Speech Rate in a Pluricentric Language: A Comparison Between Dutch in Belgium and the Netherlands

This paper investigates speech rate in two standard national varieties of Dutch on the basis of 160 15 mins conversations with native speakers who belong to four different regions in the Netherlands and four in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium (Flanders). Speech rate was quantified as articulation rate and speaking rate, both expressed as the number of syllables per second (syll/s). The results show a significant effect of speakers' country of origin: subjects in the Netherlands speak 16% faster than subjects in Belgium (articulation: 5.05 vs. 4.23 syll/s, speaking: 4.23 vs. 4.00 syll/s). In addition, the independent variable sex was also found to be significant: on average, men speak 6% faster than women (articulation: 4.79 vs. 4.50 syll/s, speaking: 4.23 vs. 4.01 syll/s). The independent variable age was significant too: younger subjects speak 5% faster than older ones (articulation: 4.78 vs. 4.52 syll/s, speaking: 4.23 vs. 4.01 syll/s). The findings of this study confirm the traditional view that speech rate is determined by extralinguistic variables, but also suggest that there may be intrinsic tempo differences between language varieties.