3 ms·

Mostly unrelated, but there was a study [0] some time ago which said that the information rate of all languages was roughly the same. So if a language had more

Mostly unrelated, but there was a study [0] some time ago which said that the information rate of all languages was roughly the same. So if a language had more data conveyed per syllable, then it might be spoken slower for instance. 0: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2594 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2594

avgcorrection 3y ago
Spanish (Spain) is often spoken faster than English. And in my experience if you translate something from English to Spanish the text becomes 20%–30% longer.
- bitdivision 3y ago
  Yes, I agree, Spanish is generally more verbose. The weird one is that Latin American Spanish is spoken much slower, but with the same information per syllable (presumably). I always wondered if the information rate would actually be the same for Spanish (LATAM) and Spanish (Spain) - my suspicion is that it's lower in LATAM. Perhaps pauses and connective words could account for the difference though?
  - dmoy 3y ago
    > always wondered if the information rate would actually be the same As a general rule of thumb, human spoken languages all communicate about 5 bytes per second of info. The limit seems to be not because of auditory processing or verbal issues, but rather how fast someone can process thoughts. I don't know about latam vs Spain specifically, that would be interesting. Seems unlikely that it would be more varied than e.g. English, Italian, and Japanese, which all tend towards the same ~5Bps limit.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - ihm 3y ago
    There's huge variation in Latin American dialects, there's definitely no universal speed of speech.
    - asveikau 3y ago
      Not only that, but a lot of features of various forms of Latin American Spanish also occur in Spain, especially southern Spain which is the "root" of much of it.
    - bitdivision 3y ago
      There's definitely differences between countries and regions, and I don't have data for it, but the stereotype of Latin American Spanish being slower than Spain has by and large been true in my experience. Do you think on average Latin American Spanish is spoken at the same speed as Spain? Edit: And regardless of regional variations I am certain that there are Latin American regions which have a generally slower speed of speech than regions in Spain. So the thing that interests me is whether in that case the Spain Spanish has more pauses etc.
      - rigoleto 3y ago
        > Do you think on average Latin American Spanish is spoken at the same speed as Spain? Faster in the Caribbean, slower in the Andes

avgcorrection 3y ago

Spanish (Spain) is often spoken faster than English. And in my experience if you translate something from English to Spanish the text becomes 20%–30% longer.

bitdivision 3y ago
Yes, I agree, Spanish is generally more verbose. The weird one is that Latin American Spanish is spoken much slower, but with the same information per syllable (presumably). I always wondered if the information rate would actually be the same for Spanish (LATAM) and Spanish (Spain) - my suspicion is that it's lower in LATAM. Perhaps pauses and connective words could account for the difference though?
- dmoy 3y ago
  > always wondered if the information rate would actually be the same As a general rule of thumb, human spoken languages all communicate about 5 bytes per second of info. The limit seems to be not because of auditory processing or verbal issues, but rather how fast someone can process thoughts. I don't know about latam vs Spain specifically, that would be interesting. Seems unlikely that it would be more varied than e.g. English, Italian, and Japanese, which all tend towards the same ~5Bps limit.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- ihm 3y ago
  There's huge variation in Latin American dialects, there's definitely no universal speed of speech.
  - asveikau 3y ago
    Not only that, but a lot of features of various forms of Latin American Spanish also occur in Spain, especially southern Spain which is the "root" of much of it.
  - bitdivision 3y ago
    There's definitely differences between countries and regions, and I don't have data for it, but the stereotype of Latin American Spanish being slower than Spain has by and large been true in my experience. Do you think on average Latin American Spanish is spoken at the same speed as Spain? Edit: And regardless of regional variations I am certain that there are Latin American regions which have a generally slower speed of speech than regions in Spain. So the thing that interests me is whether in that case the Spain Spanish has more pauses etc.
    - rigoleto 3y ago
      > Do you think on average Latin American Spanish is spoken at the same speed as Spain? Faster in the Caribbean, slower in the Andes