End of discussion: professor of linguistics investigated whether Limburgers really speak and share findings (inland)
They say thatThe VTM program with Dina Tersago and Andy Peelman, wanted to know what that is with those slow-speaking Limburgers. Do they really say ‘hay’ or is that based on a persistent stereotype? That is why they asked Professor of Linguistics Bert Oben van de KU Leuven-himself Van Zichen-Zussen-Bolder-to set up scientific research.
Oben went to work with bachelor’s and master’s students from the Language and Literature course at KU Leuven. « To get a good picture of a person’s speed of speaking, we always placed test subjects in a different context, » he explains. « Some played an escapegame, others read a text for or had to tell a story and a fourth group was interviewed. None of the 210 participants knew what exactly we wanted to measure to prevent them from unknowingly adapting. »
Professor Bert Oben: « Limburgers don’t speak slower. So stop saying that. » – © VTM
« You measure the speed of speaking by counting the number of syllables per second. Based on this, we can say: there is no significant difference between the speakers of different Flemish provinces. In all provinces, one speaks on average just as quickly. Limburgers do not speak slower. So stop say that. » Age makes a difference. The older you are, the slower you speak. « Men also tend to speak a little faster than women. Men speak with 4.4 syllables per second. That is just a little faster than women (4.2). »
Does the place of origin never have an effect on your speaking speed? « Yes, there has already been an investigation into the difference in speaking speed between Dutch and Flemish people and it has been established that Dutch people speak faster and especially if they live near the Randstad (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht). Research in the US has also shown that residents of the south of the United States also speak a lot slower. »
Stubborn prejudice
Limburgers do not speak slower, but the Oben study shows that Flemish people continue to believe that persistently. The researchers conducted a survey among 1,300 Flemish people asking whether Limburgers speak slowly and on average a figure of 6.3 out of 10 or earlier approved. West Flemish people in particular are convinced of this. They give a 7.4 on a scale of 1 to 10. Limburgers give an average of 5.7 but also think that it is ‘rather true’.
Andy Peelman calls for ‘they say that’ a number of well -known Limburgers and notes how quickly they speak. – © VTM
The linguists then showed 1,000 test subjects an audio clip of three actors from Flemish Brabant and Limburg who read a text. « The same clips were also listened to with a delayed play speed, » explains Oben. “Those audio fragments were so mounted that they were 100 percent identical: all words were pronounced in the same place by the Limburg and Brabant actors and all breaks were in the same place. At the normal speed, the fragments of the Limburg actors were not rated as slower, but at the slow version the Limburg actors were stupidly rated the straw -rateders of the Brabantse. Thinking pattern activates, « explains Oben. « Despite the fact that there is no difference, we think it sounds like this. There you see what a stubborn stereotype can do. »
The research also compared the ‘attitude’ of listeners to speakers with a Brabant and a Limburg accent. « Brabanders are generally assessed as more positive in terms of status and competencies. Limburgers score lower on these properties, » says Oben. “But when people from Brabanders speak slower, their score is falling very strongly, while slow -speaking Limburgers are punished less. » Because we expect from Limburgers to speak slower, we don’t find that abnormal. A slow -speaking Brabander is therefore judged faster as less positively. «
‘They say that’, Monday, 8.40 pm VTM. Listen to the podcast The humaniac On Spotify.
