Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-1 PowerPoint to accompany Essentials of Medical Language Allan, Lockyer Chapter 1: The Anatomy of Word Construction: The Essential Elements of the Language of Medicine Hold placement for cover image.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-2 The Anatomy of Word Construction: The Essential Elements of the Language of Medicine Lesson 1.1: The Construction of Medical Words

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-3 Roots and Combining Vowels All medical terms have one or more roots. The root provides the meaning of the word. Example: –The word pneumonia has the root pneumon-, meaning lung or air.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-4 Roots and Combining Vowels Roots are often joined to other elements of a medical term by placing a combining vowel on the end of the root. A root plus a combining vowel creates a combining form. Example: pneum + o pneum/o

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-5 Keynote Throughout this textbook, the combining vowel will be separated from the root by a slash (/) whenever the term is being analyzed. Example: respir/a

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-6 Combining Forms pneum- -o- pneum/o root combining combining vowel form pulmon- -o- pulmon/o root combining combining vowel form

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-7 Keynote Different roots can have the same meaning. Pulmon- and pneumon- both mean lung.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-8 Element Review Identify the elements of the following word: - pneumothorax pneum / -o- / thorax root combining root vowel

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-9 Suffix A suffix is an element added to the end of a root or combining form to give it a new meaning. If the suffix begins with a consonant, it must follow a combining vowel. If the suffix begins with a vowel, no combining vowel is needed.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-10 Suffix pulmon –ary root + suffix = pulmonary, pertaining to the lung pulmon/o –logy root + combining vowel + suffix = pulmonology, study of the lung

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-11 Suffix –ia a condition of pneumonia, a condition (infection) of the lung –ation a process respiration, a process of breathing.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-12 Prefix A prefix is an element added to the beginning of a root or combining form to continue to expand the meaning of medical terms. Prefixes never require a combining vowel. Not every term has a prefix.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-13 Prefix pre– mature prefix + root = premature, before the normal pregnancy post– mature prefix + root = postmature, after the normal pregnancy

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-14 Prefix uni– unilateral, one side of the body bi– bilateral, two (both) sides of the body

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-15 Prefix peri– perinatal, around the time of birth epi– epigastric, above the stomach hypo– hypogastric, below the stomach

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-16 Prefix micro– microcyte, small red blood cell macro– macrocyte, large red blood cell

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-17 Element Review Identify the prefixes and suffixes of the following word: – perinatal peri- - nat - - al prefix root suffix

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-18 Element Review Identify the prefixes and suffixes of the following word: – hypogastric hypo- -gastr- -ic prefix root suffix

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-19 The Anatomy of Word Construction Lesson 1.2: Word Analysis and Deconstruction

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-20 Word Deconstruction When you see an unfamiliar medical term, first identify the suffix. – cardiologist The suffix is -logist, one who studies and is a specialist in. Cardi/o is the combining form for heart.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-21 Word Deconstruction Use deconstruction to determine the meaning of the following word: – myocardial The suffix is -al, pertaining to; my/o is the combining form for muscle; and cardi means heart.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-22 Element Review Identify the elements of the following word: – cardiomyopathy cardi/o- -my/o- -pathy combining combining suffix form form

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-23 Pronunciations Correct pronunciation of medical terms is essential so that other health professionals can understand what you are saying. It is a most important component in ensuring patient safety and providing high- quality patient care.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-24 Pronunciations Some words that are pronounced the same are spelled differently. For example: Both ilium and ileum are pronounced ILL -ee-um. The ilium is a bone in the pelvis The ileum is a segment of the small intestine.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-25 Pronunciations Some words sound the same if incorrectly pronounced. For example: The term prostate, pronounced PROSS-tate, refers to the gland at the base of the male bladder. The term prostrate means to be physically weak or exhausted or to lie flat on the ground.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-26 Plurals Plural endings for medical terms do not simply involve adding an “s.” Plural endings must be memorized.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-27 Plural Examples Refer to Table 1.1 of the text, page 12. Singular EndingPlural EndingExamples -a-aeaxilla axillae -is-esdiagnosis diagnoses

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-28 Keynote Many words, when they are written or pronounced, have an element that if misspelled or mispronounced gives the intended word an entirely different meaning.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-29 Keynote Consider the case of confusing hypotension (low blood pressure) with hypertension (high blood pressure) A treatment response to the different meaning could cause a medical error and perhaps the death of a patient.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-30 Keynote Precision in written and verbal communication is essential to prevent errors in patient care.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-31 Final Word Being a health professional requires the utmost attention to detail and precision in both written documentation and verbal communication. A patient’s life can be in your hands. Any incorrect spelling can reflect badly on the whole health team. Any incorrect pronunciation and spelling can reflect badly on you as a health professional.

Copyright 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display 1-32 Final Word Roots provide the core meaning of medical terms. Roots are often joined to other elements in the medical term by placing a combining vowel on the end of the root. Adding a suffix or a prefix to a root can build new words with different meanings. Precision in communication is vitally important.