

Why Some Languages Sound Faster Than Others - yoyogirlie
http://blog.expectlabs.com/post/43157049869/why-some-languages-sound-faster-than-others

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alexdevkar
The conclusion that most languages "convey the same amount of information in
exactly the same amount of time" is interesting. I wonder if the information
density per syllable or syllables per second are important factors for
determining which languages are easier to learn.

~~~
Someone
It also feels like BS to me. Multiplying the information density of the
average syllable with the average number of syllables spoken per second should
give the amount of information conveyed per second. The claim is that this is
constant, but the table given does not support this.

Let's make that calculation:

    
    
      Japanese: 0.49 * 7.84 = 3.8
    
      Spanish : 0.63 * 7.82 = 4.9
    
      English : 0.91 * 6.19 = 5.6
    
      Mandarin: 0.94 * 5.18 = 4.9
    

That would make English carry 47% more information per second than Japanese.

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colanderman
I saw another similar but broader study a while back that singled out Japanese
as the (low) outlier, and a claim that speakers of Japanese make up the
shortcoming via facial expressions.

