Abstract/Summary

Complexity within the language system arises from two a priori distinct sources: the computational complexity inherent in the grammar of the language itself or “formal linguistic complexity”, and the procedural complexity resulting from marshalling processing resources in order to produce or interpret utterances that correspond to the grammar. Whether or not these two aspects of language can be distinguished is a long debated issue. In this short paper we will outline how the use of symbolic encoding techniques may reveal both markers of procedural processing and markers of formal linguistic content.