International scientific vocabulary
International scientific vocabulary (ISV) comprises scientific and specialized words whose language of origin may or may not be certain, but which are in current use in several modern languages. The name "International Scientific Vocabulary" was first used by Philip Gove in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1961).[1] As noted by Crystal,[2] science is an especially productive field for new coinages.
According to Webster's Third, "some ISV words (like haploid) have been created by taking a word with a rather general and simple meaning from one of the languages of antiquity, usually Latin and Greek, and conferring upon it a very specific and complicated meaning for the purposes of modern scientific discourse." An ISV word is typically a classical compound or a derivative which "gets only its raw materials, so to speak, from antiquity." Its morphology may vary across languages.
The online version of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (Merriam-Webster, 2002)[3] adds that the ISV "consists of words or other linguistic forms current in two or more languages" that "differ from New Latin in being adapted to the structure of the individual languages in which they appear." [4] In other words, ISV terms are often made with Greek, Latin, or other combining forms, but each language pronounces the resulting neo-lexemes within its own phonemic "comfort zone," and makes morphological connections using its normal morphological system. In this respect ISV can be viewed as heavily borrowing loanwords from New Latin.
McArthur[5] characterizes ISV words and morphemes as "translinguistic", explaining that they operate "in many languages that serve as mediums for education, culture, science, and technology." Besides European languages, such as Russian, Swedish, English, and Spanish, ISV lexical items also function in Japanese, Malay, Philippine languages, and other Asian languages. According to McArthur, no other set of words and morphemes is so international.
The ISV is one of the concepts behind the development and standardization of Interlingua. Scientific and medical terms in Interlingua are largely of Greco-Latin origin, but, like most Interlingua words, they appear in a wide range of languages. Interlingua's vocabulary is established using a group of control languages selected because they radiate words into, and absorb words from, a large number of other languages. A prototyping technique then selects the most recent common ancestor of each eligible Interlingua word or affix. The word or affix takes a contemporary form based on the control languages. This procedure is meant to give Interlingua the most generally international vocabulary possible.[6]
Words and word roots that have different meanings from those in the original languages
This is a list of scientific words and word roots which have different meanings from in the original languages.
| word or root | scientific meaning | original language | original word | original meaning | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| andro-, -ander | stamen | Greek | ἀνδρ-, ἀνηρ | man | in flowers of flowering plants |
| gynaec-, -gyne | carpel | Greek | γυναικ-, γυνη | woman | |
| capno- | carbon dioxide | Greek | καπνός | smoke | |
| electro- | electricity | Greek | ἤλεκτρον | amber | via static electricity from rubbing amber |
| -itis | inflammation | Greek | -ῖτις | pertaining to | |
| thorax | chest (anatomy) | Greek | θώραξ | breastplate | |
| toxo- | poison | Greek | τόξον | bow (weapon) | via "poisoned arrow". It means "bow" in Toxodon. |
| macro- | big | Greek | μακρός | long | |
| In names of biological taxa | |||||
| -ceras | ammonite | Greek | κέρας | horn | via resemblance to a ram's horn |
| -crinus | crinoid | Greek | κρίνος | lily | extracted from name "crinoid" |
| grapto- | graptolite | Greek | γραπτός | writing | via resemblance of fossil |
| -gyrinus | labyrinthodont | Greek | γυρῖνος | tadpole | |
| -lestes | predator | Greek | λῃστής | robber | |
| -mimus | ornithomimid | Greek | μῖμος | mime | extracted from name Ornithomimus = "bird mimic" |
| -mys | rodent | Greek | μῦς | mouse | including in Phoberomys |
| -saurus | reptile, dinosaur | Greek | σαῦρος | lizard | |
| -stega, -stege | stegocephalian | Greek | στέγη | roof | via their cranium roofs as fossils |
| -suchus, -champsus | crocodilian | Ancient Egyptian | σοῦχος, χαμψαι (pl.) | as quoted by ancient Greek authors as Egyptian words for "crocodile" | |
| therium | usually mammal | Greek | θηρίον | beast, animal | |
| Names of bones | |||||
| femur | thighbone | Latin | femur | thigh | Classical Latin genitive often "feminis" |
| fibula | (a leg bone) | Latin | fibula | brooch | tibia & fibula looked like a brooch and its pin |
| radius | (an arm bone) | Latin | radius | spoke | |
| tibia | shinbone | Latin | tibia | flute | via animal tibias modified into flutes |
| ulna | (an arm bone) | Latin | ulna | elbow, cubit measure | |
Words and word roots that have one meaning from Latin and another meaning from Greek
This is a list of scientific words and word roots which have a meanings from Latin and another meaning from Greek.
| word or root | scientific meaning from Latin |
example | Latin word | Latin meaning | scientific meaning from Greek |
example | Greek word | Greek meaning | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| alg- | alga | alga | alga | seaweed | pain | analgesic | ἄλγος | pain | |
| crema- | burn | cremation | cremare | to burn (tr.) | hang, be suspended | cremaster | κρεμάννυμι | I hang (tr.) |
Other differences
Another difference between scientific terms and classical Latin and Greek is that many compounded scientific terms do not elide the inflection vowel at the end of a root before another root or prefix that starts with a vowel, e.g. gastroenteritis; but elision happens in gastrectomy (not gastroectomy).
See Methanol#History for a word formed with Greek language errors: wrong Greek word used for the French word bois = "wood"; wrong Greek word combining order influenced by French usage; and an apparent suffix extracted and used to form other words.
The Greek word τέρας (τέρατο-) = "monster" is usually used to mean "monster (abnormal)" (e.g. teratology, teratogen), but some biological names use it to mean "monster (enormous)" (e.g. the extinct animals Teratornis (a condor with a 12-foot wingspan) and Terataspis (a trilobite 2 feet long)).
See also
- Binomial nomenclature
- Combining form
- Classical compound
- Greek and Latin roots in English
- Hybrid word
- Internationalism (linguistics)
- Latinization (literature)
- Lexicography
- List of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions
- List of Latin abbreviations
- List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
- List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes
- List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents
- List of Latin words with English derivatives
- List of Greek words with English derivatives
- LSP dictionary
- Medical dictionary
- Medical terminology
- Scientific terminology
- Systematic name
- Terminology
References
- ↑ McArthur, Tom (editor), The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press, 1992.
- ↑ Crystal, David, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 1995.
- ↑ The online version is available by subscription.
- ↑ "International scientific vocabulary." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. Accessed July 11, 2006.
- ↑ McArthur, Tom, "Asian Lexicography: Past, Present, and Prospective", Lexicography in Asia (Introduction). Password Publishers Limited, 1998. Accessed January 17, 2007.
- ↑ Gode, Alexander, Interlingua: A Dictionary of the International Language. New York: Storm Publishers, 1951.
External links
- Glossary of Roots of Botanical Names
- Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
- List of Latin Words with Derivatives to English
- Some classical Greek and Latin roots
- Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998 entry on International Scientific Vocabulary
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