Rootcast: Log In! - Membean

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Log In!

log-word

Quick Summary

The Greek root word log means ‘word,’ and its variant suffix -logy means ‘study (of).’ Some common English words that use this root include biology, mythology, catalog, and prologue. Biology, of course, is the ‘study’ of life, whereas a prologue constitutes the ‘words’ spoken to introduce a poem or novel.

The Greek root word log means ‘word,’ and its variant suffix -logy means ‘study (of).’

The captains on Star Trek, whether Kirk or Picard or Janeway, are constantly entering data or ‘words’ into their captain’s log, telling about their journeys through space. A catalog is similar in idea, for it contains a thorough listing of ‘words’ which describe items for sale.

A dialogue consists of the ‘words’ spoken between two people. A monologue, on the other hand, is those ‘words’ spoken by one person alone, usually as part of a play or stand-up comedy routine.

Many literature students have read Chaucer’s “General Prologue,” which are those ‘words’ spoken before the main poem begins. An epilogue, on the other hand, contains those ‘words’ written after a novel or play has ended, giving a little more information as to the future lives of the characters.

Let’s tackle two harder words. A logophile is someone who loves ‘words.’ Someone who is afflicted with logorrhea, on the other hand, loves to hear himself speaking ‘words’ and just won’t shut up!

Now on to a few of the many English words which end in -logy, ‘study (of).’ Biology is the ‘study’ of life. In turn, zoology is the ‘study’ of animals. Etymology is the study of the origin of words. And genealogy is the ‘study’ of your origins, that is, the people to whom you are related. I could go on forever with the thousands of words that use the suffix -logy—humans love to ‘study’ things!

Now would be the logical time to stop! Wait! There was another one! I’ll leave you with that epilogue to end our discussion of the ‘study’ of the ‘word’ log! Log out!

1. log: book of ‘words’
2. catalog: listing of ‘words’
3. dialogue: ‘words’ between people
4. monologue: ‘words’ of one person
5. prologue: ‘word’ beforehand
6. epilogue: after’word’
7. logophile: ‘word’ lover
8. logorrhea: ‘word’ diarrhea
9. biology: ‘study’ of life
10. zoology: ‘study’ of animals
11. etymology: ‘study’ of the origin of words
12. genealogy: ‘study’ of one’s family history

Related Rootcasts

• The Fascinating Parts of Words

  Morphology is the study of how words are put together by using morphemes, which include prefixes, roots, and suffixes. Parsing the different morphemes in a word reveals meaning and part of speech. For instance, the word “invention” includes the prefix in- + the root vent + the suffix -ion, from which is formed the noun “invention.”

• Etymology: Word Origins

  Etymology is that part of linguistics that studies word origins. English vocabulary words are formed from many different sources, especially Latin and Greek. By determining the origins of the morphemes in English words, one is better able to remember and determine the dictionary definitions of words.

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