R: [SEELANGS] Reading Speed in Slovenian

[Luciano Di Cocco]

Did they test also Serbo-Croat? Did they test if in Slovenian stressed
syllables are pronounced slower than stressed syllables in Russian and
Polish? It's nothing scientific, but my ears suggest that very often
stressed syllables in tonal languages are pronounced slower than in related
languages without tonal stress. I don't know Slovenian, but I've read that
stressed syllables in Slovenian have a tonal pattern as in Serbo-Croat. I
believe Slovenian and Serbo-Croat are the only modern Slavic languages with
a tonal stress. Maybe there is a relationship, maybe not. If possible I
would test this hypothesis.

To my ears the same pattern appears also in Scandinavian languages, both in
the tonal stress of Norwegian and Swedish, and in the creaky voice on some
stressed syllables in Danish.

Luciano Di Cocco

> I have received a question from a company that tested reading speed in
> Russian,
> Polish, and Slovenian.
> They found that the reading speed in Slovenia (measured in syllables
> per minute)
> is slower than in Polish and Russian.  I mean when they looked at all
> languages
> in syllables per minute, Slovenian was the slowest spoken language.
> However,
> when they assessed the reading speed in words per minute, Slovenian was
> in
> middle range.
> 
> They wonder: could it be that syllables are pronounced in a more
> prolonged/stretched way in Slovenian? Or could it be that syllables are
> longer
> (include more letters per syllable) compared to Russian and Polish?
> For ideas please back channel.
> Psy Ling

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