  As speakers turn their thoughts into sentences, they maintain a balance
between the complexity of words and syntax. However, it is unclear whether this
syntax-lexicon tradeoff is unique to the spoken language production that is
under the pressure of rapid online processing. Alternatively, it is possible
that the tradeoff is a basic property of language irrespective of the modality
of production. This work evaluates the relationship between the complexity of
words and syntactic rules in the written language of neurotypical individuals
on three different topics. We found that similar to speaking, constructing
sentences in writing involves a tradeoff between the complexity of the lexical
and syntactic items. We also show that the reduced online processing demands
during writing allows for retrieving more complex words at the cost of
incorporating simpler syntax. This work further highlights the role of
accessibility of the elements of a sentence as the driving force in the
emergence of the syntax-lexicon tradeoff.
