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THE ROLE OF LATIN AND GREEK TERMS IN BIOLOGY
Қапбар Ж. Ж. – 113-16 тобының студенті
Ғылыми жетекшісі: Барысова Н. T. – аға оқытушы
Оңтүстік Қазақстан мемлекеттік педагогикалық институты, Шымкент
Түйін
Бұл мақалада латын және грек тілінен енген биология терминдері зерттеледі.
Резюме
В этой статье рассматривается роль биологической терминологии заимственной с
латинского и греческого языков.
Scientific terminology is the part of the language that is used
by scientists in the context of their professional activities. While
studying nature, scientists often encounter or create new material or immaterial
objects and concepts and compelled to name them. Many of those names are
known only to professionals. However, due to popularization of science, they
gradually become part of common languages. The importance of Greek and
Latin is undebatable. According to one estimate, more than 1500 words of
English language are derived from Greek.
Why science terminology is based in Latin and Greek?
First, the Greeks got around to studying and naming plants long before the
others did. So there exists in ancient Greek texts a large vocabulary of plant
names. Second, ancient Greek and Latin simply had more words, had a larger
and more sophisticated vocabulary. For almost two thousand years, up to the end
of the seventeenth century, scientific textbooks were written in Latin. For
example, at the Sorbonne, at Oxford, or at Bologna, students learned natural
history, later called botany and zoology, from books written in Latin but based
largely on the writings of early Greek scientists.
Second, in a “dead” language, the meaning of a word does not change. It
is frozen. Callus will always mean ‘hard skin’ in Latin. In a living language,
words acquire new meanings. In 1930, acid meant a chemical like the acetic acid
in vinegar. Nowadays “acid” is English slang for LSD, a dangerous
hallucinogenic drug. Because precise meaning and precise use of words is
crucial in all forms of scientific communication, it helps to be able to make new
medical terms from Latin and Greek roots whose meanings do not alter over
time. [1].
Benefits
Science is of international nature. The development of technical
languages in the individual branches of science is connected with frequent
borrowing of foreign language lexical material which is mostly of Latin or
Greek origin. Greek and Latin represent the traditional language material to be
used in medical terminology.
English medical terminology developed from medieval Latin terminology,
which had absorbed a developed Greek terminology. Greek medicine migrated
to Rome at an early date, and many Latin terms crept into its terminology. Only
a few medical terms came from the oldest developmental period of the English
language (from Anglo-Saxon). Latin was the language of science up to the
beginning of the 18th Century, so all medical texts were written in Latin.
Studying Latin also trains a person to be more precise when using words.
Students' reading comprehension likewise improves. When listening to other
people (like lawyers or scientists) speak in Latin, the person with a grasp of
Latin won't feel lost nor groping for meaning. [2].
The recent changes in biological sciences, brought about by the powerful
new technologies and instruments, including gene technology, production of
monoclonal antibodies, or even sequencing of macromolecules have produced
interactions that have shortened the time span between fundamental research and
its applications. It has become a common belief that adequate training as well as
an increase in personal skills are imperative. Thus, the need for educational
developments including Latin and Greek these fields of biology and the related
sciences seems to be of essential importance.
Indirect influence
It is not always easy to tell at what point a word entered English, or in
what form. Some words have come into English from Latin more than once,
through French or another Romance language at one time and directly from
Latin at another. Thus we have pairs like fragile/frail, army/armada,
corona/crown, ratio/reason, and rotund/round. The first word in each pair came
directly from Latin, while the second entered English from French .In addition,
some words have entered English twice from French, with the result that they
have the same source, but different pronunciations reflecting changing
pronunciation in French, for example chief/chef . Multiple borrowings explain
other word pairs and groups with similar roots but different meanings and/or
pronunciations:
canal/channel,
poor/pauper,
coy/quiet,
disc/disk/dish/desk/dais/discus.[3].
Knowledge of prefixes and suffixes used in biology makes it easier to
understand unfamiliar words, terms. Many words in life science subjects such as
biology, medicine and health sciences are derived from Latin and Greek. A
prefix is the beginning part of a word. A suffix is the end of a word. There is a
short list including terms.

Autos= self, e.g. autotroph [Greek]

Bios= life, e.g. biomass [Greek]

Bis= twice, e.g. binary fission, bicuspid valve [Latin]
Roots, like bio (life) may be found at the beginning of a word, the end of a
word, or stand alone. Roots preceded by a hyphen are suffixes, or roots
generally used at the end of a word; for example, -ology is greek for the science
or study of. Biology then, is the Study of Life. [4].
Word
Part
-coel
(seel)
Word Part
Meaning
Space,
Cavity,
Hollow
Word Part Example
Meaning of Example
Eucoelomate
Having a true body cavity or hollow
space (within the mesoderm germ
layer)
-cide
-cyte
Kill
сell
Tooth or
Teeth
Herbacide, Insecticide
Erythrocyte, Osteocyte
derm
Skin
Epidermis, Ectoderm
dors-,
noto-
The Back
Dorsalfin, Notochord
ecto-,
exo-
Out, Outside
Ectoderm, Exoskeleton
-emia
Blood
Condition
Hyperglycemia,
Sicklecellanemia
entomo-,
insect
Insect
Entomologist, Insectivore
Insectstudier, Insecteater
Equ-, iso-
Equal, Same
Isotonic
Solute levels are equal on both sides
of a membrane (inside & outside the
cell)
dent, dont
Dentalplaque, Orthodontist
Plantkiller, Insectkiller
Red blood cell, Bone cell
Teeth with patches of bacterial
growth, Dr. who straightens teeth
Top skin layer, Outer layer of
tissue/skin during embryo
development
Fin on the back of a fish, A
embryonic structure that will become
vertebrae
Outer layer of tissue during embryo
development, Skeleton on outside of
body
High blood sugar levels, Sickle
shaped red blood cells (should be
circular)
References
[1]. Martin Cothran, “The Classical Education of our Founding Fathers,” Memoria
Press, http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/classical-education-founding-fathers, January
12, 2015.
[2]. Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought, chapter 4
[3]. Revised Biology curricula at the Universities in Europe (ECBA Publication No
11.,
European Communities Biologists Association, 1993).
[4]. Biological Terminology (Bio Terms): Latin & Greek Word Parts (prefixes, root
words, and suffixes)