On a distribution representing sentence-length in written prose

Abstract

A new model for representing sentence-length distributions is suggested in equation (8) which is a special case of equation (2), with parameter y =-2 known a priori. Eight known sentence-length frequency counts taken from English, Greek and Latin prose were all satisfactorily described by distribution (8). For these eight fits, the average probability P(X2) was 0 50. A ninth observed distribution, taken from a Latin text of unknown authorship failed the x2 test applied to the fit of the data to the model in equation (8). This corroborates Yule's (1939) conclusion that it is highly unlikely that de Gerson could have written De Imitatione Christi. It is further conjectured that the last-mentioned observed frequency distribution could be well represented by the more general model in equation (2), with a parameter y much smaller tha