Fact · Languages and accents
39bits per second
A study of 17 languages found that they encode similar information rates, about 39 bits per second, despite large differences in speech rate and in information per syllable.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“languages encoding similar information rates (~39 bits/s) despite wide differences in each property individually”
Different languages, similar encoding efficiency: Comparable information rates across the human communicative niche, Christophe Coupé et al., Science Advances, 2019, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aaw2594)- What it measures
- Faster-spoken languages pack less information into each syllable, and slower-spoken ones pack more, so they converge.
- What it does not show
- Based on read speech in 17 languages. The study measures syllables and bits, not words per minute.