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 (that is, translingually, whether in naturalized, loanword, or calque forms).
The name "international scientific vocabulary" was first used by
Instances
According to Webster's Third, "some ISV words (like
The online version of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (Merriam-Webster, 2002)
McArthur
It is not always practically relevant, to any concerns except philology and the history of science, which language any particular ISV term first appeared in, as its cognate naturalized counterparts in other languages are effectively coeval with it for most practical scientific purposes, as well as being self-evidently equivalent in surface analysis. This characteristic is corollary to the very nature of science: it is predisposed to immediate translingual sharing of words, as scientists, working in many countries and languages, are perennially reading each other's latest articles in scientific journals (via foreign language skills, translation help, or both), and eager to apply any reported advances to their own context. This theme applies even regardless of whether each instance of scientific exchange is openly collaborative (as in open science) or is driven by espionage or industrial espionage (as for example regarding weapons systems development).
The ISV is one of the concepts behind the development and standardization of the constructed language called 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 as 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 those in the original languages.
Word or root | Scientific meaning | Original language | Original word | Original meaning | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
andro-, -ander | stamen | Greek | ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός | man | in flowers of flowering plants |
gynaec-, -gyne | carpel | Greek | γυνή, γυναικός | woman | |
capno- | carbon dioxide | Greek | καπνός | smoke | |
electro- | electricity | Greek | ἤλεκτρον | amber | via static electricity from rubbing amber |
-itis | inflammation | Greek | -ίτης | pertaining to | |
thorax | chest (anatomy) | Greek | θώραξ | breastplate | |
toxo-
|
poison | Greek | τόξον | bow (weapon) | via 'poisoned arrow'. It means 'bow' in Toxodon and 'arc' in isotoxal. |
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 | written | 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, χάμψα |
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 | fībula | brooch | tibia & fibula looked like a brooch and its pin |
radius | (an arm bone) | Latin | radius | spoke | |
tibia | shinbone | Latin | tībia | flute | via animal tibias modified into flutes |
ulna | (an arm bone) | Latin | ulna | elbow, cubit measure | |
Other | |||||
foetus / fetus
|
unborn baby | Medical Latin | fētus (var. foetus) | As 1st/2nd decl. adjective, 'pregnant' As 4th decl. noun, 'the young of animals' |
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 one meaning 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 | cremāre | to burn ( tr. )
|
hang, be suspended | cremaster | κρεμάννυμι | I hang (tr.) |
Other words and word roots with two meanings
This is a list of other scientific words and word roots which have two meanings.
Word or root | Scientific meaning 1 | Example | Origin | Original meaning | Scientific meaning 2 | Example | Origin | Original meaning | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
uro- | tail | Uromastyx | Greek οὐρά | tail | urine | urology | Greek οὐρῶ | urine | |
mento- | the mind | mental | Latin mēns | the mind | (of the) chin | mentoplasty | Latin mentum | chin |
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).
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)).
Haplology
A feature affecting clarity in seeing a scientific word's components is haplology, i.e. removing one of two identical or similar syllables that meet at the junction point of a compound word. Examples are:
- appendectomy = appendix, appendicis, (Latin for "appendix") + -ectomy (ultimately from Greek τομή, "a cutting")
- "
See also
- Binomial nomenclature
- Classical compound
- English words of Greek origin
- Greek and Latin roots in English
- Hybrid word
- Internationalism (linguistics)
- Latinization (literature)
- Lexicography
- Language-for-specific-purposes dictionary (LSP dictionary)
- Medical dictionary
- Medical terminology
- Scientific Latin
- Scientific terminology
- Scientific notation
- Systematic name
- Terminology
Lists
- 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 and Latin roots in English
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.
- Interlingua: A Dictionary of the International Language. New York: Storm Publishers, 1951.
External links
- Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
- List of Latin Words with Derivatives to English
- Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998 entry on International Scientific Vocabulary