Table 1 Lu’s (2010) features of syntactic complexity.
From: Syntactic complexity in legal translated texts and the use of plain English: a corpus-based study
Measure | Code | Definition |
|---|---|---|
Type 1: Length of production unit Mean length of clause | MLC | # of words/# of clauses |
Mean length of sentence | MLS | # of words/# of sentences |
Mean length of T-unit | MLT | # of words/# of T-units |
Type 2: Sentence complexity ratio | C/S | # of clauses/# of sentences |
Type 3: Subordination T-unit complexity ratio | C/T | # of clauses/# of T-units |
Complex T-unit ratio | CT/T | # of complex T-units/# of T-units |
Dependent clause ratio | DC/C | # of dependent clauses/# of clauses |
Dependent clauses per T-unit | DC/T | # of dependent clauses/# of T-units |
Type 4: Coordination Coordinate phrases per clause | CP/C | # of coordinate phrases/# of clauses |
Coordinate phrases per T-unit | CP/T | # of coordinate phrases/# of T-units |
Sentence coordination ratio | T/S | # of T-units/# of sentences |
Type 5: Particular structures Complex nominals per clause | CN/C | # of complex nominals/# of clauses |
Complex nominals per T-unit | CN/T | # of complex nominals/# of T-units |
Verb phrases per T-unit | VP/T | # of verb phrases/# of T-units |
