Chapter 1

It’s own language Made of terms that describe the human body in detail Shares lots of info with least amount of words One word can describe something that may take several words Usually come from Greek or Latin words

The study of the origin and development of words -ology means the study of Hint – you will see this again later -ologist means a specialist in that field of study

Words named after people Ex – Alzheimer’s Named for Alois Alzheimer, a German neurologist who lived from 1864 to 1915

Terms that stand for longer phrases Airway Breathing Circulation

Shortened forms of words Used in many fields Each facility has their own Your responsibility to learn accepted terms at the facility you are working in Appendix B in the textbook contains an alphabetized list of many of the more commonly used medical abbreviations

Word Roots The main part of the word. The foundation. The basic form around which the final word is formed Gives you a clue as to what body part as they usually, but not always, describe the part of the body involved

 Word roots cannot stand alone. A suffix must be added to complete the terms

Word Roots continued Most commonly has a combining “o”, sometimes has a combining vowel “i” Such as Cardi/o or Cardi(o) or

Combining Vowels Not used if the suffix begins with a vowel Encephal(o) or Encephal/o Encephalitis -itis starts with a vowel so the “o” is not used Encephalogram -gram starts with a consonant so the “o” is used

A combining vowel is always used when 2 or more word roots are joined Gastroenteritis Gastr/o and enter/o or

Combining form What it is called when the word root is written with a “/” then the combining vowel or the word root with the combining vowel in parenthesis The combination of a word root with the combining vowel Cardi/o or Cardi(o) Vs Cardiogram

Prefixes Appear at the beginnings of words Tell “how, why, where, when, how much, how many, position, direction, time or status” Pre-, post-, peri- Give us a clue of what to expect in a word’s meaning Serve to further define the word root

Suffixes Appear at the ends of words Tell us what is happening with a specific body part or system Give info on what is wrong or the procedure being performed -itis, -ectomy

Your goal is to learn the tools of word analysis This will make understanding the complex terminology easier Learning to divide words into their basic parts will help you to interpret them

If you don’t know the word to figure it out work backwards. Start with the suffix Drop the combining vowel (usually o) before a suffix that begins with a vowel Ex – gastric not gastroic Retain the combining vowel between two roots in a word

Many words are pronounced alike but spelled differently and have entirely different meaning Ileum-part of the small intestine Ilium-part of the pelvic, or hip, bone So in this class spelling will count!!

Words spelled correctly but pronounced incorrectly may be misunderstood Urethra Ureter