Stupefication

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Aug 29, 2011, at 8:29 AM, i wrote:

> for complex historical reasons, verbs in -EFY (only a few of which are at all common) have derived nouns in -EFACTION:
> liquefaction, putrefaction, rarefaction, stupefaction.
> plus: satisfaction (satisy), petrifaction (petrify).  and rarifaction as a variant of rarefaction.
>
> then: -IFY verbs normally have derived nouns in -IFICATION, so there's pressure to bring these odd ones into line, and in fact all of them have -IFICATION variants.  for petrifaction, NOAD2 lists petrification as just a variant (and i prefer it, despite the title of George Bernard Shaw's silly one-act play, "Passion, Poison, and Petrifaction").  for the rest, -IFICATION is a non-standard variant, but very very common (in ghits):
> liquification, putrification, rarification, stupification; even satisfication.

to complete the spelling complications, all of the following in -EFICATION are attested, most in substantial numbers:

liquefication, putrefication, rarefication, petrefication, stupefication

(these have the E of the -EFY verb, but the regular -FICATION rather than the exceptional -FACTION)

arnold

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