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    Language lab

    undecipherable vs. indecipherable

    Topic

    undecipherable vs. indecipherable

    Comment
    Both are in LEO, meaning illegible. Can someone tell me which is correct?

    Or is there a difference in meaning?

    Thanks.
    AuthorClaudia72 (723536) 18 Jul 11, 13:35
    Comment
    Usually words with a distinct Latin etymology take in- as a negative prefix, and others take un-. Now one could argue that the origin of decipher is the French déchiffrer rather than its lain root cifra... but I would perfer indecipherable.
    #1Author Sage N. Fer Get K.S.C. (382314) 18 Jul 11, 13:42
    Comment
    I would normally use indecipherable.

    As a general rule, one can add the prefix un- and the suffix -able to a verb if the meaning of the verb is unchanged; so if a careful writer wrote undecipherable, I might surmise that they wanted to indicate that they did not intend the normal meaning (difficult to read) but the literal meaning (impossible to decode - without access to the appropriate key, presumably).
    #2AuthorMikeE (236602) 18 Jul 11, 15:26
     
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