Schedule
This page will be updated on a weekly basis with the most recent lecture slides. Some of the below links may only work from the campus network; for convenience, PDFs of the required readings are available through the Learning Portal.
Part I: Scientific terms from Greek
1. Thursday, 11 September
- The History of English
- Guide to Reference Tools
- Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes
Read
- Dirckx (2006a), summarizing basic concepts
- Turmezei (2012), providing an overview of the sources of words in anatomical terminology
Class Materials
- Slides
- Download slide text (RTF)
2. Thursday, 18 September
- The Greek Alphabet
- Basic Concepts of Inflected Languages
- Greek Adjective-Forming and Compound Suffixes
Read
- Džuganová (1998), showing the difference between a prefix and a suffix
- Dirckx (1985), discussing the function of gender in language
Class Materials
- Slides
- Download slide text (RTF)
3. Thursday, 25 September
- Greek Noun-Forming Suffixes
- Scientific Use of Greek and Latin
- Cases in Greek and Latin
Read
- Džuganová (2013), explaining current approaches to terminology
- Dirckx (2001), on singular and plural terms
Class Materials
4. Thursday, 2 October
- Greek Plurals, Diminutives, and Verb-Forming Suffixes
- Analysing Ancient Accounts of Disease
Read
- Dirckx (2000a; 2000b), discussing ancient interpretations of plagues (part I, part II)
- Dirckx (1999), on diminutives
Class Materials
- Slides
- Download slide text (RTF)
5. Thursday, 9 October
- Evolving Meanings
- Terminology and History
- Terms from Classical Mythology
Read
- Sakai (2007), on the development of anatomical terminology
- Kachlík et al. (2008), describing the modern standardization of anatomical terminology
- Soutis (2006), on Greek words found in the context of paediatric surgery
Optional Reading
- Karenberg (2012–2013), describing the influence of mythology in naming the parts of the body
Class Materials
6. Thursday, 16 October
- Test I
- Figurative Usage
Read
- Paluzzi et al. (2012), on terms used in neuroanatomy
- van Regenmortel (2000), on possible issues with the use of Latin in taxonomy
Class Materials
- Slides
- Download slide text (RTF)
Part II: Scientific terms from Latin
7. Thursday, 23 October
- The Roman World
- Hybrid Words
- Latin Prefixes and Stems
Read
- Garner (2014), on using scientific terminology to track plagiarism
- Dirckx (1977), on the combination of Greek and Latin in a single word
- Dirckx (1988; 1990), a list of Latin words in current usage (part I, part II)
Class Materials
- Slides
- Download slide text (RTF)
8. Thursday, 30 October
- Scientific Communication and Peer Review
- Latin Suffixes I
- Medieval Contributions to Scientific Terminology
Read
- Džuganová (2006), on prefixes and suffixes with a negative meaning
- Dirckx (2007), translating Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies, a medieval approach to word derivations
Class Materials
- Slides
- Download slide text (RTF)
9. Thursday, 6 November
- Latin Suffixes II
- Early-Modern Contributions to Scientific Terminology
Read
- Ivanová and Holomáňová (2001), discussing terminology reform by Vesalius
- Musil et al. (2014), effects of early-modern scholarship on the nomenclature of the human skeletal muscles
Optional Reading
- Eisenstein (2005), discussing the influence of printing on science
Class Materials
10. Thursday, 13 November
- Latin Suffixes III
- Latin Declensions and Plurals
- Problems in Modern Scientific Communication
Read
- Dirckx and Leider (1981), plurals of Latin nouns and adjectives
- Lydiatt and Bucher (2010), on the nomenclature of the larynx
- Leider and Dirckx (1982), a list of Latin phrases used in scientific writing
Class Materials
11. Thursday, 20 November
- Test II
Read
- Davis et al. (2014), on the etymology of the cranial nerves
- Dirckx (1987), a list of obsolete medical terminology
Class Materials
- Slides
- Download slide text (RTF)
12. Thursday, 27 November
- Vocabulary Analysis Paper Due
- Latin Phrases
- Conclusion
Read
- Dirckx (2006b), a summary of the history of anatomical nomenclature
- Marečková, Šimon, and Červený (2002), on the future of Latin in the sciences
- Díez Arroyo (2013), on scientific terminology in advertising
Class Materials
- Slides
- Download slide text (RTF)
References
Davis, Matthew C., Christoph J. Griessenauer, Anand N. Bosmia, R. Shane Tubbs, and Mohammadali M. Shoja. 2014. ‘The Naming of the Cranial Nerves: A Historical Review’. Clinical Anatomy 27 (1): 14–19. doi:10.1002/ca.22345.
Dirckx, John H. 1977. ‘Hybrid Words in Medical Terminology’. Journal of the American Medical Association 238 (19): 2043–45. doi:10.1001/jama.1977.03280200055019.
———. 1985. ‘And Now a Few Words About Sex’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 7 (1): 43–48. doi:10.1097/00000372-198502000-00009.
———. 1987. ‘A Little Lexicon of Archaic and Obsolete Medical Terms’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 9 (1): 76–79. doi:10.1097/00000372-198702000-00014.
———. 1988. ‘Latin Is Alive and Well’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 10 (3): 270–74. doi:10.1097/00000372-198806000-00013.
———. 1990. ‘More Living Latin’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 12 (4): 422–29. doi:10.1097/00000372-199008000-00016.
———. 1999. ‘Little Things That Count’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 21 (2): 204–7. doi:10.1097/00000372-199904000-00018.
———. 2000a. ‘Pestilence Narratives in Classical Literature: A Study in Creative Imitation. I. Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, and Lucretius’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 22 (2): 197–202. doi:10.1097/00000372-200004000-00021.
———. 2000b. ‘Pestilence Narratives in Classical Literature: A Study in Creative Imitation. II. Virgil, Ovid, Seneca, and Silius Italicus’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 22 (5): 459–64. doi:10.1097/00000372-200010000-00015.
———. 2001. ‘More Than One: Plurality in Thought and Language’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 23 (1): 69–75. doi:10.1097/00000372-200102000-00014.
———. 2006a. ‘Greek and Latin in Medical Terminology’. In Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, edited by Julie K. Stegman, Eric Branger, Tiffany Piper, Thomas W. Filardo, John H. Dirckx, Raymond Lukens, and William R. Hensyl, 28th ed., appendix 9. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. http://stedmansonline.com/webFiles/Dict-Stedmans28/APP04.pdf.
———. 2006b. ‘Anatomical Nomenclature: History’. In Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, edited by Keith Brown, 2nd ed., 244–52. Oxford: Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04268-1.
———. 2007. ‘Isidore of Seville on the Origins and Meanings of Medical Terms’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 29 (6): 581–83. doi:10.1097/DAD.0b013e3181597a43.
Dirckx, John H., and Morris Leider. 1981. ‘A Description and Directory of Plural Forms of Medical Latin Words and Terms’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 3 (1): 41–53. doi:10.1097/00000372-198100310-00005.
Díez Arroyo, Marisa. 2013. ‘Scientific Language in Skin-Care Advertising: Persuading Through Opacity’. Revista española de lingüística aplicada 26: 197–213. http://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/4597577.pdf.
Džuganová, Božena. 1998. ‘Word Analysis – A Useful Tool in Learning the Language of Medicine in English’. Bratislavské Lekárske Listy/Bratislava Medical Journal 99 (10): 551–53. http://www.bmj.sk/1998/09910-09.pdf.
———. 2006. ‘Negative Affixes in Medical English’. Bratislavské Lekárske Listy/Bratislava Medical Journal 107 (8): 332–35. http://www.bmj.sk/2006/10708-13.pdf.
———. 2013. ‘English Medical Terminology – Different Ways of Forming Medical Terms’. JAHR 4 (7): 55–69. http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=162511.
Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. 2005. ‘The Book of Nature Transformed: Printing and the Rise of Modern Science’. In The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe, 2nd ed., 209–85. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139197038.010.
Garner, Harold. 2014. ‘The Case of the Stolen Words’. Scientific American 310 (3): 64–67. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0314-64.
Ivanová, Alena, and Anna Holomáňová. 2001. ‘Anatomic Nomenclature by Vesalius’. Bratislavské Lekárske Listy/Bratislava Medical Journal 102 (3): 169–73. http://www.bmj.sk/2001/10203-08.pdf.
Kachlík, David, Václav Báča, Ivana Bozděchová, Pavel Čech, and Vladimír Musil. 2008. ‘Anatomical Terminology and Nomenclature: Past, Present and Highlights’. Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy 30 (6): 459–66. doi:10.1007/s00276-008-0357-y.
Karenberg, Axel. 2012–2013. ‘The World of Gods and the Body of Man: Mythological Origins of Modern Anatomical Terms’. Anatomy 6-7: 7–22. doi:10.2399/ana.11.142.
Leider, Morris, and John H. Dirckx. 1982. ‘A Glossary of Selected Classical and Neo-Classical Expressions Apt or Adaptable in Medical Writing’. The American Journal of Dermatopathology 4 (1): 25–38. doi:10.1097/00000372-198202000-00005.
Lydiatt, Daniel D., and Gregory S. Bucher. 2010. ‘The Historical Latin and Etymology of Selected Anatomical Terms of the Larynx’. Clinical Anatomy 23 (2): 131–44. doi:10.1002/ca.20912.
Marečková, Elena, František Šimon, and Ladislav Červený. 2002. ‘Latin as the Language of Medical Terminology: Some Remarks on Its Role and Prospects’. Swiss Medical Weekly 132 (41–42): 581–87. http://www.smw.ch/dfe/set_archiv.asp?target=2002/41/smw-10027.
Musil, Vladimír, Zdeněk Suchomel, Petra Malinová, Josef Stingl, Martin Vlček, and Marek Vácha. 2014. ‘The History of Latin Terminology of Human Skeletal Muscles (from Vesalius to the Present)’. Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, May. doi:10.1007/s00276-014-1305-7.
Paluzzi, Alessandro, Juan Fernandez-Miranda, Matthew Torrenti, and Paul Gardner. 2012. ‘Retracing the Etymology of Terms in Neuroanatomy’. Clinical Anatomy 25 (8): 1005–14. doi:10.1002/ca.22053.
Sakai, Tatsuo. 2007. ‘Historical Evolution of Anatomical Terminology from Ancient to Modern’. Anatomical Science International 82 (2): 65–81. doi:10.1111/j.1447-073X.2007.00180.x.
Soutis, Michael. 2006. ‘Ancient Greek Terminology in Pediatric Surgery: About the Word Meaning’. Journal of Pediatric Surgery 41 (7): 1302–8. doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2006.03.011.
Turmezei, Tom D. 2012. ‘The Linguistic Roots of Modern English Anatomical Terminology’. Clinical Anatomy 25 (8): 1015–22. doi:10.1002/ca.22062.
van Regenmortel, M.H. 2000. ‘On the Relative Merits of Italics, Latin and Binomial Nomenclature in Virus Taxonomy’. Archives of Virology 145 (2): 433–41. doi:10.1007/s007050050036.