Traditionally, since the days of Arthur Lloyd James and Kenneth Lee Pike, languages have been divided into two broad types: syllable-timed and stress-timed. French was considered the archetypal syllable-timed language (Lloyd James called this ‘machine gun rhythm’), in which each syllable had a similar duration, and English, probably the language whose rhythm has been studied most intensively, and mostly by native English speakers, the archetypal stress-timed language, in which stresses occur at approximately equal intervals of time. Doubt has been cast on this classification, because the measurements taken by phoneticians using ever more sophisticated machines have shown that neither syllables nor stresses are truly isochronous.
Phoneticians need to consider the case of music, which is, like language, a form of “organised sound”, and which also consists of variation in pitch, timing and intensity. Drum machines create mathematically exact rhythms, which humans cannot do. Human performers, on the other hand, produce interpretations of musical works which are not mathematically precise, but are still, nevertheless, rhythmical. Bach is considered to be one of the most scientific of composers, but electronic renderings of his music, while rhythmically precise, are lifeless. Performances by a human interpreter, however, can move the listener deeply. Composers using ‘Sibelius’, or one of the other suites of music software, find that they have difficulty using a (piano) keyboard to play in the rhythm that they want to be recorded, because the software recognises the minute differences of duration between the notes, and transcribes what it “hears”, leading to tiny fractions of beats being notated when they are not intended.
It is perhaps no accident that many phoneticians through the years have also been proficient musicians. As phoneticians, we need to learn more about the way in which we hear musical rhythm, and apply that knowledge to how we hear language. It has often been reported that interlocutors take up each other’s rhythms in a conversation. How can they do this if there is no rhythm to take up? Measuring durations of sounds in milliseconds will not work: rubato, accelerandi and rallentandi cannot be accounted for in such terms. Instead, a more impressionistic approach is needed, that will allow for the nuances of expression that are conveyed by rhythmical variation.
It may well be that there are more than the two types of linguistic rhythm, or that there is a gradient from extreme syllable timing to extreme stress timing, but I believe that it is our ears, not our machines, that will decide this in the long run.
Yesterday evening, the Really Terrible Orchestra, founded in Edinburgh by Alexander McCall Smith and his wife, gave a concert in London, and, according to the press reports, received a standing ovation at the end.
How often are children told that “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well”? The RTO goes to the other extreme, and follows the maxim “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly”. I believe that this is a far more important principle, because it emphasises the enjoyment you can get from playing a musical instrument without worrying about hitting all the right notes, or making a beautiful sound with the bow or breath control. And it’s not only true of music - thousands of mediocre sports enthusiasts take to the playing fields every week end to enjoy a game of football - all codes - in the winter and cricket in summer. They all know that they will never play for a professional team, but what does it matter? they are de-stressing themselves by their physical exertion in the company of like-minded, and to a large extent like-skilled people. At the end of the game, or concert, or whatever, the participants feel a wonderful buzz of satisfaction. What could be better than that?
As a student, I knew someone who claimed he would never take an interest in anything unless he could master it. If he took something up, he would have to work at it until he reached a high standard. If this was the only way he could gain any satisfaction from an activity, then fine - for him. Most of us do not have that dedication, but we do have multiple interests. It is a shame if we are not able to enjoy those interests because others don’t think we are good enough. So congratulations to the Really Terrible Orchestra, which allows musicians to come together no matter how low their standard, and have a good time.