Re: Origology

On Sat, 29 Jul 2006, "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 28 Jul 2006 20:08:42 -0700, <origologist@xxxxxxxxx> wrote
in
<news:1154142522.664522.231660@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
in sci.lang:

I've trolled the group a bit and value your collective
opinion on the introduction of "origology" as "the study
of origins".

From a purist point of view it's a *** Latin/Greek
hybrid. Unfortunately for your purposes, two of the obvious
all-Greek version are already taken ('archaeology' and
'genealogy'). You might try 'rhizology' ('science of
roots/origins').

I'd go for 'genesiology' or 'genetiology'. (Can't remember the rule for
Greek /t/ --> /s/.)

The former is now used in the narrow sense of "the study of reproduction",
though Google turns up the broader sense in J.C.F. Johnson's 1896 book
_Getting Gold_, where two chapters are named "The Genesiology of Gold --
Auriferous Lodes" and "The Genesiology of Gold -- Auriferous Drifts".

--
Bobby Bryant
Austin, Texas
.

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