dilogy, duology

[Laurence Horn]

>I've never come across either of these words before and I'm going to
>have to look up "diology" to see how it's derived. My guess is that
>that the "di-" is from Greek "dis," corresponding to Latin "bis" and
>likewise meaning "twice." But "duology" is clearly, IMO, a
>pswaydo-learned bit of pretentiousness. (That may be a bit harsh, but,
>WTF?) In general, words in English derived from Greek are derived from
>Attic and not Homeric. ("Hubris," instead of "hybris," is one of very
>few exceptions.) Therefore, the form should be "dyology," not
>"duology." Unless the coiner is combining *Latin* "duo" with Greek
>"-ology." In that case, I can only shake my head in sorrow and once
>again lament the  death of the classical education. I'd rather see
>"twainology" or even "twoology." At least, neither of those would be
>pretentious.
>
>-Wilson

all true, but "dilogy" could arise from a simple analogy along the lines of

triptych:diptych::trilogy:_____

(More of the baleful influence of the old SAT analogy test, no doubt.)

LH

>On 11/28/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>Subject:      dilogy, duology
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Wikipedia speaks:
>>
>>   "Duology also known as dilogy is a set of two works of art,
>>usually a two-part series relating to literature or film, that
>>develop a single theme over two works. A duology may or may not
>>involve a sequel and/or prequel."
>>
>>   OED lacks "duology" and includes "dilogy" only in different senses.
>>
>>   "Duology," at least, gets thousands of raw Googlits.  (Tomorrow's
>>Inglish-speakers will undoubtedly prefer "biology" in the indicated
>>sense.)
>>
>>   But seriously: OED appears to lack any single word meaning "a
>>two-part literary, dramatic, or cinematic work" to complement
>>"trilogy" and "tetralogy."   I was groping for such a word to
>>describe Herman Wouk's _Winds of War_ and its sequel _War and
>>Remembrance_.  Yeah, there's "two-volume novel," but I said "single
>>word."
>>
>>   I came up with "duology," but if Wikipedia already endorses it I
>>may wait for a second round of inspiration.
>>
>>   JL
>>
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>
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