The Menzerath-Altmann Law at the Paragraph Level in Written Chinese: Why Register and Text Size Matter?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study explores the hierarchical relationship between paragraphs and sentences in written Chinese texts across 9 registers and 20 text sizes using the Menzerath-Altmann (MA) law. Key findings include: (1) The MA law is reasonably applicable at the supra-sentential level in written Chinese, specifically ‘paragraph-sentence-clause’ under certain boundary conditions. (2) Paragraph-level fittings are influenced by both register and text size. Certain fiction registers even show a decrease in goodness-of-fit as text size increases. (3) Media emerges as a potential factor shaping linguistic feature in literary texts. These findings may shed some light on MA law studies at the supra-sentential level.