This paper investigates the acoustic correlates of linguistic rhythm in speech signals across eight languages. Researchers have long classified languages based on their rhythmic properties, such as syllable-timed or stress-timed, but have struggled to identify reliable acoustic characteristics that distinguish these classes. The study presents instrumental measurements based on consonant/vowel segmentation, revealing that intuitive rhythm types reflect specific phonological properties, which are signaled by the acoustic/phonetic properties of speech. The data support the notion of rhythm classes and allow the simulation of infant language discrimination, consistent with the hypothesis that newborns rely on a coarse segmentation of speech. The study proposes a hypothesis regarding the role of rhythm perception in language acquisition. The paper discusses current views on speech rhythm, including the isochrony theory, which posits that rhythm is based on the isochrony of syllables or stress intervals. However, research has shown that this theory is not fully supported, as interstress intervals in stress-timed languages are not constant, and syllables in syllable-timed languages are not isochronous. Instead, the study suggests that rhythm is influenced by phonological properties such as syllable structure and vowel reduction. These properties contribute to the perception of different types of rhythm, with stress-timed languages having more varied syllable types and vowel reduction, while syllable-timed languages have more uniform syllables. The study also explores the existence of intermediate languages, such as Catalan and Polish, which do not fit neatly into the stress-timed or syllable-timed categories. These languages may fall between the two on a rhythmic scale, suggesting that there may be more rhythmic classes than previously thought. The paper also discusses the implications of these findings for language acquisition and infant language discrimination, proposing that infants use rhythm to discriminate languages based on their rhythmic classes. The study presents instrumental measurements in eight languages, including English, Dutch, Polish, French, Spanish, Italian, Catalan, and Japanese. These measurements reveal that languages can be classified based on the proportion of vocalic intervals (%V) and the standard deviation of vocalic intervals (ΔV). The results show that these measurements reflect something about rhythmic structure, with stress-timed languages having higher ΔC and lower %V, and syllable-timed languages having lower ΔC and higher %V. The study also discusses the implications of these findings for language discrimination and the role of rhythm in language acquisition. The paper concludes that the findings support the hypothesis that rhythm perception plays a crucial role in language acquisition and that the proposed model of speech rhythm is psychologically plausible.This paper investigates the acoustic correlates of linguistic rhythm in speech signals across eight languages. Researchers have long classified languages based on their rhythmic properties, such as syllable-timed or stress-timed, but have struggled to identify reliable acoustic characteristics that distinguish these classes. The study presents instrumental measurements based on consonant/vowel segmentation, revealing that intuitive rhythm types reflect specific phonological properties, which are signaled by the acoustic/phonetic properties of speech. The data support the notion of rhythm classes and allow the simulation of infant language discrimination, consistent with the hypothesis that newborns rely on a coarse segmentation of speech. The study proposes a hypothesis regarding the role of rhythm perception in language acquisition. The paper discusses current views on speech rhythm, including the isochrony theory, which posits that rhythm is based on the isochrony of syllables or stress intervals. However, research has shown that this theory is not fully supported, as interstress intervals in stress-timed languages are not constant, and syllables in syllable-timed languages are not isochronous. Instead, the study suggests that rhythm is influenced by phonological properties such as syllable structure and vowel reduction. These properties contribute to the perception of different types of rhythm, with stress-timed languages having more varied syllable types and vowel reduction, while syllable-timed languages have more uniform syllables. The study also explores the existence of intermediate languages, such as Catalan and Polish, which do not fit neatly into the stress-timed or syllable-timed categories. These languages may fall between the two on a rhythmic scale, suggesting that there may be more rhythmic classes than previously thought. The paper also discusses the implications of these findings for language acquisition and infant language discrimination, proposing that infants use rhythm to discriminate languages based on their rhythmic classes. The study presents instrumental measurements in eight languages, including English, Dutch, Polish, French, Spanish, Italian, Catalan, and Japanese. These measurements reveal that languages can be classified based on the proportion of vocalic intervals (%V) and the standard deviation of vocalic intervals (ΔV). The results show that these measurements reflect something about rhythmic structure, with stress-timed languages having higher ΔC and lower %V, and syllable-timed languages having lower ΔC and higher %V. The study also discusses the implications of these findings for language discrimination and the role of rhythm in language acquisition. The paper concludes that the findings support the hypothesis that rhythm perception plays a crucial role in language acquisition and that the proposed model of speech rhythm is psychologically plausible.