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Jan van Steenbergen scripsit: > This has been annoying me since I joined the conlang community (which causes me > to write so much in English): is there any "trick" or "rule" that can help me > choosing between the suffix "-ic" and the suffix "-ical"? For example: > historic vs. historical > economic vs. economical > mathematic vs. mathematical > botanic vs. botanical Well, there is no general semantic distinction being exploited here, just a lot of particulars. "Historical" refers to what happens in history: the fall of Napoleon is historical, the fall of Atlantis is unhistorical. "Historic" means "important to history": the fall of Napoleon is historic, the fall of Roberto Napoleon is not. (Who's he? That's the point: a guy in my neighborhood who embezzled a lot of money and was eventually caught and sent to jail.) "Historic" has no negative. "Economic" is the adjective that pertains to economics. "Economical" means "at a low price for the value provided; cheap." "Mathematic" isn't a standard English word. I can find no significant difference between "botanic" and "botanical". -- John Cowan jcowan@hidden.email www.reutershealth.com www.ccil.org/~cowan "You cannot enter here. Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!" --Gandalf