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Spelling of derivational and inflectional suffixes by Greek-speaking children with and without dyslexia

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Abstract

We investigated the spelling of derivational and inflectional suffixes by 10–13-year-old Greek children. Twenty children with dyslexia (DYS), 20 spelling-level-matched (SA) and 20 age-matched (CA) children spelled adjectives, nouns, and verbs in dictated word pairs and sentences. Children spelled nouns and verbs more accurately than adjectives and inflections more accurately than derivational suffixes. DYS children performed worse than CA in all cases and worse than SA in verb inflections, but similar to SA in all the remaining cases, consistent with a delayed rather than deviant performance pattern. Qualitative analysis showed that uncommon vowel graphemes were often replaced by more common patterns. Children with dyslexia may have weaknesses in grasping morphological information and/or in applying this knowledge to spell word suffixes.

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Notes

  1. Broad phonetic transcriptions are provided using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by the Human Communication Science Departmental Scholarship of University College London, the Leon Lemos Foundation Scholarship, and the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust Fund. We thank Athanassios Protopapas for the mixed model analyses and for helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London, London, UK

    Vassiliki Diamanti, Nata Goulandris & Ruth Campbell

  2. Institute of Education, London, UK

    Morag Stuart

  3. Timotheou 82–86, 162 31, Vyronas, Greece

    Vassiliki Diamanti

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  1. Vassiliki Diamanti
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  2. Nata Goulandris
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Correspondence to Vassiliki Diamanti.

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Nata Goulandris—deceased

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Diamanti, V., Goulandris, N., Stuart, M. et al. Spelling of derivational and inflectional suffixes by Greek-speaking children with and without dyslexia. Read Writ 27, 337–358 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-013-9447-2

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