We develop a large set of pseudowords that systematically varies length and phonotactic probability and obtain acceptability ratings using an online interface. We find that phonotactic likelihood and the presence of an apparent morphological parse both significantly predict acceptability; pseudowords containing known morphemes are more acceptable than otherwise comparable pseudowords that do not. We find support for the conjecture that novel words with apparent morphology are advantaged as additions to the lexicon. The resulting lexicon, as observed, is one in which long words are not a random sampling of phonotactically acceptable wordforms, but instead tend to be completely or partially decomposable into morphemes.

Competing models of lexical access propose contrasting roles for morphological structure in word recognition. Whole-word models suggest that there are no separate representations for morphemes (e.g., Tyler et al. ); decomposition models posit that words are recognized by accessing their constituent morphemes (e.g., Taft et al. ); and hybrid models incorporate both pathways to recognition (e.g., Bertram et al. ). The relative productivity of a word’s derivational affixes may also play a role: words with unproductive affixes are processed holistically whereas words with productive derivational affixes are processed as a function of their morphemes (e.g., Balling and Baayen ). In this paper, we examine the role of the Semitic consonantal root, known to be a route for lexical retrieval, and its interaction with relative binyan productivity. Extending the methodology developed by Wray () for Jordanian Arabic, we investigate the Semitic language Maltese. Based on two auditory lexical decision experiments, we find a reverse base frequency effect in a productive binyan (words with more frequent roots are recognized more slowly than words with less frequent roots), and in two less productive binyanim we find no base frequency effect. This supports the validity of models in which morphological decomposition is relevant strictly for productive affixes.