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First Lesson

The document provides information about spelling, pronunciation, and basic features of Latin nouns relevant to medical terminology. It discusses the Latin alphabet and pronunciation of letters. Examples of Latin spelling and matching Latin and English medical expressions are provided. Key points about Latin nouns include their gender, number, case, and declension. The meanings of nominative, accusative, genitive, and ablative cases are explained. Exercises are included to identify noun cases in Latin phrases.

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30 views

First Lesson

The document provides information about spelling, pronunciation, and basic features of Latin nouns relevant to medical terminology. It discusses the Latin alphabet and pronunciation of letters. Examples of Latin spelling and matching Latin and English medical expressions are provided. Key points about Latin nouns include their gender, number, case, and declension. The meanings of nominative, accusative, genitive, and ablative cases are explained. Exercises are included to identify noun cases in Latin phrases.

Uploaded by

bnvj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FIRST LESSON

Main topics of the first lesson:


• Spelling and pronunciation
• The Latin nouns
• Greek elements

1. SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION


1.1 ALPHABET AND PRONUNCIATION
Latin letters: a b c d e f g h i l m n o p q r s t u v x k y z (in Greek words only)

A father or act S sun (never show) (sometimes zoo)


B but T top
C cell, if followed by e, i, y, ae, oe; U moon or put
otherwise: cat V have
D dog X axe
E mate or bed Y if it were the letter i
F father Z zoo
G good (never genius)
H have AE mate (but not in aēr)
I seed or pit OE bird (but not in diploē)
K king (a rare letter in Latin) CH chaos
L long PH if it were the letter f
M man TI it’s English, if followed by a vowel;
N now otherwise: tick
O note or hot TH tourist
P pit QU queen
R rolled GU (if followed by a vowel) language

1.2. PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE


Status post exstirpationem pulmonis dextri propter carcinoma planocellulare (histologice
verificatum) bronchi lobi superioris pulmonis dextri ante obitum annis duobus factam.
Metastases lymphoglandularum hili pulmonum, paraaortalium abdominalium, hepatis,
corporis vertebrarum, ossis sterni et ossis ilei sinistri. Cachexia. Pleuritis chronica callosa
lateris dextri. Emphysema et oedema pulmonis sinistri. Hypertrophia et dilatatio ventriculi
dextri cordis. (Cor pulmonale). Atherosclerosis universalis maioris gradus praecipue aortae
abdominalis, arteriarum coronariarum et baseos cerebri. Fibrosis myocardii. Emollitio
corporis striati lateris dextri. Hydrocephalus internus e vacuo. Trophia testiculorum.
Hyperplasia nodosa prostatae. Urocystitis chronica et hypertrophia parietis vesicae urinariae.

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1.3 SPELLING PRACTICE
The English and Latin nouns, in many cases, have close relations in forms due to the history
of the English language. A great amount of medical words are loanwords from Greek and
Latin. Therefore it is easy (many times) to find out the Latin form with the usage of the
English.
Task: Supplement the Latin word with a missing letter. Only one letter is missing from one
space.
Example:
…rac...ura [incomplete latin form] (fracture) [complete English form]__fractura_____

medi...ina (medicine) _______________________


...tru…tura (structure) _______________________
trun…us (trunk) _______________________
….ollum (neck) _______________________
fun…tio (function) _______________________
pelvi… (pelvis) _______________________
…aput (head) _______________________
manu… (hand) _______________________
fa…ie… (face) _______________________
…orpu… (body) _______________________
extremita… (limb) _______________________
t…orax (chest) _______________________

1.4 MATCH THE LATIN AND ENGLISH EXPRESSIONS THEN CHECK THE SIMILARITIES.
Latin: English:
fractura tibiae
structura venarum
ulcus
forma
operatio
laesio musculi
arteria
artery, form/shape, lesion/injury of a muscle, operation, the fracture of the tibia,
the structure of the veins, ulcer

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2. THE LATIN NOUNS
2.1 BASIC FEATURES OF THE NOUNS
All the given forms are to be learned, e.g.:
lingua, -ae f language, tongue
medicina, -ae f medicine,
tibia, -ae f tibia.
The 1st form is the Singular Nominative form, meaning ’language’, ’medicine’ and ’tibia’.
The 2nd form is the Singular Genitive form, meaning ’of the/a language’, ’of medicine’ and
’of the/a tibia’.
In the 3rd place you can find the gender of the given noun:
m stands for masculinum - a male noun,
f stands for femininum - a female noun,
n stands for neutrum - a neuter noun.
Nous have
GENDER :
- it can be natural gender:
mater, matris (meaning ’mother’) is f,
pater, patris (meaning ’father’) is m.
- those without ’natural’ gender, have grammatical gender:
musculus, -i m (muscle),
fractura, -ae f (fracture),
os, ossis n (bone).
NUMBER:
- Singularis (Sing. / S.),
- Pluralis (Plur. / Pl.).
CASE:
- Nominativus (Nom.),
- Accusativus (Acc.),
- Genitivus (Gen.),
- Ablativus (Abl).
We get the STEM or ROOT of the noun if we omit the case ending from the 2nd vocabulary
form, that is from the Singularis Genitivus form:
fractura, -ae (=fracturae) f the stem / root is: FRACTUR-,
tibia, -ae (=tibiae) f the stem / root is: TIBI-,
musculus, -i (=musculi) m the stem / root is: MUSCUL-,
pes, pedis m the stem / root is: PED- (not pes-),
caput, -itis (=capitis) n the stem / root is: CAPIT- (not caput-),
os, ossis n the stem / root is: OSS- (not os-).

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2.2. ENDINGS OF THE NOUNS
The different endings express the number and the case of a noun.
The different groups of the nouns (the so-called declensions) have different endings. But the
endings within a declension are the same, e.g.:
I. declension: costae (... of the rib) fracturae (... of the fracture)
II. declension: oculi (... of the eye) musculi (... of the muscle)
III. declension: laesionis (... of the injury) extensoris (... of the extensor)

2.3. THE MEANING OF THE CASES1


• Nominativus (Nom.) corresponds to the first noun of an English expression. (Hint: if
there is no preposition before a noun in English, it must be Nominativus in Latin.)
• Accusativus (Acc.) is used after certain prepositions. (Some prepositions are used with
Accusativus, others with Ablativus in Latin.)
• Genitivus (Gen.) is the case of the possessor (’of’ - case).
• Ablativus (Abl.) is used after certain prepositions. (Some prepositions are used with
Accusativus, others with Ablativus in Latin.)

2.4 UNDERLINE THE NOUNS WHICH ARE IN NOMINATIVE IN LATIN, AND CIRCLE THE NOUNS
IN THE GENITIVE CASE.

fracture of the tibia; the painful fracture of the ribs; diseases of the ophthalmic nerves;

treatment of the painful ulcers of the stomach; insufficiency of the valves of the aorta

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The following rules are valid in medical Latin only, the rules of classical Latin were much more complicated,
and there are rare exceptions in medical Latin, too.
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