It estimates that the average number of words we speak each day declined by 338 words per year between 2005 and 2019. That's about 120,000 fewer spoken words per person each year.
“Everything would point to the trend accelerating after 2019, or at least during the pandemic years. After that, we might have had a bit of a rebound, even though many people experienced social lethargy and challenges getting back into in-person socialising afterwards,” Matthias Mehl, one of the researchers and a professor at the University of Arizona, told The European Correspondent.
The study found evidence that technology plays a major role in the decline. More people live alone, and many work remotely, which limits opportunities to interact with others in person. Instead, many of these interactions have been replaced by technology. Think of watching television while having dinner, online dating, self-checkout machines in supermarkets or in-car navigation.
“We think that it is a culmination of many small, imperceptible changes that have added up over time,” Valerie A. Pfeifer, assistant professor at UMKC, explained.
“Other, larger changes in how we as a society spend time, socialise, and what we consider normative behaviour likely play a role as well,” she continued.
We don't live in multi-generational households as much anymore, for example. And fewer people spend their free time in semi-formal settings such as churches, associations or clubs, which tend to reinforce norms such as polite conversation, cooperation, punctuality, respect for authority or helping fellow members.
Speaking less can affect our lives in various ways. According to Vittorio Lingiardi, professor of psychology at Sapienza University of Rome, the loss of words is closely linked to how we feel, express ourselves, and relate to others.
“One theme I generally notice in forms of psychological distress is that people are often unable to name or distinguish their own feelings,” he told TEC.
This could especially be a problem for young people, who saw a higher decrease in spoken words according to the study: 452 fewer words per day, compared to 314 for adults above 25 years old.
Another consequence of speaking less is simplification. Speaking requires the brain to retrieve vocabulary, structure thoughts and react in real time.
“Being exposed to fewer words leads to a simplification of thought and of our interpretation of the world,” Lingiardi said.
Language evolves through use, and some experts argue that if spoken interaction continues to decline, everyday vocabulary could become narrower and less nuanced over time.
This also means that the simplification of political language and communication affects the way we perceive the world. Studies have found that political discourse in the US has become less complex over time. Analyses of US president Donald Trump's speeches, for example, have suggested that they can be understood even by nine-year-old children.
“There is a qualitative gap in the way political discourse is articulated, which obviously influences the way we experience the world. If you struggle to engage with the complexity of the world because you cannot understand it, you retreat into a polarised position – good vs bad or beautiful vs ugly – because fewer words are needed to express that,” Lingiardi concluded.
The good news is that talking more does not require dramatic lifestyle changes, sweat, blood or tears.
Mehl told TEC that since the study's release, he has tried to take every possible opportunity for micro-socialising.
In fact, there are some easy ways to reverse the trend: integrating small habits such as calling a friend instead of texting, speaking to neighbours or colleagues, joining clubs or discussion groups, or simply making more room for unstructured conversation in everyday life.