1.2 – Medical Language Rules

Language Review

Before we begin analyzing the rules, let’s complete a short language review that will assist with pronunciation and spelling. In class, you will practice pronunciation with your instructor.

Language Rules for Building Medical Terms

1. When combining two combining forms, you keep the combining form vowel.
2. When combining a combining form with a suffix that begins with a consonant, you keep the combining form vowel.

   Examples

   Gastr/o/enter/o/logy – The study of the stomach and the intestines

   • Following rule 1, when we join combining form gastr/o (meaning stomach) with the combining form enter/o (meaning intestines), we keep the combining form vowel o.
   • Following rule 2, when we join the combining form enter/o (meaning intestines) with the suffix -logy (that starts with a suffix and means the study of), we keep the combining form vowel o.
3. When combining a combining form with a suffix that begins with a vowel, you drop the combining form vowel.
4. A prefix goes at the beginning of the word, and no combining form vowel is used.

   Examples

   Intra/ven/ous – Pertaining to within the vein

   • Following rule 3, notice that when combining the combining form ven/o (meaning vein) with the suffix -ous (that starts with a vowel and means pertaining to), we drop the combining form vowel o.
   • Following rule 4, the prefix intra- (meaning within) is at the beginning of the medical term with no combining form vowel used.
5. When defining a medical word, start with the suffix first and then work left to right stating the word parts. You may need to add filler words. As long as the filler word does not change the meaning of the word, you may use it for the purpose of building a medical vocabulary. Once you start to apply the word in the context of a sentence, it will be easier to decide which filler word(s) to choose.

   Examples

   Intra/ven/ous – Pertaining to within the vein or Pertaining to within a vein.

   • Following rule 5, notice that I start with the suffix -ous (that means pertaining to), then we work left to right, starting with the prefix Intra- (meaning within) and the combining form ven/o (meaning vein).
   • Notice that we have used two different definitions that mean the same thing.
   • In these examples we do not have the context of a full sentence. For the purpose of building a medical terminology foundation, either definition is accepted.

Attribution

Except where otherwise noted, this chapter is adapted from “Medical Language Rules” in Building a Medical Terminology Foundation by Kimberlee Carter and Marie Rutherford, licensed under CC BY 4.0. / A derivative of Betts et al., which can be accessed for free from Anatomy and Physiology (OpenStax).