Why are some languages spoken faster than others?
为什么一些语言的语速比其它语言更快？
Were this article written inJapanese, it would be longer. AThai translation, meanwhile, would be shorter. And yet thosereading it aloud, in eitherlanguage or in its original English, would finish at roughly the sametime. This peculiar phenomenonis the subject of new researchwhich finds that languages face atrade-off between complexity andspeed.
如果这篇文章是用日语写的，它会变得更长；而它的泰语译文则会更短。但不论用日语、泰语还是文章原版的英语，朗读者都会在大致同一时间念完。这种特别的现象正是一项新研究的课题，研究发现，语言需要在其复杂性和语速间寻求一种平衡。
In a study published this monthin Science Advances, ChristopheCoupé, Yoon Mi Oh, Dan Dediu andFrançois Pellegrino start byquantifying the informationdensity of 17 Eurasian languages, as measured by the ease withwhich each syllable can beguessed based on the precedingone. Next, they record the rate atwhich 170 native speakers read 15texts out loud. Finally, armed withdata about the informationcontained in a piece of text andthe speed at which it can bespoken, the authors derive therate at which information iscommunicated.
在本月《科学进展》期刊上发表的一篇研究里，联合作者克里斯托夫·库佩、吴尹美（音）、丹·德迪乌和弗朗索瓦·佩莱格里诺采取了如下步骤：首先，他们将欧亚语系下的 17 种语言的信息密度进行量化，方法是衡量根据上一个音节猜出下一个音节的容易程度。接着，他们记录下 170 位各语言母语者朗读 15 篇文本的速度。最后，通过分析单篇文本所含信息量及其朗读速度的相关数据，这些作者获得了相应语言的信息传输速率。
The results suggest that there isan optimal range of speeds withinwhich the brain can processinformation most efficiently. Speakers of simple languagespick up the pace to keepconversations brief. Speakers ofcomplex languages exert moreeffort planning sentences andarticulating syllables, causingdiscussions to drag on. “It is likebird wings,” says Dr Coupé, one ofthe authors, “you may have bigones that need few beats persecond or you have to really flapthe little ones you got, but theresult is pretty much the same interms of flying.”
研究结果表明，存在一个最佳语速区间，在这个区间内，大脑能够以最高效率来处理信息。说“简单”（信息密度低）语言的人会加快语速，使对话变得简短；而说“复杂”（信息密度高）语言的人则会花更多功夫在遣词造句和清晰吐字上，导致讨论时间拖长。“这就好比鸟的翅膀，”其中一名作者库佩博士说，“你可能有一对大翅膀，每秒只需振翅几下；或者有一对小翅膀，那就真得使劲儿扑扇，不过，在飞行速度上，两者最终基本一致。”
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