A cross-linguistic computational study on one new idea per clause

Bibliographic Data

ID19234513
AuthorsGuido M Linders (0000-0002-2252-6260, University of Freiburg), Stefan Schnell (0000-0003-2036-2263, University of Freiburg)
Year2026
Volume33
Issue1-2
Pages159-191
Publication date2026-06-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFunctions of Language (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0929-998X • E-ISSN: 1569-9765
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/fol.26016.rei
OpenAlexW7160244177
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited31

We investigate a notion related to Chafe’s One New Idea Constraint (ONICON), namely that clauses only contain one new idea at a time. We investigate both the nominal and the verbal domain in discourse production data from 16 diverse languages. We find no convincing evidence for a hard constraint on the number of new ideas per clause, nor for speakers actively managing information flow in discourse. The absence of an underlying ONICON is suggested by (1) the fact that NPs co-occurring in a single clause do not have more accessible referents, (2) that observed distributions of information can likewise be reproduced by a randomised mechanism, and (3) the absence of a presentational referent activation pattern. A more likely account of observed discourse production pattern is producers’ overall goal to be both contentful and coherent, the former implying the mentioning of a considerable number of entities and the latter implying predications about these entities. It is in this sense that there is audience design, rather than in an avoidance of information overcharge

Information flow · Presentational and representational acting · Referent · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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