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Subject:Re: 'ic' versus 'ical' From:Pete Kloppenburg <pkloppen -at- CERTICOM -dot- CA> Date:Fri, 27 Jun 1997 12:04:09 -0400
Mike writes, quoting me first:
>> Something which is historic is something which is
>> a part of history - an historic occasion, for instance.
>>
>> On the other hand, something which is historical has to do with
>> history, but is not in itself *part* of history. Hence, the
>> historical museum.
> I agrees with this specific example and with the subsequent examples
> you give. But what about classic and classical, as in classic music
> and classical music? The last one grates on my ears, but it seems to
> be the norm.
Classical music often grates on my ears too, especially if it's
contemporary,
but that's a different story.
I am going to take another guess here. I would say the meanings of
"classic"
vs "classical", wrt music at least, are historically rooted, rather than
based on
some English word-building rule. "Classical", in particular, often refers
to the
period in history roughly between the rise of Athens as a military and
cultural power
and, say, the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustine. Does classical music
have
anything to do with that? Perhaps, but I guess my point is that these two
words
have many denotations which might tend to muddy the waters a bit. For
words like
electric/electrical, logarithmic/logarithmical, and historic/historical,
the meanings
are far more clear-cut.
Perhaps we'd better drop it or take it off line at that. I sense thread
drift,
and i feel almost certain that someone will take me to task on my knowledge
of
history and etymology.
Pete Kloppenburg - pkloppen -at- certicom -dot- com
Technical Writer
Certicom Corp.,
Mississauga, Ontario,
Canada http://www.certicom.com
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