Spot the correct spelling of an autism-linked speech echo.

Correct — B. The term is echolalia: e-c-h-o-l-a-l-i-a, the repetition of words just heard from someone else.

It is echo plus Greek lalia, 'speech' or 'chatter'. Lalia is la-li-a: two l's, each followed by a vowel, never side by side.

So echolalia has no double l anywhere, and it ends in plain -ia → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Echolallia — Echolallia doubles the second l. In lalia the two l's are separated by a vowel (la-li-a), so no l in the word is doubled.
• (c)
  Echollalia — Echollalia doubles the l at the join. Echo ends in o and lalia begins with a single l, so nothing at the seam can double.
• (d)
  Echolaliah — Echolaliah adds an h after the final a. The ending is plain -ia, as in anaemia and insomnia, with nothing after it.

Long technical words are easiest to spell as their parts. Echolalia is echo, which you already spell, plus lalia, Greek for speech.

Once the join is visible, the traps are too. Two options double an l and one adds an h, and neither the doubling nor the h exists in either part.

The same -lalia appears in palilalia, the repetition of one's own words, and glossolalia, speaking in tongues.

Key facts

• Echolalia is the repetition of words or phrases just spoken by another person.
• It is built from echo and Greek lalia, 'speech' or 'chatter'.
• It is a recognised feature of autism and also occurs in Tourette syndrome.
• Palilalia is the repetition of one's own words.

Common traps

• Doubling an l at the join between echo and lalia
• Adding an h after the final -ia

No directly related past PYQ was found.