Measures of syntactic complexity, derived from the grammatical analysis of free speech samples from schizophrenic subjects, were significantly correlated with age of onset of schizophrenia. A significant correlation remained after controlling for chronological age. These results were independent of duration of illness. The relationship between reduced syntactic complexity and early age of onset of schizophrenia suggests a salient role for language functioning in the manifestation, or even the etiology, of schizophrenia, and adds putative support to previous findings indicating left hemispheric dysfunction in schizophrenia.