-ology, -logy, -ologist, -logist

(Greek: a suffix meaning: to talk, to speak; a branch of knowledge; any science or academic field that ends in -ology which is a variant of -logy; a person who speaks in a certain manner; someone who deals with certain topics or subjects)

The word -ology is a back-formation from the names of certain disciplines. The -logy element basically means "the study of ____". Such words are formed from Greek or Latin roots with the terminal -logy derived from the Greek suffix -λογια (-logia), speaking, from λεγειν (legein), "to speak".

The suffix -ology is considered to be misleading sometimes as when the "o" is actually part of the word stem that receives the -logy ending; such as, bio + logy.

Through the years -ology and -logy have come to mean, "study of" or "science of" and either of these suffixes often utilize the form of -ologist, "one who (whatever the preceding element refers to)".

The examples shown in this unit represent just a small fraction of the many words that exist in various dictionaries.

Sinology, some say: Chinology (s) (nouns)
The study of the Chinese civilization, language, literature, history, etc.: "Sinology is the study of Chinese culture, including their language, literature, etc."
sitology, sitiology
1. The science of diet and nutrition.
2. The branch of medicine dealing with nutrition and dietetics.
3. The branch of therapeutics concerned with the practical application of diet in relation to health and disease.
skatology
Another spelling for scatology.
skeletology (s) (noun), skeletologies (pl)
The anatomical study of the bones and cartilages which provides a frame for the bodies of animals.
sociobiologist
A specialist in sociobiology or someone who studies the biological and genetic basis of social organization and social behavior and their evolution in animals.
sociobiology
The study of the biological and genetic basis of social organization and social behavior and their evolution in animals, a field of study that has caused controversy when applied to human social behavior and organization.
sociology
1. The study of the origins, developments, and structures of human societies and the behavior of individual people and groups in society.
2. The study of a particular social institution and the part it plays in society.
soil ecology (s)  (noun) (no pl)
The study of the relationship between the activities of soil organisms and the overall soil environment: Part of Jim's universities studies in biology included soil ecology in which he learned about the interactions between organisms and physical and chemical substances.
soil microbiology (s) (noun) (no pl)
The branch of microbiology that deals with micro-organisms found in the earth: Soil microbiology includes the functions of the tiny soil creatures, and their effects on the growth and maintenance of plant life.
somatology
soteriology
spectrology
speleobiologist
A person who specializes in the study of organisms that live in caves.
speleobiology
1. The study of organisms whose natural habitat is wholly or partly subterranean.
2. The study of the fauna of caves.
3. The study of organisms that live in caves.
speleoclimatology, speleometeorology
Speleoclimate is largely, or entirely, dependent on local conditions inside caves.

These, in turn, have an influence on openings and cavities that are interconnected. Typically, conditions in such cave systems are continuously under conditions relative to air humidity which prevails over long periods of time, temperature variations which are very low, and air movements that are minimal or absent.

In combination with the total darkness inside the cave, these factors have led to the generation of very special and fragile ecosystems.

It is a common assumption in cave climatology that air movements in caves are the results of the endogenic factors (pressure differences inside the cave that are caused by differences of air density, which in turn are the result of temperature differences, humidity, and carbon dioxide content) and exogenic factors (differences between air pressure inside the cave and the outer atmosphere).

Cross references of word families related directly, or indirectly, to: "talk, speak, speech; words, language; tongue, etc.": cit-; clam-; dic-; fa-; -farious; glosso-; glotto-; lalo-; linguo-; locu-; logo-; loqu-; mythico-; ora-; -phasia; -phemia; phon-; phras-; Quotes: Language,Part 1; Quotes: Language, Part 2; Quotes: Language, Part 3; serm-; tongue; voc-.