Summary: An international study finds that speakers slow down before saying nouns more often than before verbs, suggesting nouns require more planning because they typically introduce new information.
Source: Leiden University
Why do we sometimes speak more slowly or more quickly, and why do pauses vary between words? Researchers led by linguist Frank Seifart (University of Amsterdam), in collaboration with Leiden University and other institutions, report that whether the next word will be a noun or a verb helps explain those differences. Their results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Every spoken utterance has a rate, but that rate fluctuates. Speakers unconsciously speed up and slow down, and these changes reflect a mix of influences: word frequency and predictability, the informational status of a word, and its place in the sentence. Seifart and colleagues adopted a new perspective by treating speech rate as an index of the cognitive planning needed to produce upcoming words. They concentrated on the time window during which speakers prepare words from the two primary lexical categories: nouns and verbs.
Noun versus verb
“We analyzed recordings of natural conversation from nine linguistically and culturally diverse populations—from the Amazon to Siberia, the Himalayas to the Kalahari, and including data from the United States and the Netherlands,” Seifart explains. The team measured speech rate both by how many sound segments (comparable to letters or phonetic segments) were produced per second and by the lengths of pauses between words. Across all nine languages, they found a clear tendency: speech slowed before nouns more than before verbs. This outcome ran counter to prior expectations, since earlier research—largely based on English—had suggested verbs require more planning time.
The researchers conclude that nouns generally demand more planning than verbs. They connect this effect to the typical informational role of nouns: nouns are often used to introduce new or unexpected referents. When the referent is already established, speakers commonly substitute pronouns (he, she, it) or omit the noun altogether. For example, rather than saying “The man came in and the man sat down,” speakers say “The man came in and he sat down.” Verbs, by contrast, do not benefit from the same substitution pattern: they are usually required regardless of whether the action is new or known, so they do not trigger the same planning slowdown.
Robust cross-linguistic patterns and implications
By sampling naturalistic speech across diverse languages and societies, the study identifies a robust cross-linguistic tendency: slower articulation and more pauses before nouns than before verbs. The authors argue that this pattern reflects a universal aspect of language processing tied to how speakers manage referential information. In other words, beneath the enormous variation of grammars and cultures, common processing demands appear to shape how people plan and produce speech.
The research also highlights a caution for language science: relying mainly on English can obscure general patterns. English behaved as the most exceptional language among the nine sampled, so conclusions drawn solely from English data may miss broader universals. The study underscores the value of including small or endangered languages to gain a fuller understanding of human language processing.
Source: Leiden University
Publisher: NeuroscienceNews.com (coverage of the research)
Image Source: Public domain image used by NeuroscienceNews.com
Original Research: “Nouns slow down speech across structurally and culturally diverse languages” by Frank Seifart et al., published in PNAS (May 2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1800708115
Speech rate varies because speakers continuously balance cognitive demands while communicating. Using speech rate as an indicator of planning effort, this cross-linguistic study examined how speakers prepare nouns and verbs. Sampling natural speech across nine diverse languages, the authors found a consistent tendency for slower speech and longer pauses before nouns than before verbs. They attribute this slowdown to the greater planning required for nouns, which are typically used to present new referential information and are often replaced by pronouns or omitted once the referent is established. These findings point to universal aspects of language processing tied to how speakers manage referential information in communication.