glosso-, gloss-, -glossa, -glossia

(Greek: tongue; language, speech)

The human tongue is only a few inches from the brain, but they seem to be miles apart when you listen to some people talk.

—Anonymous
aglossal (adjective) (not comparative)
Pertaining to being without a tongue; tongueless.
aglossia (uh GLAHS see uh) (s) (noun), aglossias (pl)
1. Without a tongue or having no tongue: The latest style of shoe has been the aglossia.
2. The absence of the tongue that exists before or at birth: It was difficult for the calf to feed because of its congenital condition of aglossia.
3. The loss of the ability to speak; mutism: The medieval court jester was unable to talk because he suffered from aglossia.
aglossotomia (s) (noun), aglossotomias (pl)
From birth, the absence of the tongue with a malformed or the closed mouth of a child.
ankyloglossia (s) (noun), ankyloglossias (pl)
A minor congenital anomaly or birth defect in which the flap of mucous membrane under the tongue, or the frenum, is too short and so it limits the normal movements of the tongue.
ateloglossia (s) (noun), ateloglossias (pl)
An incomplete development of the tongue from birth.
baryglossia (s) (noun), baryglossias (pl)
Indistinct speech due to a disorder of the tongue itself or of the nerves supplying it.
brachyglossal (adjective), more brachyglossal, most brachyglossal
Referring to an abnormally short tongue.
brachyglossia (s) (noun), brachyglossias (pl)
Having an unusually short tongue.
bradyglossia (s) (noun), bradyglossias (pl)
Slowness of speech due to the impaired mobility of the tongue, which may be due to local tongue or mouth pathology or disease, or to more distant neural lesions.
buccoglossopharyngitis (s) (noun), buccoglossopharyngitises (pl)
Inflammation involving the cheek, tongue, and pharynx.
cacoglossia (s) (noun), cacoglossias (pl)
A bad taste on the tongue or having a bad taste.
Cynoglossum (s) (noun), Cynoglossums (pl)
A plant or herb meaning "hound's tongue".
diglossia (s) (noun), diglossias (pl)
1. A situation in which a language exists in two forms, one formal or literary and the other informal, and a person uses the form which is appropriate for a particular situation.
2. The existence of a formal literary form of a language, considered more prestigious, along with a colloquial form used by most speakers and considered to be a lower status.
3. A sociolinguistic phenomenon in which complementary social functions are distributed between a prestigious or formal variety and a common or colloquial variety of a language; such as, in Greek, Tamil, or Scottish English.
4. In medicine, a form of schistoglossia in which the lateral lingual swellings fail to fuse, producing a bifid tongue or one with a lengthwise cleft.
diglossus (s) (noun), diglosses (pl)
An individual showing a bifid tongue or one that is divided longitudinally or lengthwise.
entoglossal (adjective), more entoglossal, most entoglossal
Within the movable organ of the mouth; applied to the glossohyal bone (both the hyoidean arch and the tongue): The hyoid bone is a U-shaped bone at the base of the organ of taste that supports the muscles and the structure of the tongue.

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