Educational vs. educative
Yao Ziyuan
tional words. For example, why does 'educational software' use
'educational', not 'educative'?
Don Phillipson
news:ff035513-0bad-42aa...@p3g2000vbv.googlegroups.com...
> I would like to learn about the usage differences between -tive and -
> tional words. For example, why does 'educational software' use
> 'educational', not 'educative'?
The reason is historical.
1. Only approx. 1900-1920 did teachers in Britain and the USA
gain social recognition as a middle-class profession (self-regulating
as to professional standards of work) like law, medicine, etc.
2. Formal instruction and credentials were part of this process,
usually obtained through new types of school. In Britain these
were usually independent and called Teacher Training Colleges;
in the USA these were usually Schools of Education adjunct
to universities.
Thus "education" became the key word in American English,
managed by educationists (not school principals or head teachers),
buying millions of books from educational presses (not textbook
publishers as in the UK) and so on. This persists today, hence
the general preference for educational software, not teaching or
educative software.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
John Lawler
> "Yao Ziyuan" <yaoziy...@gmail.com> wrote in message
That's a good example of how the "-tive and -tional words"
do NOT really behave consistently. The suffixes came into
English from other languages, attached to words that each
have their own unique histories. So I'm afraid that there is
no simple single rule for how they are used, nor for what,
if any, differences they may have.
-John Lawler http://www.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue
The relation between logic and thought is similar to that
between medicine and health. If you're healthy, medicine
is useless; but if you're ill, medicine can sometimes help.
However, you have to take just the right medicine in just
the right dosage, there may be dangerous side effects,
and it can be habit-forming. -- James D. McCawley