MLU for languages with complex morphology

[Isa Barriere]

Good morning,
Isn't there a negative correlation between morphological complexity of a
given language and the average number of words that an utterance contains
in the same language?

If we take the examples in Inuktitut (given Shanley Allen's book based on
her dissertation- Allen 1989 or 1990, in the appendix), looking at the
utterances taking into account the # of words, many of them would only 1
word.  However this does not capture the complexity of the meaning and the
structure- that MLU does.

So for different stages of devlpt and in the adult language the number of
word per utterance may be limited and pretty stable and the progression is
therefore best assessed taking into account number of morphemes (less
stable across ages and stages).

Isabelle Barriere, PhD

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