Structural Aspects of Contextual Constraint Within Sentences

Author(s):

Pike, Lewis W.

Publication Year:

1969

Report Number:

RB-69-16

Source:

ETS Research Bulletin

Document Type:

Report

Page Count:

135

Subject/Key Words:

Linguistics, Prose, Sentence Structure

Abstract

An important feature of language is contextual constraint, which helps preserve the essence of a message even when an occasional word is missed. One index of this constraint is the percentage of subjects who can correctly replace a word which has been omitted from its context. Studies using this measure have shown that on the average, contextual constraint operates over distances of only a few words, and that its effectiveness diminishes sharply as distance increases. The present study investigated structural relationships and individual constraint effects underlying these distance-constraint findings.

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• http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2333-8504.1969.tb00396.x