School-Aged Children’s Phonological Production of Derived English Words

Abstract

PURPOSE: Little is known about the phonological aspects of derivational processes. Neutral suffixes (e.g., -ness) that do not change stress and rhythmic or nonneutral suffixes (e.g., -ity) that alter stem stress were used in a production task that explored developmental changes in phonological accuracy of derived English words. METHOD: Three groups of typically achieving children, aged 7 (n = 19), 8 (n = 18), and 9 (n = 15) years, produced derived words in isolation (12 words with rhythmic suffixes and 10 with neutral suffixes). Productions were transcribed from audio-recordings. RESULTS: Stress accuracy was at ceiling levels for neutral derived words but steadily improved in words with rhythmic suffixes. The predominant stress error was maintaining stem stress in the derived form. Children also made syllabification and consonant errors (in isolation and overlapping with stem stress errors). More errors occurred on derived words with vowel changes than without. CONCLUSIONS: Morphophonological knowledge for words with rhythmic suffixes undergoes development in early school-aged children. The number or degree of phonological changes between the stem and derived word appears to be an important variable in accurate production.

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