fffast languages vs. s-s-slow languages

[bluebeard]

Oh hey y'all.

I found this interesting article in Scientific American (link!) and had to share. :D It's only three paragraphs long, so I won't bother to copypasta or summarize here.

My thoughts (put under spoiler-tag for incoherent rambling):

[Spoiler (click to open)]* Ofc Spanish is spoken faster than English. Or at least, my dialect is compared to the English spoken

Comments

[oconel]

It's not lipsing except those areas where ceceo is the norm ("thetheo" as someone said), it is "distinction", since we are able (and do) to pronounce the /s/ in (surprise!) those words that have an "s".

[helenadax]

This. Pronouncing an "s" that is supposed to b pronounced isn't lisping. Otoh, I love the idea of sounding like a Parseltongue speaker XD

[oconel]

Hehe, I like the idea too. *goes to find a green cloak*

[oh_meow]

Did you ever see that cartoon Dogtanian/D'Artacan? It was a Spanish cartoon of the 3 musketeers with all the characters portrayed as animals. It was really popular all over Europe. The English dub had a problem though, because the mouths in the cartoon were drawn to fit in with the Spanish dialogue, so the English actors had to speak really quickly and sometimes with a really wordy sentence to make it vaguely fit with the mouths.

[biascut]

Aw, I never knew that was Spanish!

[verrucaria]

I remember it as well. Always assumed it was French.

[bluebeard]

lol yes! it was aired in Cuba, I recall it. I loved that shite as a kid. <3

[lied_ohne_worte]

The “slowest” language in the set was Mandarin, followed closely by German.

Clearly, they haven't heard me on the phone with my mother. People who overhear one of us in such conversations are full of awe.

Honestly though, I wonder if having someone read out a text is the most efficient way of measuring language speed. If you have been taught a bit of public speaking, you will probably enunciate more, swallow fewer end syllables, and generally speak slower when reading compared to just talking in day-to-day conversation - I know that I certainly talk considerably more slowly when reading. On the other hand, people who are nervous when reading out texts to others tend to speed up to the point where you can't understand anything at all, as people who have made teenagers read something out to a crowd of people will probably know.

[muckefuck]

I've already asked you what part of Germany you're from, I'm sure, but could you remind me? My ex says the most rapid spoken German he's ever heard was from female speakers in Münster. I can't confirm that, but I did know a woman from Lower Saxony (the family lived in Hann. Münden but I'm not sure she grew up there) who was incredible. As long as I gave her my full attention, I was fine, but the moment I got distracted I'd completely lose my place.

[lied_ohne_worte]

I'm from Northern Hesse (more or less near Kassel, since there is nothing else of any size in the region). The local dialects tend towards Niederdeutsch, but are hardly spoken at all. But I think (and have been told) my speech rapidity is more a personal problem, since my thoughts are often three sentences further than what I'm saying, so I speak faster to catch up. Also, as my mother is a fast speaker too, I guess I caught it from her.The first time I heard myself really recorded (an interview in one of the local radio stations), I was a bit shocked and finally understood what people had told me all those years. My main problem is that I work with groups of people whom I have to give clear instructions, so it's a constant fight to slow things down enough that they can actually absorb my instructions.

[triad_serpent]

I'm told that here in Michigan we speak CRAZY fast...this is compounded by the fact that we tend to mush several words into a single word (ex: "j'eet?" instead of "Did you eat?") and that we skip middle consonants (ex: "mountain" becomes "mou'in" and "kitten" becomes "kih'in") and we skip end consonants altogether (ex: "Detroit" becomes "Detroy" with a bit of a breath after it).

I especially noticed things like this after coming back from Taiwan, where I was always careful to enunciate to my best ability. I also learned to slow down when I spoke. Lol. So, my accent is maybe not so "pure Michigan" anymore.

[bluebeard]

re: y'all talk in the comments above

[muckefuck]

I've seen that elsewhere and I don't agree with it. Y'all starts with two, not four, so all y'all can be as few as three.