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Many researchers suggest that several different concepts may be needed when approaching complexity: entropy, size, description length, effective complexity, information, connectivity, irreducibility, low probability, syntactic depth etc. Research suggests that while methodological choices affect the results, even rather crude analytic tools may provide a feasible starting point for measuring grammatical complexity.<ref name="Sinnemäki2011" />
==A comparison==
{{Contains special characters|IPA|section}}
Guy (1994)<ref>Jacques Guy, [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/sci.lang/KEHWJV90fgg/mSswvn0Z--MJ "sci.lang FAQ"], [[message-ID]]: 3bjmtc$ci3@medici.trl.OZ.AU, [[sci.lang]], 1994, December 1</ref> illustrates the point{{which|date=January 2016}} by comparing two [[Santo languages]] he has worked on that are about as closely related as [[French language|French]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Tolomako language|Tolomako]] and [[Sakao language|Sakao]], both spoken in the village of [[Port Olry]], [[Vanuatu]]. Because these languages are very similar to each other, and equally distant from English, he holds that neither is inherently biased as being seen as more easy or difficult by an English speaker (see [[difficulty of learning languages]]).
===Phonology===
Sakao has more, and more difficult, vowel distinctions than Tolomako:
{|
|- valign=top
|
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+ Tolomako vowels
! !!front<br>unrounded !! back<br>rounded
|- align=center
!close
| i || u
|- align=center
! mid
| e || o
|- align=center
! open
| colspan=2| a
|}
|
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+ Sakao vowels (partial)
! !! front<br>unrounded !! front<br>rounded !! back<br>rounded
|- align=center
!close
| i || y || u
|- align=center
! {{nowrap|close mid}}
| e || ø || o
|- align=center
! open mid
| ɛ || œ || ɔ
|- align=center
! open
| a || || ɒ
|}
| <br>
{|class=wikitable
|In addition, Sakao has a close vowel {{IPA|/ɨ/}} that is unspecified for being rounded or unrounded, front or back, and is always unstressed. It also has the two [[diphthong]]s {{IPA|/œɛ, ɒɔ/}}, whereas Tolomako has none.
|}
|}
In addition, it has more and more difficult consonant distinctions:
{|
|- valign=top
|
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+ Tolomako consonants
! !!labial!!alveolar!!velar
|- align=center
! nasal
| m || n ||
|- align=center
! plosive
| p || t || k
|- align=center
! affricate
| || ts ||
|- align=center
! fricative
| β || || ɣ
|- align=center
! trill
| || r ||
|- align=center
! approximant
| || l ||
|}
|
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+ Sakao consonants
! !!labial!!alveolar!!palatal!!velar!!glottal
|- align=center
! nasal
| m || n || || ŋ||
|- align=center
! plosive
| p || t || || k||
|- align=center
! fricative
| β || ð || || ɣ || h
|- align=center
! trill
| || r || || ||
|- align=center
! voiceless trill
| || r̥ || || ||
|- align=center
! approximant
| w || l || j || ||
|}
| <br>
{|class=wikitable
|In addition, Sakao consonants may be long or short: {{IPA|/œβe/}} "drum", {{IPA|/œββe/}} "bed"
|}
|}
Tolomako has a simple syllable structure, maximally consonant–vowel–vowel. It is not clear if Sakao even has syllables; that is, whether trying to divide Sakao words into meaningful syllables is even possible.
{|
|
{| class=wikitable
|+ Tolomako {{nowrap|syllable structure}}
|-
|{{nowrap|[[vowel|V]], [[consonant|C]]V, VV, CVV}}
|}
|
{| class=wikitable
|+ Sakao syllable structure
|-
|V (a vowel or diphthong) surrounded by any number of consonants: <br>V {{IPA|/i/}} "thou", CCVCCCC (?) {{IPA|/mhɛrtpr/}} "having sung and stopped singing thou kept silent" <br>{{nowrap|[{{IPA|m-}} 2nd pers., {{IPA|hɛrt}} "to sing", {{IPA|-p}} [[perfective]], {{IPA|-r}} continuous].}}
|}
|}
===Morphology===
With [[Inalienable possession|inalienably possessed]] nouns, Tolomako inflections are consistently regular, whereas Sakao is full of irregular nouns:
{|
|
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|-
! Tolomako !! Sakao !! English
|-
| na tsiɣo-ku || œsɨŋœ-ɣ || "my mouth"
|-
| na tsiɣo-mu || œsɨŋœ-m || "thy mouth"
|-
| na tsiɣo-na || ɔsɨŋɔ-n || "his/her/its mouth"
|-
| na tsiɣo-... || œsœŋ-... || "...'s mouth"
|}
|
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|-
! Tolomako !! Sakao !! English
|-
| na βulu-ku || uly-ɣ || "my hair"
|-
| na βulu-mu || uly-m || "thy hair"
|-
| na βulu-na || ulœ-n || "his/her/its hair"
|-
| na βulu-... || nøl-... || "...'s hair"
|}
|}
Here Tolomako "mouth" is invariably ''{{IPA|tsiɣo-}}'' and "hair" invariably ''{{IPA|βulu-}},'' whereas Sakao "mouth" is variably ''{{IPA|œsɨŋœ-, ɔsɨŋɔ-, œsœŋ-}}'' and "hair" variably ''{{IPA|uly-, ulœ-, nøl-}}.''
===Syntax===
With [[deixis]], Tolomako has three degrees (here/this, there/that, yonder/yon), whereas Sakao has seven.
Tolomako has a [[preposition]] to distinguish the [[object (grammar)|object]] of a verb from an instrument; indeed, a single preposition, ''ne,'' is used for all relationships of space and time. Sakao, on the other hand, treats both as objects of the verb, with a transitive suffix ''{{IPA|-ɨn}}'' that shows the verb has two objects, but letting context disambiguate which is which:
{|
|- valign=top
|
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+ Tolomako
|mo||losi||na||poe||ne||na||matsa
|-
|S/he||hits||[[article (grammar)|{{sc|art}}]]||pig||[[preposition|{{sc|prep}}]]||{{sc|art}}||club
|-
|colspan=7|"He hits (kills) the pig with a club"
|}
|
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+ Sakao
|mɨ-jil-ɨn||a-ra||a-mas
|-
|S/he-hits-[[transitive verb|{{sc|trans}}]]||{{sc|art}}-pig||{{sc|art}}-club
|-
|colspan=3|"He hits (kills) the pig with a club"
|}
| <br>
{|class=wikitable
| The Sakao could also be ''{{IPA|mɨjilɨn amas ara}}''
|}
|}
The Sakao strategy involves [[polysynthetic]] syntax, as opposed to the isolating syntax of Tolomako:
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+ Sakao polysynthesis
|colspan=3|Mɔssɔnɛshɔβrɨn aða ɛðɛ (or: ɛðɛ aða)
|-
|mɔ-sɔn-nɛs-hɔβ-r-ɨn || a-ða || ɛ-ðɛ
|-
|s/he-shoots-fish-follows-[[continuous aspect|{{sc|cont}}]]-{{sc|trans}} ||{{sc|art}}-bow ||{{sc|art}}-sea
|-
|colspan=3|"He kept on walking along the shore shooting fish with a bow."
|}
Here ''{{IPA|aða}}'' "the bow" is the instrumental of ''{{IPA|sɔn}}'' "to shoot", and ''{{IPA|ɛðɛ}}'' "the sea" is the direct object of ''{{IPA|hoβ}}'' "to follow", which because they are combined into a single verb, are marked as [[ditransitive]] with the suffix ''{{IPA|-ɨn}}.'' Because ''{{IPA|sɔn}}'' "to shoot" has the [[noun incorporation|incorporated]] object ''{{IPA|nɛs}}'' "fish", the first consonant [[gemination|geminates]] for ''{{IPA|ssɔn}}''; ''{{IPA|ssɔn-nɛs}},'' being part of one word, then reduces to ''{{IPA|ssɔnɛs}}.'' And indeed, the previous example of killing a pig could be put more succinctly, but grammatically more complexly, in Sakao by incorporating the object 'pig' into the verb:
{| class="wikitable IPA"
|-
|colspan=2|mɨjilrapɨn amas
|-
|mɨ-jil-ra-p-ɨn || a-mas
|-
|s/he-hit-pig-[[perfective aspect|{{sc|pfv}}]]-{{sc|trans}} ||{{sc|art}}-club
|}
Guy asks rhetorically, "Which of the two languages spoken in Port-Olry do you think the Catholic missionaries learnt and used? Could that possibly be because it was easier than the other?"
== Language complexity and learning ==
| 