Aubrey Wilson

Date of Graduation

Spring 2009

Degree

Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Committee Chair

Ronald Netsell

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is to quantify the rate of speech for three languages: American English (AE), Arabic, and Tamil. The Tamil language has been influenced by numerous dialects. According to one of the Tamil speaking participants, a “pure” Tamil language is seldom spoken anymore. The three Tamil participants spoke three different dialects of Tamil, and according to the participants, their speaking rates were representative of different dialects of Tamil spoken in the southern part of India. The null hypothesis is that these languages will have the same speaking rate. Three native speakers from each language were recruited for participation in the study. Each participant recorded a five minute speech sample in their native language. Tamil speakers were found to have the fastest speaking rate, followed by Arabic speakers, then AE speakers. These findings may be significant for accent reduction therapy. Individuals who instinctively speak faster may increase intelligibility of AE by reducing their rate.

Keywords

quantifying speaking rate, measure of speaking rate and articulation rate, syllables per second, AE speaking rate, Arabic speaking rate, Tamil speaking rate

Subject Categories

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Copyright

© Aubrey Wilson

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