-graphy

English language suffix From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The English suffix -graphy denotes either a field of study or a manner of writing or representation. It derives from the French -graphie, which in turn comes from the Latin -graphia, itself a transliteration of the Greek -γραφία (-graphia).

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Because -graphy begins with a consonant, it is usually joined to a combining form that provides the linking vowel -o- (e.g. photo- + -graphy). This follows the pattern of neo-classical word formation, in which new English words are built from Greek and Latin elements in imitation of Greek compound and derivative structures.[1]

Arts and communication

  • Biography – an account of a person's life
    • Autobiography – biography of a person written by themselves
      • Autobiogeography – a self-referential map or other geographic document created by the subject
    • Hagiography – biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader
    • Metabiography – the study of how biographies are shaped by the temporal, geographical, institutional, intellectual, and ideological contexts of their authors
    • Photobiography – biography told primarily through photographs, often accompanied by brief textual commentary
    • Psychobiography – biographical study that interprets a subject's life and behavior through psychological theory or analysis
  • Choreography – the art of creating and arranging dances or ballets.
  • Cinematography – the art of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema
  • Floriography – the language of flowers
  • Iconography – the art of interpreting the content by icons.
  • Klecksography – the art of making images from inkblots.
  • Lexicography – the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries.
  • Photography – the art, practice or occupation of taking and printing photographs.
    • Astrophotography – the photography or imaging of astronomical objects
    • Chronophotography – the photographic technique which captures a number of phases of movements
    • Heliography – an early photographic process, based on the hardening of bitumen in sunlight
    • Rephotography – the act of photographing the same site twice, with a time lag between the two images
    • Telephotography – the sending of photographs by telegraph, telephone or radio
  • Pornography – the practice, occupation and result of producing sexually arousing imagery or words.
  • Pyrography – the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks
  • Reprography – the reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means
  • Scenography – the art of theatrical design and stage scenery
  • Tasseography – a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves
  • Telegraphy – the long-distance transmission of messages
  • Typography – the art and techniques of type design.
  • Videography – the art and techniques of filming video.
  • Vitrography – a method of using laser beams to create three-dimensional images or designs inside solid glass

Printing

  • Cerography – a printmaking technique using a layer of wax over a metal substrate
  • Collagraphy – In printmaking, a fine art technique in which collage materials are used as ink-carrying imagery on a printing plate.
  • Flexography – a printing process using a flexible relief plate
  • Geomontography – a printing method, used primarily for the production of maps
  • Hectography – a duplicating process using gelatin plates
  • Lithography – a planographic printing technique
    • Chromolithography – a method for making multi-colour prints in lithography
    • Photolithography – the method for microfabrication in electronics manufacturing.
  • Mimeography – a duplicating process using stencils
  • Serigraphy – a printmaking technique that uses a stencil made of fine synthetic material through which ink is forced
  • Vitreography – in printmaking, a fine art technique that uses glass printing matrices
  • Xerography – the means of copying documents
  • Zincography – a planographic printing process that used zinc plates

Writing

  • Cacography – bad handwriting or spelling
  • Calligraphy – the art of fine handwriting
  • Chorography – the art of describing or mapping a region or district
  • Dittography – accidental repetition of letters or words when copying text
  • Garshunography – the use of the script of one language to write utterances of another language which already has a script associated with it; also known as allography or heterography
  • Haplography – accidental omission of repeated letters when writing
  • Ideography – the use of symbols to represent a concept or idea.
  • Orthography – the rules of correct writing.
  • Palaeography – the study of historical handwriting
  • Phonography – representation of sounds by written symbols; also known as Pitman shorthand
  • Pictography – the use of pictographs
  • Pseudepigraphy – falsely attributed writings
  • Psychography – a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing
  • Steganography – the art of writing hidden messages
  • Stenography – the art of writing in shorthand.

Archival and compilatory lists

See also: Bibliography § Non-book_material

Fields of study

  • Ampelography – the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines
  • Cartography – the study and making of maps.
  • Chromatography – a chemical laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture
  • Cryptography – the study of securing information
  • Crystallography – the study of crystals
  • Dactylography – the study of fingerprints for identification
  • Demography – the study of the characteristics of human populations, such as size, growth, density, distribution, and vital statistics
  • Epigraphy – the study of written inscriptions on hard surfaces.
  • Ethnography – the study of cultures and cultural phenomena.
  • Geography – study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth.
    • Anthropogeography – study of human society's interactions and relationships with the environment.
    • Biogeography – study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time
    • Oceanography – exploration and scientific study of the ocean and its phenomena.
    • Orography – the study of mountains.
    • Physiography – study of the processes and patterns in the Earth's environment.
    • Stratigraphy — a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification)
  • Historiography – study of the methods of historians
  • Holography – a technique for recording and reconstructing wavefronts, best known for generating three-dimensional images (holograms)
  • Hydrography – measurement and description of any waters.
  • Keraunography – the belief that lightning, when striking an object, can leave markings which constitute a photographic image of surrounding objects
  • Monography – the study of a single specialized subject of the aspect of a subject.
  • Pathography – study of the history of an individual or community with regard to the influence of a physical or mental condition.
  • Polarography – a type of voltammetry
  • Reprography – reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means.
  • Topography – the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those of planets, moons and asteroids.
  • Zoography – the study of animal description and their habits; descriptive zoology.

Astronomy

  • Areography – the study and mapping of the physical features of the planet Mars
  • Cosmography – the study and making of maps of the universe or cosmos
  • Selenography – the study and mapping of the physical features of the Moon
  • Uranography – the study and mapping of stars and space objects

Imaging techniques

Medical tests

See also

References

Further reading

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