English Terminology Second semester Lecture: 1 By: Ass. Lect. Hayman Sardar Abd. B. Sc. Pharmacy M.SC. Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Medical terms are made of prefix, root, combining forms and suffixes. ELEMENTS OF MEDICAL TERMS Medical terms are made up of many different elements. The parts of a word are as follows: WORD ROOT A word root or root word is the main part of a word. It may be a complete word or is a part of medical term. For example: (the word root is in italics) tendonitis, spasm, mastectomy ( ectomy = cutting out) In spasm, the main part of the word is a complete word, whereas in tendonitis, and mastectomy the main part of the word is a word root.

Compound Words Compound words are made of two or more words. Some examples of compound words are: newborn, headache. Combining Forms The combining form makes the word easier to pronounce. A combining form of a word root may be made by adding a vowel to the word root. The vowel o is most frequently used. The other vowels, a, e, i, and u, are used less frequently. Examples of the combining form: (The word root is in italic letters and the combining vowel is in parenthesis). bacteri(o)genic, glyc(o)hemia

Other example: hyster/o (mean­ing uterus) to salping/o (meaning fallopian tubes) along with the suffix -ectomy to form hysterosalpingectomy, (meaning the removal of both the uterus and the fallopian tubes). You will note that the combining vowel "o" is dropped when adding the suffix -ectomy since two vowels are not necessary. It must be noted that some vowels have a specific meaning and thus cannot be dropped without changing the meaning of the word. In this case the vowel is not a combining vowel but a word part. Example: hemi + opia = hemiopia (=absence of visual power in one half of the retina). hemi means ''half." while hem, hemo means ''blood,''

So, it is important to know the difference between a vowel that is a combining vowel and a vowel that is a part of a root word. Combining forms are merely convenience forms and do not influence the meaning of a root word. Prefix A prefix is a word part that is placed (fix) at the beginning or front (pre) of another word or word part. A prefix may be a syllable, a group of syllables, or a word. It is joined to the beginning of a word to alter its meaning or to create a new word.

Example: peri (around) + ocular (the eye) = periocular, which means ''around the eye.˝ ad (above) + renal (kidney) = adrenal meaning ''above the kidney.˝ anti (against) + sepsis (infection) = antisepsis means against infection. In some instances a prefix which is added to the beginning of a word may end in one of several different consonants depending on the consonants in the word parts that follow it. An example of this is the prefix in-, which means ˝without." The consonant n changes to the same consonant in the root word: Illegal, Immeasurable, illogical.

Suffix A suffix is a word part that is added (fix) to the end of a word or word part. Examples: - neuro (nerve) + tripsy (crushing) = neurotripsy ˝crushing of the nerve.˝ - rhin (nose) + it is (inflammation) = rhinitis means inflammation of the nose. - glycohemia: the root glyc- means sugar or sweet with the combining vowel "o" glyc- be­comes the combining form glyco ‑, the root hem- means blood the suffix -ia means state or condition, so glycohemia means sugar in the blood.

- osteoarthritis. The combining form osteo comes from the root oste, meaning bone; the root arthr means joint or joints; and the suffix itis means inflammation. Therefore, the com­pound word osteoarthritis means inflammation of the bone joints. - oto(ear) + rhino (nose) + laryngo (larynx) + logy(study of) = otorhinolaryngology, meaning the study of ear, nose and larynx. - electro (electricity) + encephalo (brain) + graphy (record) = electroencephalography, meaning the recording of the electrical activity of brain. (note : en = in, cephalo = head, encephalo = brain)

- pseudo (false) + hypo (under) + para (beside) + thyroid (thyroid gland){both para + thyroid referred to parathyroid gland} + ism (condition or state) = pseudohypoparathyroidism, meaning a condition of false underactivity of the parathyroid gland. Pronunciation of medical terms - ch is sometimes pronounced like k. Examples: chromatin, chronic. - ps is pronounced like s. Examples: psychiatry, psychology. - pn is pronounced with only n sound. Examples: pneumonia, pneusis.

- c & g are given the soft sound of s and j respectively, when followed by e, i, and y. Examples: generic, giant, cycle, cytoplasm. - ae and oe are pronounced ee. Examples: caesarian, amoeba. - i at the end of a word is pronounced eye (to form a plural). Examples: alveoli, glomeruli. - Sounds like "si" psy psychiatry - Sounds like "c" cy cystitis sy symptom si silicosis

- Sounds like "dis" dys dyspnea des desmoid Plurals Rule Example: Singular to Plural A word ending in -a will keep the -a and vertebra to vertebrae add -e for the plural. A word ending in -ax, will drop the –ax thorax to thoraces and add -aces for the plural form. A word ending in -ex or -ix will drop these letters and add -ices for the plural appendix to appendices form A word ending in -ma will sarcoma to sarcomata add -ta for the plural form. adenoma to adenomata

A word ending in -is will drop the –is metastasis to metastases and add -es for the plural form A word ending in -on will drop the –on ganglion to ganglia and add -a for the plural form. A word ending in -us will drop the –us nucleus to nuclei and add -i for the plural form. A word ending in -um will drop the –um ovum to ova and add -a for the plural form. A word ending in -y will drop the –y biopsy to biopsies and add -ies for the plural form. A word ending in -nx will change the x phalanx to phalanges to g and add -es.

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