On the retrieval and lexical structure of verbs

Abstract

This study examined the retrieval of regular and irregular past tense verbs. Subjects were presented with present tense verbs (e.g., TEACH) and had to produce the past tense form (TAUGHT) as quickly as possible. Reaction times and errors in this task suggested that preterites such as TAUGHT are not stored as separate and independent lexical units but are formed from the verb stem (TEACH) by means of derivational rules. The form of the errors suggested that different phonological operations for the same stem are to some extent independently specified and apply to distinctive features rather than fully integrated phonemes.