As speakers turn their thoughts into sentences, they maintain a balance between the complexity of words and syntax. However, it is unclear whether this syntax-lexicon tradeoff is unique to the spoken language production that is under the pressure of rapid online processing. Alternatively, it is possible that the tradeoff is a basic property of language irrespective of the modality of production. This work evaluates the relationship between the complexity of words and syntactic rules in the written language of neurotypical individuals on three different topics. We found that similar to speaking, constructing sentences in writing involves a tradeoff between the complexity of the lexical and syntactic items. We also show that the reduced online processing demands during writing allows for retrieving more complex words at the cost of incorporating simpler syntax. This work further highlights the role of accessibility of the elements of a sentence as the driving force in the emergence of the syntax-lexicon tradeoff.
翻译:由于发言者将想法转换成句子,他们保持了语言和语法的复杂性之间的平衡,然而,尚不清楚这种语法-语言平衡是否是口头语言生产所独有的,而这种语言生产受到快速在线处理的压力。或者,这种平衡有可能是语言的一种基本属性,而不论其生产方式如何。这项工作评估了在三个不同主题上,神经型个人书面语言语言的文字复杂性和综合规则之间的关系。我们发现,与言论相似的是,在撰写判决时,在词汇和合成项目的复杂性之间要进行权衡。我们还表明,由于在写作过程中对在线处理的需求减少,可以收回更为复杂的词语,而代价是采用较简单的语法。这项工作进一步突出了句的无障碍作用,即句子要素在出现通税-通识交易时作为驱动因素的作用。