-ic vs -y

-ic

suffix
  • Used to form adjectives from nouns with the meaning “of or pertaining to”. 

  • Used to denote certain chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a higher oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -ous. For example sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃). 

-y

suffix
  • Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “having the quality of”, either “involving the referent” or “analogous to it”. 

  • Added to verbs to form adjectives meaning "inclined to". 

  • Used in the name of some locations which end in -ia in Latin. 

  • Forming abstract nouns denoting a state, condition, or quality. 

How often have the words -ic and -y occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )