Rule-based versus associative processes in derivational morphology.

The present article examines whether derivational morphology shows evidence of an associative memory structure. A distributional analysis of stems of attested derivational forms revealed evidence of clustering around phonological properties (gangs) for all nonneutral affixes but only a few neutral affixes. Subjects' acceptability ratings for novel complex words revealed sensitivity to the gang structure associated with the relevant derivational affixes. Results suggest that, like inflectional morphology, derivational morphology shows dissociations between rule-based and associative generalization mechanisms. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.