Why is "flexible" spelled with an "i"?
My first instinct is to think that this word is describing something that is "able" to "flex", in the same way that "bendable" describes something that is able to bend.
So why isn't it flexable?
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1Because it comes from the Latin 'flexibilis'. – Joachim Jan 05 '23 at 11:54
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@Joachim - So the rule is: "Words from Latin use -ible, while other words use -able"? – Rocketmagnet Jan 05 '23 at 11:55
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@Joachim - Or is the rule: "If the first syllable is followed by an 'i', then we use -ible, otherwise we use -able"? – Rocketmagnet Jan 05 '23 at 11:56
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3*In Latin, -abilis and -ibilis depended on the inflectional vowel of the verb. Hence the variant form -ible in Old French, Spanish, English*. In English, -able tends to be used with native (and other non-Latin) words, -ible with words of obvious Latin origin (but there are exceptions). The Latin suffix is not etymologically connected with able, but it long has been popularly associated with it, and this probably has contributed to its vigor as a living suffix. https://www.etymonline.com/word/-able#etymonline_v_49 – user 66974 Jan 05 '23 at 11:57
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There is a duplicate question here but the answers aren't very good (one mentions Latin but doesn't provide references). – Stuart F Jan 05 '23 at 12:05
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1@StuartF: I don't think the perceived quality of the existing answers to an earlier duplicate should necessarily be a factor. It seems to me that everything's well enough covered between those answers and the comments both there and here. If anyone wants to gather them together, a "definitive" answer should be posted to the earlier question, not here. – FumbleFingers Jan 05 '23 at 12:17
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1@StuartF - The answer given in that link is not very good. It just seems to be someone speculating about the reason. I certainly think there's scope to provide a better answer, and it would make sense to add it to the earlier question, which is more general anyway. – Rocketmagnet Jan 05 '23 at 12:27