Differences in Speech Rate Depending on the Formality of Conversation

－An Analysis using the Corpus of Everyday Japanese Conversation (CEJC)－

Abstract

The speech rate is a non-linguistic element affecting the comprehensibility of a conversation. Unlike previous studies that focused on measuring the speech rate of read materials, we measured the speech rate in everyday Japanese conversations using a corpus (CEJC). In this study, we analyzed differences in speech rate based on the formality of conversation, in addition to the age and gender of speakers. The findings indicate that informal conversations generally exhibit a faster speech rate than formal ones among the younger generations. However, this difference is less pronounced among the older generations. A potential explanation for this phenomenon could be the presence of an anchor speech rate. In addition, gender differences in speech rate were more noticeable in informal conversations, with men speaking faster than women. In formal conversations, there was minimal systematic change in speech rate across generations, while older generations tended to speak more slowly in informal settings.