1 Chapter 1: Introduction and First Materials
Chapter 1:
Introduction:
Chapter One (and Chapter Two) will introduce you to the basic framework of working with medical and scientific morphemes. Listed below are many of the most general, most commonly used, and most basic morphemes which we will be relying on for the whole semester.
This chapter is designed to be used in conjunction with the prerecorded lecture on Canvas. You will not get all of the relevant material for Ch 1 without watching the paired lecture on Canvas. You will not get all of the relevant material by watching the Ch 1 lecture without looking at this chapter of the textbook.
Especially within core medical vocabulary, technical terms are built around a core base form of a body part: surgical procedures, physical or mental problems, and most other conditions are indicated a shifting range of suffixes, prefixes, and terminations mounted around one base form. For example, macroglossia, also called glossomegaly, may be treated via a partial glossectomy. Gloss- consistently refers to the tongue, but the shifting morphemes change whether we’re talking about an abnormal condition (macr/o/gloss/ia abnormally large/o/tongue/noun) (gloss/o/megal/y tongue/o/abnormally enlarged/noun) or a surgical procedure (gloss/ectom/y tongue/surgical removal/noun).
To help you as you take on this basic material, we are limiting your exposure to base forms for body parts initially. As much as possible, I have written sentences for the practice quiz and the for credit quiz that focus on the morphemes for the body part gloss-/lingu- (tongue) to simplify your focus. Gloss-/lingu- is very productive (many things can go wrong with the tongue; there are many tongue-focused procedures). Where necessary, however, I have deployed morphemes for other body parts–but I will define these for you on the quizzes. For example, there is rarely a reason to make a surgical puncture of the tongue, so the technical term glossocentesis does not exist.
Paired Morphemes:
With gloss-, we see the first example of what will become a recurring, but not universal, theme with body part morphemes. Many, but not all, body parts have two morphemes. One of these morphemes is from ancient Greek; one is from ancient Latin. The morpheme derived from Greek is primarily employed in what I will loosely call pathological terms. By pathological I mean: diseases, surgical procedures, and abnormal conditions. The one from the Latin is deployed in what I will loosely call descriptive terms. By descriptive I mean often in locational, adjectival, and non-pathological terms.
I will always introduce the paired morphemes together in the same chapter. They will be alphabetized according to the pathological morpheme; the descriptive morpheme will be indented underneath.
Let the tongue be our example. There are two morphemes for the tongue/speaking, gloss- and lingu-. Gloss- is the pathological morpheme; lingu- is the descriptive morpheme. Gloss- primarily appears in technical terms describing diseases, surgical procedures, and abnormal conditions: for example, glossopathy (disease of the tongue), glossospasm (a spasm of the tongue), glossotomy (a surgical incision of the tongue), glossectomy (the excision of the tongue), glossophobia (pathological fear of public speaking). Lingu- is employed in terms of description. It primarily appears with the ending -al to refer to the specific location in the body: the lingual frenum (the frenum/frenulum of the tongue); a lingual frenectomy (the excision of the frenum/frenulum of the tongue), labiolingual thickness (the thickness of the lips and tongue); linguistics (the specialization of language).
But I end by stressing–and I will never stop stressing this–that there are no rules, no international or American body that establishes the standards for medical language. This means that there is never going to be absolute consistency. For example, the glossopharyngeal nerve is a nerve found in both the tongue and pharynx. Even though this is descriptive, the pathological morpheme gloss- is used: there is no why that anyone cares about (glossopharyngeal appears to have been invented by a British doctor in 1815–you’d have to ask him why he didn’t go with linguopharyngeal). Glossopharyngeal is thus just a slightly abnormal term which you’ll have to roll with as a weird exception. Such exceptions are what I primarily focus on in my recorded lectures on Canvas.
Work through this material; make flashcards; memorize it; reinforce your memorization process by taking the practice quiz for Ch 1 a number of times–you’ll get new questions each time you take it. When you are ready (before the deadline), take the for-credit quiz.
| Technical Term | Definition | Type | Notes: | Sample sentence: |
| -algia | pain | termination | typically interchangeable with -odynia (Ch 1). | Cephalalgia is pain in the head. |
| ant-, anti- | against | prefix | Synonymous, but not usually interchangeable with, contra- (Ch 2). | An antitussive is used against a cough. |
| ante- | before, prior | prefix | often interchangeable with pre- (Ch 2). Pre- is more common in American English; ante- in Commonwealth English. | Prenatal care is the same as antenatal care. |
| anthrop- | human, humanity | base form | Anthropology is the study of humans. | |
| -centesis | surgical puncture | termination | Arthrocentesis removes excess fluid from a joint. | |
| -clysis | surgical irrigation | termination | One form of coloclysis is an enema. | |
| derm- or dermat- | skin | base form | Dermatitis is the inflammation of the skin. | |
| dys- | with pain, with discomfort, or with difficulty. | prefix | Pain while urinating is dysuria. | |
| ec- | outside or towards the outside | prefix | Sometimes interchangeable with ecto-, exo-, ex- (Ch 1). | When a fetus implants outside the lining of the uterus, it is an ectopic pregnancy. |
| ecto- | outside or towards the outside | prefix | Often interchangeable with ec-, exo-, ex- (Ch 1) | A mosquito is an ectoparasite because it does not enter its host. |
| -ectomy | excision or surgical removal | termination | One treatment for testicular cancer is an orchiectomy. | |
| eury- | abnormally broad or wide | typically a prefix | Euryblepharon is the condition of having an abnormally broad eyelid. | |
| ex- | outside or towards the outside | prefix | Sometimes interchangeable with ecto-, eco-, exo- (Ch 1). | |
| exo- | outside or towards the outside | prefix | Sometimes interchangeable with ecto-, exo-, ex- (Ch 1). | |
| gen- | causing or caused by | base form | Often made into a termination with either -genic or -genous or -ginous (identical in meaning but not interchangeable) | Anthropogenic climate change is climate change caused by humans. An oleaginous substance is one that causes (the production of body) oil. |
| -genesis | beginning or production | base form | sometimes interchangeable with -poiesis (Ch 1) | Osteogenesis is the production of bone (tissue). |
| gloss- | tongue; rarely, language. | base form | pathological term paired with lingu- | A glossectomy may treat certain types of mouth cancer. |
| lingu- | tongue; rarely, language | base form | locational term paired with gloss- | |
| hetero- | different, unlike, not the same | prefix | opposite of homo- (Ch 1) | Heterochromia is the condition of (having eyes of) different colors. |
| hist- | tissue | base form | Histolysis is the breakdown of tissues. | |
| homo- | the same, alike | prefix | opposite of hetero- (Ch 1). From a Greek prefix. Homo, as in Homo Sapiens, comes from Latin and means “human.” | Two words that sound alike each other are homophones. |
| hyper- | excessive, too much | prefix | opposite of hypo- (Ch 1) | Someone who sleeps far too much may be suffering from hypersomnia. |
| hypo- | deficient, too little | prefix | opposite of hyper- (Ch 1) | The livers of hibernating bears exhibit hypoactivity. |
| -ia | noun ending | suffix | sometimes interchangeable with -ia (Ch 1), sometimes not. No rule: you’ll get a feel with enough exposure. | An often fatal birth defect is microcephalia. |
| iatr- | medical professional or the healing process | base form | Unfortunately, she suffered iatrogenic nerve damage during the procedure. | |
| -ic | adjective ending | suffix | Microcephalic syndrome may have many complications. | |
| -ician | specialist in | termination | like, but not interchangeable with, -ist (Ch 1) | Pediatricians are specialists in healing children. |
| -ics | A sub-specialty, typically | termination | -ic (Ch 1) + s = sub-specialty. | Pediatrics is the specialty of healing children. |
| -ist | specialist in | suffix | like, but not interchangeable with, -ician (Ch 1) | A pharmacist is a specialist in drugs. |
| -itis | inflammation | suffix | Dermatitis is the inflammation of the skin. | |
| log- | ||||
| -logy | study of | termination | noun | Dermatology is the study of the skin. |
| -logical | pertaining to the study of | termination | adjective | Hives are a dermatological condition. |
| -lysis | breakdown or disintegration | termination | Poliolysis, the breakdown of the grey matter of the brain, is one of the symptoms of poliomyelitis. | |
| macr- | very large, abnormally large | prefix | opposite of micro- (Ch 1) | Macromolecules are very large molecules. |
| megal- and mega- | abnormal enlargement | prefix, base form, or termination | Cardiomegaly, also called megalocardia, is the abnormal enlargement of the heart. | |
| metr- | ||||
| -meter | an instrument used in measuring | termination | notice the extra -e- added to the morpheme | One may measure the steps one takes in a day with a pedometer. |
| -metry | employing the instrument used in measuring | termination | Employing a pedometer is pedometry: the measurement of steps. | |
| micro- | very small | prefix | opposite of macro- (Ch 1) | A microscope is an instrument used to examine very small things. |
| mono- | one or single or simple | prefix | A monosaccharide is a simple sugar. | |
| -odynia | pain | termination | typically interchangeable with -algia (Ch 1) | Cephalodynia is pain in the head. |
| -osis | condition; typically abnormal condition | suffix | Poliosis is the condition of one’s hair being abnormally gray. | |
| -ostomy | surgically created opening or mouth | termination | Be careful not to confuse with -tomy (Ch 1). | A tracheotomy may create a tracheostomy. |
| path- | any disease | base form | ||
| -pathy | any disease of | termination | extremely common | Any disease of the kidneys could be called nephropathy. |
| phot- | light (the particle and wave, not the opposite of heavy) | base form | Photophobia is a symptom of a number of eye diseases. | |
| plast- | base form | |||
| -plasty | surgical repair | noun form | The surgical repair of the liver is hepatoplasty. | |
| -plastic | pertaining to surgical repair | adjective. Also used as a separate word. | Rhinoplastic surgery is a fairly common form of plastic surgery. | |
| -poiesis | creation or production | termination | sometimes interchangeable with -genesis (Ch 1) | Osteopoiesis is the production of bone tissue. |
| pseud- | false, fake | prefix | A pseudopodium is a false foot extended by an amoeba. | |
| pyr- | fire or fever or extremely high temperature | base form | usually fever | Medical waste is often disposed of via pyrolysis–in a hospital incinerator, for example. |
| scop- | ||||
| -scope | an instrument for examining | termination | A colonoscope is an instrument used to examine the colon. | |
| -scopy | the process for using the instrument for examining | termination | A colonoscopy is the process of using an instrument to examine the colon. | |
| sten- | narrowing or stricture | base form | Arteriostenosis may be caused temporarily by vasoconstriction. | |
| tach-, tachy- | abnormally fast | base form | opposite of brady- (Ch 4). Often employs -y- as its combining vowel. | Tachycardia during exercise is usually not a concern. |
| therap- | healing or the healing process | base form | Rarer than iatr- (Ch 1) and not usually employed for physical interventions, as -plasty (Ch 1) | Every Tuesday afternoon I go to therapy. |
| therm- | heat or temperature | base form | A thermometer measures temperature. | |
| tom- | ||||
| -tome | an instrument for incising or cutting | termination | A dermatome is used to produce the slice of skin employed in a skin graft. | |
| -tomy | the process of using an instrument for incising or cutting | termination | An osteotomy is the process of the surgical incision of bones. | |
| trans- | across, through | prefix, base form | opposite is cis- (Ch 6) | Kansas and Nebraska are starting to negotiate about the transboundary pollution affecting both states. |
| trop- | tuned to or moving or altering | base form | Psychotropic drugs alter the mind. | |
| troph- | development, more rarely, nourishment | base form | Hypermyotrophy is the excessive development of muscles. | |
| -y | noun ending | suffix | sometimes interchangeable with -ia (Ch 1), sometimes not. No rule: you’ll get a feel with enough exposure. | Microcephaly and microcephalia are synonyms. |