Transcription
Hey Noble ones, welcome back to Metan Academy. So today, I wanted to talk about a topic that I've been considering making a fully dedicated video for a while. It just takes me forever to make those, and it's the idea of language speed, specifically language by language. So, how fast certain speakers speak, and whether the language and the way it's constructed plays a role in that speed when it comes to syllables per minute.
Now, there is a very famous creator within the language community that made a video sort of about this, and I wanted to have a look, provide commentary, and it's Olly Richards. Olly, yeah, I don't know what that was. Olly Richards. It is, and it's "Top 10 Fastest Spoken Languages in the World." I want to see how he classifies that, and I want to see what sort of metrics he uses.
Now, as always, you find a link in the description because I'm not going to react to the entire video. As we always do when we make react content, we want you to go check out the original creator and give them the views they deserve. Without further ado, do you ever pay attention to how fast you talk? Well, turns out it's different depending on the language that you're speaking. Some languages are really slow, while others are so fast you feel like you're trying to keep up with a Formula One driver. The situation in this video, I'm going to take you on a tour of the fastest spoken languages in the world. If you've ever tried learning another language but felt a little bit lost to keep up with native speakers, well, this video is going to help because I'll also show you how understanding language speed can actually help you become a better, more confident language learner.
Well, absolutely. Yeah, that's a very good point already to start with. I would like to underline, however, that language speed in the sense that objective language speed is different from the perception that a beginner has of any language that they're trying to tackle, because that one becomes subjective. Like, for instance, right now, he's speaking at a decent speed, and it's not like he's speaking super fast. In fact, if anything, I believe I may be a faster speaker than him, simply because that's just the way I am. I tend to speak very fast, but, uh, he likes to, probably because he's a teacher, he likes to enunciate. But still, he's speaking at a decent speed. I have no problem understanding. Probably you don't. But if I were a beginner, to me, that already would be like, "Oh my gosh, why does he speak so fast?" So, subjective speed perception versus objective speed of a language, very different topics.
"Language speed can actually help you become a better, more confident language learner." Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world with over a billion speakers, and when you first listen, it might seem quite slow, but don't be fooled. It's like cramming a novel into a postcard. That really depends. What that really depends, because once again, I really think it depends on the speaker. And I might be bringing this up, but do keep in mind that whatever elements, tables he presents, of course, he knows this. It's not like I'm correcting him or anything, but do keep in mind that it's an average. We are discussing averages because there are plenty of people that speak extremely fast, and then there are people that use the same language but speak very slow, and then you average out, balance it out. It's all about how much information is in one single syllable or one single sound.
See, turns out we humans have a pretty amazing. Sure, but when it comes to Mandarin Chinese, I mean, maybe I'm interrupting him too soon. I apologize if that's the case, but really, when you look at a Han or a Kanji, if it's the Japanese version, we could say, of the original Chinese characters, yes, all of these are the components, usually called radicals. But it's not like you're actually saying all of this. This, for example, tends to be the semantic field. Some of these are here just for pronunciation, depending. Others are here as an iconographic representation of what you actually represent, although that's usually about 5% of the entirety of the characters. Anyways, but I'm saying that yes, there are a lot of words, but it's not like you, when you write or speak this word, you're actually saying "one mouth field." You're not. Yes, the field is there, but usually these are there because they kind of give you a hint as to what the meaning of the character is. But this character is one word, as you can see, "blessing." That's what you're saying. You're saying "blessing/good fortune." And then again, "good fortune" is probably not a good example because it happens to be created with two words in English. "Blessing" is a better idea. It's pronounced "fú," but as I say, yes, to be blessed, there is a connection with God, although then again, it's a different idea of God. But as I'm saying, you're not actually saying each and every single one of these words when you just say "fú." Just to make it clear, knowing for getting our point across fast or slow.
But first, should we see how they do the measuring? Yeah, my gosh, she just gave me anxiety. I hate it when people speak like that. I think she's doing it because she's probably in a business context. In fact, how different was her speed to kind of reinforce what I was saying earlier on when it comes to it depends on the speaker as opposed to the first Chinese that we heard at the very beginning of this same clip. So, uh, yeah, she was probably in a corporate context and she was given a certain amount of time, and then she was doing that, you know, because "time is money" type of thing.
"Researchers from universities in Nyan and Hong Kong figured out how fast people speak by counting what's called syllables per second. That's how many syllables you can say in one second. Now, some languages pack more syllables into less time, but get this: your brain has one goal: communicate efficiently, no matter the language."
In some languages, that's fast. I think to add to that, your brain has two goals, or maybe we could say one goal: communicate efficiency with the least amount of resources allocated for communication purposes. So that's why we native speakers, we tend to be a little lazy, don't we? Like, "Oh, just just pronounce what you need to communicate," or maybe make skip things, skip syllables that grammatically would be more correct to say it that way, but then we don't. It is because, at the end of the day, I think this is a fundamental connection to our ancestral origins as a species where, even though communication, verbal communication was being, uh, developed, with that being said, you didn't know when your next meal was going to be. So I think it's normal to try and use the least amount possible of resources in order to obtain communication with another member of your species, tribe, and whatnot. And of course, that changes when you become a philosopher because that's a completely, that's how you make your food, in a way. But it's like we're hardwired to do that.
"Five words in others, it's 25, but it all evens out in the end. And as you're about to see, there's some crazy trade-off going on. The average 20-year-old knows between 27,000 and 52,000 different words spoken out loud. Most of these words last less than a second."
See, it's not just about speed. And Mandarin's a great example. See, Mandarin averages 5.18 syllables per second, which is on the slow side, believe it or not. But it crams a ton of meaning into each syllable. Sure, yeah. The fact that it, yeah, because a lot of words in Mandarin, there are exceptions, but the majority of Mandarin words are either one syllable or two syllables. Once again, there are exceptions. For instance, Japanese is not like that because already when you do "samurai," I mean, that's four. So that's agreed. But how do they average it with Mandarin? The average speed? I mean, a speaker in Beijing, a speaker in the South, a speaker like, it's, I wonder how they average it. Are they only considering standard, or are they considering all the different varieties?
"Check this out. See what I mean? Just one syllable, one sound, really packs a punch. Because also, you've got tones. And Mandarin's tones, where the sound goes up or down or stays the same, it instantly changes the meaning. So it's not just about the number of words, it's about the amount of information that's being in."
Now, of course, it also depends on how fast someone is speaking or not. I am doing, "Mh-hm," just could get annoying. But Mandarin is proof that speed is not everything. It's what you can squeeze into each sound. But don't get too, unless you're the lady we saw a minute ago, comfortable, because we are just getting started over here. I'm Olly Richards, by the way. I'm a linguist and an author, and it's my job to study languages so that I know how to help you in those very difficult early stages of a language where everything sounds a little bit like mumbo jumbo. Try this. "Oniz." I do believe he knows quite a few languages himself. I know he speaks Portuguese well. So let's see what languages we're working with. I won't react to all of them, once again, to give the audience an opportunity, a reason to go there and check the rest of the video. So we got Vietnamese, English, Hindi, Turkish, Portuguese, Italian. We're doing definitely the Italian. In fact, I might skip to Italian already. French, Spanish, Japanese, Wild Card language, something African, I suppose. Very nice. So I do want to check out a little bit the beginning of Vietnamese and then we might skip to English.
"This is a really fascinating theory that our brains perceive a difference between machine gun-rhythmed language and Morse code-rhythmed language." Yeah, that's actually what they called it. And Vietnamese definitely falls into the machine gun category. It's fast and relentless, especially probably like Italian, with its six tones. Man. [Music] That's 5.28 syllables per second, although some people crank it up to six. Hey, an LDS Missionary, look at that. Hi there. This is, he's great. What you might be taught at school, but this is what you will encounter in real life. I just love, I love that with the mess of like the street and the markets and, oh, that was funny. That was good. Of listening to Vietnamese conversations. If you've ever wandered around a street market in Ho Chi Minh City, you'll know exactly what I mean. [Music] That's fascinating stuff.
Okay, let's check out English. "Really, really bad. You know, I'm bad, I'm bad. You know, you know, bread, bad. Really, really bad. You know, I'm bad, I'm bad. Come on, come on. You know, bad, bad. Really, really bad. To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep, no more. And by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished." To die, to sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub. For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause. There's the respect that makes calamity of so long life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of disprized love, the law's delay, the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns, puzzles the will, and makes us bear those ills we have rather than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all. And thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pith and moment with this regard their currents turn awry and lose the name of action. Soft you now, the fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons be all my sins remembered.
"Well, I wasn't going to include English, but how could I not? When we have the FedEx guy, I just wanted to ask him how on earth he even does this. If you have five seconds to spare." "So I went home." These people that do this, they practice it. I mean, I think he knows that these people practice it over and over and over again until they reach that speed. That's what I think. Like, it's something you practice. This is something you specifically, either you memorize these sentences, or you practice the ability to put together words so quickly that you don't even really think, and it becomes a mechanical thing. If you're not repeating every, how necessarily set of words, uh, but this is something that's practiced. It's a skill. Uh, it's not something you would do naturally or normally without practice. I started flipping through the book and decided I was going to eat a car. Swapped pipes. So the next thing was to like myself in the room and teach myself how to do the first talking." Did you catch that? Well, if you're not a native English speaker, I promise this is not how we speak.
"When you're not looking, what is it? Truth is, English isn't exactly known for its speed, but don't underestimate it. Try spending a week somewhere like New York. You meet people who can switch gears like band weather rolling in." "Being from New York, I think people automatically talk a lot faster to start off with. I mean, you can talk as fast as you want in New York, and nobody even blinks an eye." And let's not forget. "13, 14, 16, 17, 18." Don't worry, exactly. None of us know what he just said. So what's going on? Does English deserve a spot near the top, or is it just pretending to be faster than it really is? Let's check the magic speedometer. 6.19 syllables per second. Yep, looks like English makes the list, fair and square. It's tricky, though, because English has what's called stress-timed rhythm. Now, what is that? Do you remember that Morse code style that I mentioned? See, this is the pauses that make it feel slower than it actually is. And the FedEx guy, we clocked him at 14.65 syllables per second, which is absolutely insane, of course. And if you're here because you're still learning English, for goodness sake, please remember to breathe."
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, uh, what I wanted to say about that, once again, it shows that when, when you make these averages, you're not necessarily counting people that are particularly skilled or just are just happen to be fast speakers. And of course, there are people that speak slowly. And when it comes to English, at least, although then again, this might be a situation in other languages too, but when it comes to English, imagine it this way, it might be status-based. Because I remember when I was in England, that there was this family that used to have us over for tea, so basically dinner, and the parents were very posh, but the daughter wasn't. So she would speak really fast, and the parents were constantly telling her to slow down. So usually, like upper-class people will speak slowly, whereas you don't need to go to New York, to be honest. If you're in England, just go listen to street talk in London. They will, Cockney people, they speak very fast. So like working-class speaks fast because they don't have time to waste. They got to make that money, uh, to either because you're a businessman in New York, or I, or because you're just trying to, you know, survive, and you need to do two jobs, and that kind of situation. But when you're very rich, you have all the time in the world, right? So you, that's, I think why sometimes upper-class tend to speak slower and take their time to express their positions correctly. So it's because they don't have to rush. And that, that's probably why those parents were like, "Don't act rushed." They were trying to teach their daughter not to do that for a status situation. So that would also be considered.
Now, doing Hindi. I'm going to skip Hindi. So if you want to check it out, I will try to learn some Hindi though, one of these days. Let's check Italian. "F." Italian sound. Yeah, that speed actually sounded normal to me. Sounds like lots of short bursts of words. And if you listen to native Italians speaking on the radio or a podcast, well, I won't blame you at all for wondering what this one insanely long word is that they're saying, but I promise you, they're actually saying lots of different words. They really. That's actually fascinating for me because, of course, it's obvious that they're different words, but he's now giving me a little bit of an outsider perspective. What she said, but now she spoke slowly. So how fast is it? We are talking 6.99 syllables per second. That's basically seven. But you should, yeah, come on, give us that seven. What is the 6.99? Goodness gracious. Here, the southern dialects. Wow. Some Italians have been recorded speaking naturally at nine syllables per second. Germans only give 5-point something. So let that sink in for a second. But once again, he didn't sound that fast to me. I know I understand. I'm native, but I, yeah, are people to speak faster than that on a regular basis? So he was actually explaining. So he was going a little slower than normal.
Well, I don't know about you, but even to me, at that breakneck pace, Italian, well, it still sounds like music to my ears, to be honest. It's crystal clear. You hear all the vowels. Pronunciation is very predictable and regular, and the rhythm is even more dramatic than Portuguese. And yes, the hands, well, they're all part of the conversation. On the Italian, is it? It's not true. What are you talking about? We don't use hands to speak. Conspiracy theorists and phone conspiracy theorists. Full body language, hands, tone, and syllables. But now I'm wondering, could all this extra stuff affect the speed of a language? Northern, northern accent, possibly be faster than Italian? Well, I'm glad you asked. Say Paris. The only reason I'm skipping those because I don't want the video to pick to get copy claimed. So, uh, let's have a look at a little bit the Japanese part since I speak it.
"And the winner is. Well, it's a language where precision is highly valued in many aspects of the culture. Coming in at 7.84 syllables per second. Damn fast. Japanese is the fastest spoken language in the world. So what's different with Japanese? Well, the beauty of Japanese is how efficiently it uses its sound. Japanese has simple syllables: one consonant followed by a vowel. This makes it sound very smooth and predictable. It's actually very similar in, in Italian. We have pretty much the same structure, and it's super easy to glide quickly through sentences. There's no need to pause or slow down for effect. What really sets Japanese apart is how much meaning they can pack into just a few words. See, Japanese, as a language, relies so heavily on context and what's going on around you. They often don't need many words to get their points across. So Japanese sounds fast, not only because of syllable speed, but because speakers leave out details that listeners just get. There's no need to overexplain."
That is actually true. And often times, it's done at a cultural level, not necessarily because of a linguistic characteristic or syntactic nature of the words, but also because often times they don't want to say something, and they are so used to reading the room and reading in between the lines because of politeness, uh, that's just wanted to add that. It's also a cultural aspect. Like when they say, "So basically, I'm saying I'd like to go," but it means "I can't do it because," and I don't even have to come up with an excuse because that already will be read as, "Oh, he's not going to do it. It's not going to go." So like that, that kind of situation. Pretty cool.
Okay, well, Olly, I really appreciated this. It was a really fun one. So let's give him a like. Did I give him a like already? Yes, I did. So let's give him a like. Go check him out. There is still plenty of languages to check out: Portuguese, Turkish, Hindi. You're going to have a blast. So I'll put a link in the description and in a pinned comment. And as always, thank you so much for joining Metatron Academy. See you tomorrow.