Two experiments with 40 children (grades 4 to 8) found the children often used their knowledge of derivational suffixes in defining low-frequency derivatives, and knowledge of suffixes was significantly correlated with suffix production in a nonsense task. The children's morphological awareness of derivational suffixes included semantic…

Knowledge of derivational suffix meanings was investigated in 10 subjects (ages 10-12) with language learning disabilities and typical peers. Students produced derived forms from nonce bases in an elicitation task and selected derived forms in a forced choice task. Elicitation task accuracy of subjects fell substantially below that of peers.…

Relational knowledge of 21 derivational suffixes was investigated with 120 children (grades 3-8) and 40 adults. Results obtained from a nonsense-word model indicated that suffixes were comprehended with greater accuracy than they were produced, particularly by the children. Children and adults demonstrated greatest accuracy in comprehension and…