The purpose of this article is to examine the root derivational suffixesthat have been identified as thus in previous analyses of Korean color adjectives,and to determine whether they are roots or root derivationalsuffixes. Word forms that combine a derivational root with the adjective-derivational suffix ‘-hada’ (for example, geomus-hada, geomuseuleum-hada), account for most of the Korean color adjectives. Theinvestigation of these root derivational suffixes began by compiling a listof root derivational suffixes based on previous studies. The concept of theroot derivational suffix, along with the criteria for distinguishing roots androot derivational suffixes, was then established. The latter consists of thefollowing: 1) the root derivational suffix must be a root formational element,2) the root derivational suffix is not a lexical morpheme but agrammatical morpheme, 3) the root derivational suffix must have its originalmeaning and constrain the meaning of the front element of complexroot. As a result, it is proposed that most of the previously identified one-syllable-repeating root derivational suffixes, such as -(eu)dede,-(eu)daengdaeng, -(eu)jabjab, -(eu)sugsug, -(eu)jogjog, -(eu)chugchug,-(eu)chungchung, -(eu)tete, -(eu)twitwi, -(eu)tungtung, -cheugcheug,-(eu)chigchig, are in fact roots and not root derivational suffixes. The mostimportant basis for this is the fact that roots having the same form andmeaning as that of the one-syllable-repeating root derivational suffixes alsoexist in words such as dede-hada, chungchung-hada, twitwi-hada andthe like. Root derivational suffixes such as -sung, -sil, -jag, -(eo)muteuleum,-ggeum, -ggeus, -ddeug, -ggeule, -ggeumule, -(eu)ggeuleum whichwere combined with less than two stems were also examined and it wasdetermined that they too were closer to roots than root derivational suffixes,as they had enough lexical meaning.