The complaint often voiced by those learning a new language, "they speak so fast," has gained a scientific basis through recent research. New studies conducted by the University of Lyon have clearly shown that the natural speech rates of languages differ from one another.
Experts focus on the number of syllables spoken per second rather than the word count when it comes to speech rate. Measurements taken using this method revealed that some languages have a quite fast rhythm, while others have a slower one.
JAPANESE AND SPANISH TOP THE LIST OF FASTEST LANGUAGES
According to the study, the fastest-spoken language in the world is Japanese, with an average of 7.84 syllables per second. Languages closely following Japanese were identified as Spanish and French. Some more widely spoken languages such as English, German, and Mandarin have a relatively lower speech rate.
In the research, audio recordings taken from native speakers were analyzed in digital environments to examine syllable rates. This allowed for results with a high degree of accuracy.
A study conducted in 2019 showed that an increase in speech rate does not automatically increase the amount of information conveyed. While the amount of information carried by a syllable is low in fast-spoken languages, each syllable carries a more significant load in slow-spoken languages. According to the researchers' findings, approximately 39 bits of information are transferred per second in all languages. Thus, a global balance is established between the speech rates of different languages and information transfer.
TURKISH IS ALSO AMONG THE WORLD'S FASTEST-SPOKEN LANGUAGES
According to the latest findings, the 10 languages spoken with the most syllables per second are ranked as follows:
Japanese
Spanish
French
Italian
Portuguese
Mandarin Chinese
Korean
Vietnamese
Turkish
Hindi
News Source: 12punto
