about
fine variations of snow, than we in warmer climes care about fine
variations of grass or pavement: anything so constant disappears into
the background and becomes less interesting.

I disagree. We don't make a living from pavement or grass,
and they vary considerably less than snow. The Eskimos have
a very good reason for their vocabulary, just as your doctor
has a good reason for his.

Actually there are two reasons, but we don't need to go into
the second one just now.

Regards
Doug King