• @modeler
    link
    English
    27 hours ago

    Some languages have fewer vowel sounds while others have an insane number (in Europe that would be Danish).

    Thai has a lot, so speakers need to speak more slowly so the listener has time to distinguish words. But it also means that you can have more words per syllable.

    It’s not about efficiency per se - it’s data and error correction

    • @modeler
      link
      English
      27 hours ago

      Just to add - Thai has a tonal system and distinguishes rising, low, medium, high and falling tones. This requires a bit more time to say so that there is time for the tone to change (or not change).