Chapter 1: Basic Word Structure

Objectives Analyze words by dividing them into component parts. Relate the medical terms to the structure & function of the human body. Major focus is to explain the terms in context (not merely memorization) Be aware of spelling & pronunciation problems. Some terms are pronounced alike but spelled differently, which accounts for different meanings Example: ilium & ileum Ilium = part of the hip bone Ileum = part of the small intestine

Word Parts Basic types of word parts are used to create medical terms: Word roots : foundation of the term Suffixes : word ending Prefixes : word beginning Combining vowel: vowel (usually o) that links the root to the suffix or the root to another root Combining form: combination of the root & the combining vowel

Word Root The word root is the main part or foundation of a word. All words have word roots. In medical terminology, the root may indicate a body part or body system or colors. - cardial – heart - pancreatitis – pancreas - cyanosis – blue A medical word may be simply be a root or it may be a combination of word elements. - sclera – white of the eye - electr/o/cardi/o/gram – 2 roots and a suffix

Combining Form Many words would be difficult to pronounce if written without a vowel to join the word roots. When you take a word root and add a vowel it becomes a combining form. This vowel is usually an “o”, and it is called a combining vowel. - cyst/o - therm/o The combining vowel is used before suffixes that begin with a consonant and before another word root. Prefixes are not included in this rule.

Rules for Combining Forms A combining vowel is used when the suffix begins with a consonant. A combining vowel is not used when the suffix begins with a vowel. Gastritis, not “gastroitis” A combining form is always used when combining two or more root words. Gastroenterology, not “gastrenterology” A prefix does not require a combining vowel. Do not place a combining vowel between a prefix and a root word.

Learning Check How do you Combine the root (cardi) , meaning “heart,” with the suffix (-logy ), meaning “study of,” to form a word meaning “study of the heart.”?

Common Combining Forms Aden/o – gland Cis/o – to cut Arthr /o – joint Crin/o – to secrete Bi/o – life Cyst/o – urinary bladder; a sac or a cyst carcin/o – cancerous, cancer Cyt/o – cell Cardi/o – heart Derm/o – skin Cephal/o – head Electr/o – electricity Cerebr/o – cerebrum (largest part of the brain)

Common Combining Forms Encephal/o – brain Hemat/o – blood Ener/o – intestines Hepat/o – liver Erythr/o – red Iatr/o – treatment, physician Gastr/o – stomach Leuk/o – white Glyc/o – sugar Log/o study of Gnos/o – knowledge Nephr/o – kidney Gynec/o – woman, female Neur/o nerve

Common Combining Forms Onc/o – tumor Rhin/o – nose Ophthalm/o – eye Sarc/o – flesh Oste/o – bone Sect/o – to cut Path/o – disease Thromb/o – clot, clotting Ped/o – child Ur/o – urinary tract, urine Psych/o – mind Radi/o – x-rays Ren/o – kidney

Suffix Suffixes usually, but not always, indicate the procedure, condition, disorder, or disease. Examples: cardiomegaly gastralgia neuritis Changing the suffix, changes the meaning of the word. - dent/al – “al” means pertaining to - dent/ist – “ist” means specialist

Common Suffixes Meaning “pertaining to”: Meaning “abnormal condition”: -ac -ago -al -ia -ary -osis -ar -ism -ial -ic -ous -genic

Other common suffixes: -algia – pain -itis – inflammation -cyte – cell -logy – process of study -ectomy – excision, removal -oma – tumor or mass -opsy – process of viewing -emia – blood condition - globin – protein -ostomy – surgically creating an opening -gram – record -ion – process -ist – specialist

Other common suffixes: -otomy – incision into -scopy – process of visually examining -pathy – disease -sis – state or condition of -plasty – surgical repair -phobia – irrational fear -tomy – instrument to cut -paresis – weakness -y – process, condition -plegia – paralysis -rrhea – discharge, flow -scope – instrument to view or examine

Group Activity In groups of two, come up with at least one example of 8 of the 11 suffixes

DETERMINING MEANINGS ON THE BASIS OF WORD PARTS Write the word and decipher these medical terms based on their word parts: cardi- + -plasty gastr- + -itis neur- + -algia cardi- + -sclerosis gastr- + -ostomy neur- + -ectomy

Prefixes Prefixes usually, but not always, indicate location, time, negation, number, or status. Examples: pericardium epigastric polyneuritis

Common Prefixes Negation a-, an- = no, without, not im-, in- = not Position ante-, pre-, pro- = before inter- = between Epi- = above medi- = middle Hyper- = excessive, above, more than normal post- = after, behind retro- = behind, backward hypo-, intra-, sub- = under, below

Common Prefixes Time pre- - before post- - after Measurement & Numbers micro- - small mon-, uni- - 1 macro- - large bi-, di- - 2 hyper- - excessive tri- - 3 multi-, poly- - many quadri- - 4 primi- - first

Taking Terms Apart To determine a word’s meaning by looking at the component pieces, you must first separate it into word parts. Always start at the end of the word, with the suffix, and work toward the beginning. As you separate the word parts, identify the meaning of each. Identifying the meaning of each part should give you a definition of the term. Because some word parts have more than one meaning, it also is necessary to determine the context in which the term is being used.

SINGULAR VS. PLURAL -mata Greek Singular Suffixes Plural Suffixes -on Spermatozoon, ganglion Spermatozoa, ganglia -mata -ma Carcinomata, lipomata Carcinoma, lipoma -ses -sis Crises, prognoses Crisis, prognosis -ges -nx Larynges, pharynges Larynx, pharynx

SINGULAR VS. PLURAL Latin Singular Suffixes Plural Suffixes -a -ae Vertebra, conjunctiva Vertebrae, conjunctivae -us -i Bacillus, bronchus Bacilli, bronchi -um Bacterium, ilium Bacteria, ilia -is -es Testis Testes