The pace of speech - the speed of pronunciation of speech elements ( sounds , syllables , words) [1] . Refers to prosodic elements [2] , is one of the components of intonation . It should be noted that the absolute pace of speech depends on the individual characteristics of the speaker, the characteristics of his emotional state and communication situation, pronunciation style ; in addition, there is a relationship between the length of a speech unit and the speed of its utterance (desire for isochronism ): the longer the word or syntagma, the shorter the average duration of the sound (syllable) in them [1] .
The pace of speech can be measured [1] :
- the number of speech elements spoken per unit of time (most often per second );
- average element duration.
An increase in the rate of speech is achieved by reducing the duration of both vowels and consonants , while a decrease in the rate is achieved mainly by increasing the duration of the vowels [3] .
As an intonational means, the pace of speech performs the function of contrasting the more or less important components of a statement. The most important words or syntagmas are characterized by a slow pace, segments that carry secondary information (these include, in particular, introductory words ) are accelerated. Slowing down the pace toward the end of a statement is one of the means of formalizing its integrity [1] , which shows the syntactic [4] function of intonation.
Pace can also be understood as a characteristic that determines the degree of articulatory tension and auditory clarity of speech. So, at a slow pace, words appear in full sound forms [5] .
In practice
According to studies, the optimal rate of speech for reading audio books in English corresponds to 150-160 words per minute. For a personal conversation - 190 words per minute. For the Russian language, in which words are longer by about 20-30%, this rate will be lower [6] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary , article “Speech pace”
- ↑ Prosodic elements - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
- ↑ Pace of speech // Russian Humanitarian Encyclopedic Dictionary
- ↑ Kodzasov S.V. , Krivnova O.F. General phonetics. M .: RGGU, 2001
- ↑ Akhmanova O.S. Dictionary of linguistic terms. M .: KomKniga, 2007
- ↑ Gallo, 2015 , p. 81.
Literature
- Gallo, Carmine. TED-style presentations: 9 tricks from the world's best performances = Talk Like TED. The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets Of The World's Top Minds. - M .: Alpina Publisher , 2015 .-- 253 p. - ISBN 978-5-9614-4899-3 .