Nouns slow down speech across structurally and culturally diverse languages

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Frank SeifartBalthasar Bickel

Abstract

By force of nature, every bit of spoken language is produced at a particular speed. However, this speed is not constant-speakers regularly speed up and slow down. Variation in speech rate is influenced by a complex combination of factors, including the frequency and predictability of words, their information status, and their position within an utterance. Here, we use speech rate as an index of word-planning effort and focus on the time window during which speakers prepare the production of words from the two major lexical classes, nouns and verbs. We show that, when naturalistic speech is sampled from languages all over the world, there is a robust cross-linguistic tendency for slower speech before nouns compared with verbs, both in terms of slower articulation and more pauses. We attribute this slowdown effect to the increased amount of planning that nouns require compared with verbs. Unlike verbs, nouns can typically only be used when they represent new or unexpected information; otherwise, they have to be replaced by pronouns or be omitted. These conditions on noun use appear to outweigh potential advantages stemming from differences in internal complexity between nouns and verbs. Our findings suggest that, beneath the stag...Continue Reading

References

Feb 1, 1997·Cognition·J E Fox Tree, H H Clark
Apr 17, 2001·The Behavioral and Brain Sciences·W J LeveltA S Meyer
Aug 19, 2003·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Elizabeth BatesOvid Tzeng
Mar 24, 2004·Cognition·P Indefrey, W J M Levelt
Jan 7, 2005·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·Anna SzekelyElizabeth Bates
Feb 4, 2006·The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·Jacques Koreman
Apr 25, 2006·Biostatistics·W Evan JohnsonAriel Rabinovic
Jun 26, 2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Tanya StiversStephen C Levinson
May 4, 2010·Cognitive Psychology·T Florian Jaeger
May 11, 2010·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Gabriella ViglioccoStefano F Cappa
Jun 17, 2010·The Behavioral and Brain Sciences·Joseph HenrichAra Norenzayan
Feb 1, 2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Steven T PiantadosiEdward Gibson
Jun 24, 2014·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·David Kemmerer
Mar 20, 2015·The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·Volker DellwoMarie-José Kolly
Dec 15, 2015·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·Stephen C Levinson
Mar 5, 2016·Journal of Child Language·Erin Conwell
Sep 14, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Damián E BlasiMorten H Christiansen
Oct 11, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Andrej A KibrikDmitrij A Zalmanov
Jun 9, 2017·Cognition·Márton Sóskuthy, Jennifer Hay

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jan 27, 2021·PLoS Biology·Sebastian SauppeBalthasar Bickel
Dec 9, 2020·Entropy·Maja Linke, Michael Ramscar
Apr 20, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Mahdi MohseniChristoph Redies

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

package lme4
Texistepec
lme4
R

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.