There is some overlap in the uses of especially and specially. In the broadest terms, both words mean 'particularly' and the preference for one word over the other is linked with particular conventions of use rather than with any deep difference in meaning. For example, there is little to choose between written especially for Jonathan and written specially for Jonathan and neither is more correct than the other. On the other hand, in sentences such as he despised them all, especially Sylvester, substitution of specially is found in informal uses but should not be used in written English, while in the car was specially made for the occasion substitution of especially is somewhat unusual. Overall, especially is by far the commoner of the two, occurring twenty times as frequently as specially in the Oxford English Corpus.