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.

研究了典型人类书写中的语言产出、语法与词汇复杂度之间的平衡，发现与语言口语类似，书写句子也存在语法与词汇复杂度之间的回报关系，并且与语音产出不同的是，书写过程可以检索到更复杂的词汇，但会牺牲语法结构的复杂度。该研究强调了句子成分易于接近是导致语法与词汇数量之间关系出现的驱动因素。

写作中的语法与词汇权衡