<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<modsCollection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3">
<mods ID="gerdes-2026-grammar">
    <titleInfo>
        <title>The Grammar Does the Work: Functional vs. Lexical Dependency Length Minimization Across the UD Languages</title>
    </titleInfo>
    <name type="personal">
        <namePart type="given">Kim</namePart>
        <namePart type="family">Gerdes</namePart>
        <role>
            <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
        </role>
    </name>
    <originInfo>
        <dateIssued>2026-05</dateIssued>
    </originInfo>
    <typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource>
    <relatedItem type="host">
        <titleInfo>
            <title>Proceedings of the Ninth Workshop on Universal Dependencies (UDW 2026)</title>
        </titleInfo>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Çağrı</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Çöltekin</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Kaja</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Dobrovoljc</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <originInfo>
            <publisher>ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA)</publisher>
            <place>
                <placeTerm type="text">Palma de Mallorca, Spain</placeTerm>
            </place>
        </originInfo>
        <genre authority="marcgt">conference publication</genre>
    </relatedItem>
    <abstract>Dependency length minimization (DLM) is a well-documented processing universal, but previous studies report a single mean dependency distance (MDD) per language, obscuring variation across syntactic relation types. We analyze 122 languages in UD and SUD (version 2.17), showing that DLM operates on two distinct levels. Grammar-driven optimization targets functional dependencies (det, case, aux), which are universally short (mean 1.71, \ensuremathσ=0.33) and invariant across typologically diverse languages. Processing-driven optimization operates on lexical dependencies (nsubj, obj, obl), which are longer (mean 2.87), highly variable (\ensuremathσ=0.63), and constrained by word-order typology. This asymmetry holds in SUD despite reversed head direction (r=0.92). We conclude that “the grammar does the work” of minimization by scaffolding sentences with local functional attachments, leaving processing pressures to determine the ordering of lexical heads.</abstract>
    <identifier type="citekey">gerdes-2026-grammar</identifier>
    <identifier type="doi">10.63317/4akqrtsv7i65</identifier>
    <location>
        <url>https://aclanthology.org/2026.udw-1.14/</url>
    </location>
    <part>
        <date>2026-05</date>
        <extent unit="page">
            <start>163</start>
            <end>173</end>
        </extent>
    </part>
</mods>
</modsCollection>

%0 Conference Proceedings
%T The Grammar Does the Work: Functional vs. Lexical Dependency Length Minimization Across the UD Languages
%A Gerdes, Kim
%Y Çöltekin, Çağrı
%Y Dobrovoljc, Kaja
%S Proceedings of the Ninth Workshop on Universal Dependencies (UDW 2026)
%D 2026
%8 May
%I ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA)
%C Palma de Mallorca, Spain
%F gerdes-2026-grammar
%X Dependency length minimization (DLM) is a well-documented processing universal, but previous studies report a single mean dependency distance (MDD) per language, obscuring variation across syntactic relation types. We analyze 122 languages in UD and SUD (version 2.17), showing that DLM operates on two distinct levels. Grammar-driven optimization targets functional dependencies (det, case, aux), which are universally short (mean 1.71, \ensuremathσ=0.33) and invariant across typologically diverse languages. Processing-driven optimization operates on lexical dependencies (nsubj, obj, obl), which are longer (mean 2.87), highly variable (\ensuremathσ=0.63), and constrained by word-order typology. This asymmetry holds in SUD despite reversed head direction (r=0.92). We conclude that “the grammar does the work” of minimization by scaffolding sentences with local functional attachments, leaving processing pressures to determine the ordering of lexical heads.
%R 10.63317/4akqrtsv7i65
%U https://aclanthology.org/2026.udw-1.14/
%U https://doi.org/10.63317/4akqrtsv7i65
%P 163-173

Markdown (Informal)

[The Grammar Does the Work: Functional vs. Lexical Dependency Length Minimization Across the UD Languages](https://aclanthology.org/2026.udw-1.14/) (Gerdes, UDW 2026)

• The Grammar Does the Work: Functional vs. Lexical Dependency Length Minimization Across the UD Languages (Gerdes, UDW 2026)

ACL

• Kim Gerdes. 2026. The Grammar Does the Work: Functional vs. Lexical Dependency Length Minimization Across the UD Languages. In Proceedings of the Ninth Workshop on Universal Dependencies (UDW 2026), pages 163–173, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA).