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…

This study compared the effect of productivity (a correlate of suffix frequency) on derivational suffix use in 69 elementary and middle school students' derivational suffix use. Twenty-three students had language-learning disabilities (LLD). Students with and without LLD used highly productive suffixes but LLD students were less accurate in…