Yes there are some limitations for newbies, there is a wait time from one post to another post (360 seconds), and maxim number of private messages per day (2).
You can find more info in this post: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/newbies-read-before-posting-1689727
There also seem to be limitations as to which discussions newbys are allowed to post in. For example, I am not allowed to post in the 'Serious discussion' forum (despite my utter lack of humour).
This makes me wonder how many posts are made just so users will be able to take part in the discussions of their choosing but I assume the admins have done the math and made it this way on purpose.