Project information
Mapping Complexity in Language (COMPLANG)

How does the underlying structure of words shape their behavior? A foundational assumption in linguistics is that words have an underlying internal structure, which is not always visible on the surface, but stands at the bottom of many linguistic phenomena. This project focuses on one property of these structures: their complexity. I argue that when comparing two phenomena that are known to be sensitive to structural complexity – the way words are spelled out, and the alternatives they compete with – it becomes clear that they correspond to different notions of complexity. My aim in this project is to map these notions, couch them in a broader theoretical and empirical context, and understand their sources.