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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
English in UK

-ic, -ical

Is there a rule to predict whether an adjective takes the form -ical (as in political, hypothetical), rather than -ic (as in catalytic, systematic)?

Paul Burke
  

Top answer

[nq:1]Is there a rule to predict whether an adjective takes the form -ical (as in political, hypothetical), rather than -ic (as in catalytic, systematic)? Paul Burke[/nq] No. There are pairs, like "politic"/"political", "historic"/"historical", where the meanings differ.

— Usenet

  • [nq:1]Is there a rule to predict whether an adjective takes the form -ical (as in political, hypothetical), rather than -ic (as in catalytic, systematic)?
  • Paul Burke[/nq] No.
  • There are pairs, like "politic"/"political", "historic"/"historical", where the meanings differ.
  • There are also pairs, like "ironic"/"ironical", "problematic"/"problematical", where it does not.
  • There is a suggestion that -ic is more American and -ical more British.
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4 Answers
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[nq:1]Is there a rule to predict whether an adjective takes the form -ical (as in political, hypothetical), rather than -ic (as in catalytic, systematic)? Paul Burke[/nq]
No. There are pairs, like "politic"/"political",
"historic"/"historical", where the meanings differ. There are also pairs, like "ironic"/"ironical", "problematic"/"problematical", where it does not. There is a suggestion
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[nq:1]No. There are pairs, like "politic"/"political", "historic"/"historical", where the meanings differ. There are also pairs, like "ironic"/"ironical", "problematic"/"problematical", where it ... phonetic -> phonetics). Historically/etymologically there has been crossover between forms, aided by the common form of the adverb in -ically.[/nq]
And then there are times when an economy of wo
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[nq:2]No. There are pairs, like "politic"/"political", "historic"/"historical", where the meanings ... aided by the common form of the adverb in -ically.[/nq]
[nq:1]And then there are times when an economy of words apparently demands that one become economical with the truth. Giles[/nq]
I'd be fascinated to know the meaning of this highly cryptic(al) response.

Danny Collman
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[nq:1]I'd be fascinated to know the meaning of this highly cryptic(al) response.[/nq]
Just a counter-example for the ones given in Sceptic-Al's post. I do realize that he was not laying down hard and fast rules.

Giles
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