Features of Medical English Vocabulary

【Abstract】Medical English is relatively more difficult than general English，especially its vocabulary.Those medical English words are long and complex，making it hard to remember.But medical English vocabulary has its own features，which would help us in learning vocabulary.On the basis of many medical English materials，the paper explores the features of etymology，affixes and roots of medical English.

【Key words】medical English； features； etymology； affixes； roots

Medical English belongs to ESP（English for Special Purpose），with a strong feature of technicality and specialty.For medical English vocabulary，they are usually long and tough to learn.However，it is easier for us to learn if we grasp the underlying features of its vocabulary.

1.The Etymology Features of Medical English

1.1 From General English.There are a large number of medical vocabularies，some of which are derived from general English.It has one meaning in general English and another meaning in medical English.For example，in general English，the word “plastic” means a light strong material that is produced by chemical process and can be formed into shapes when it is heated.However，it means reshaping in medical English.Another example is the word “labor” which means work especially physical work in general English.But it means delivering in medical English.There are many words like these，such as disorder，condition，stroke and so on.

1.2 From Latin and Greece.The Latin and Greece morpheme take a big part of the medical English.It is reported that more than 75% of medical English words are from Latin and Greece which means perhaps either the whole words or a part of the words are from Latin and Greece.As it were，Latin and Greece have the basic function in medical English.And they have a strong power in word building，which can form new words through derivational method，synthetic method and affixation method and so on.Therefore，the medical words are also complex.For example，cardio（means heart）and graph（means picture）form the word cardiograph，hemi and plegia（means paralysis）form the word hemiplegia and so on.

1.3 Words with Cultural Backgrounds.Although medical words belong to the natural science and have features of veracity and impersonality，they also have humanism aspects.Some of them are based on culture and some are from Bible，while many of them are from Greece and myth story.There are some classic examples.

The “prominentia laryngea” can be expressed as Adams apple.It comes from the allusion of the Bible.Adam ate forbidden fruit secretly when God passed by，so Adam wanted to swallow it quickly.But the fruit got stuck in his throat.Prominentia laryngea of male are formed from then on.

The word “hermaphrodite”（陰陽人、兩性體）is also from the Greece myth.Hermaphroditus was a male god once but later he combined with fairy madam Salmacis，then he became hermaphrodite.

2.The Features of Roots and Affixes

Most of medical English words are composed of roots and affixes.So it is necessary to explore its features.

2.1 Numerical Relationship.There are many affixes which indicate numerical relationships of medical English.The affix “uni” means “one”.It is also used in common English.The affix “by” means “two” or “double”.These kinds of affixes are also used in general English.And there are many affixes which are used only in medical English.Here are some examples.

Prefix Meaning ExampleMeaning of the example

Haplo- SingleHaplodont 單行牙

Mono- SingleMonoamine單胺

Bi-DoubleBiceps 二頭肌

Tri-Three Tribasic 三鹽基的

2.2 Colors.In medical English，there are a large number of words that express color of a disease or symptom.There are some examples：

Prefix Meaning ExampleMeaning of the example

Erythr/o- Red Erythroderma 紅皮病

Melan/o- Black Melanocyte 黑素細胞

Leuk/o-White Leukemia 白血病

3.Conclusion

A good knowledge of vocabulary is essential for learning medical English.With the analysis of sources and features of medical English vocabulary，the paper aims to help readers to improve the efficiency of the learning of medical English.

References：

[1]Han Ying.A Brief Talk of Medical English Words Features and the Memorizing Method.Science and Culture.2009（7）.

[2]Shen Shu，Analysis on the Characteristics of Medical English Vocabulary from Derivation.The Second Militart Medical University.Shanghai 2004（33）.

[3]Vincenzo Lanza，Some Notes on Medical English，Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing.2005.

作者簡介：劉翠萍，包頭醫學院外語系，碩士，講師，研究方向：外國語言學與應用語言學。