-lalia

The combining form -lalia is used like a suffix meaning “abnormal or disordered speech.” It is occasionally used in medical terms, especially in pathology.

The form -lalia comes from Greek laliá, meaning “talking” or “chatter.”

A medical term you may have come across that uses the form -lalia is glossolalia, “incomprehensible speech in an imaginary language, sometimes occurring in a trance state, an episode of religious ecstasy, or schizophrenia.” One form of glossolalia is “speaking in tongues.”

The glosso- part of the word means “tongue, word, speech,” from Greek glôssa. As we have already seen, -lalia means “abnormal or disordered speech.” Glossolalia literally translates to “disordered speech.”

What are some words that use the combining form -lalia?

• alalia
• allolalia
• bradylalia
• dyslalia
• echolalia

What are some other forms that -lalia may be commonly confused with?

• -ally
• -elle
• -ia
• -ile
• -lagnia

The combining form brady- means “slow.” With this in mind, what does bradylalia literally mean?