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
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
,
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...
, or
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...
forms).
The name "international scientific vocabulary" was first used by Philip Gove in ''
Webster's Third New International Dictionary
''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (commonly known as ''Webster's Third'', or ''W3'') was published in September 1961. It was edited by Philip Babcock Gove and a team of lexicographers who spent 757 ...
'' (1961). As noted by
David Crystal
David Crystal, (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist, academic, and prolific author best known for his works on linguistics and the English language.
Family
Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on 6 July 1941 after his mother had ...
, science is an especially productive field for new coinages. It is also especially predisposed to immediate translingual sharing of words owing to its very nature: scientists working in many countries and languages, reading each other's latest articles in
scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research.
Content
Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...
s (via foreign language skills, translation help, or both), and eager to apply any reported advances to their own context.
Instances
According to ''Webster's Third'', "some ISV words (like
haploid
Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...
) have been created by taking a word with a rather general and simple meaning from one of the languages of antiquity, usually
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, and conferring upon it a very specific and complicated meaning for the purposes of modern
scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
discourse." An ISV word is typically a
classical compound
Neoclassical compounds are compound words composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from classical Latin or ancient Greek roots. New Latin comprises many such words and is a substantial component of the technical and ...
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) adds that the ISV "consists of words or other linguistic forms current in two or more languages" that "differ from
New Latin
New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
in being adapted to the structure of the individual languages in which they appear." 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
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...
s from
New Latin
New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
.
McArthur 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.
It is not always practically relevant, to any concerns except
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
and the
history of science
The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal.
Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...
, which language any particular ISV term first appeared in, as its cognate naturalized counterparts in other languages are effectively
coeval
{{Short pages monitor
The ISV is one of the concepts behind the development and standardization of the
constructed language
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...
called
Interlingua
Interlingua (; ISO 639 language codes ia, ina) is an international auxiliary language (IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It ranks among the most widely used IALs and is t ...
. 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.Gode, Alexander, '' Interlingua: A Dictionary of the International Language''. New York: Storm Publishers, 1951.
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.
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.
Other words and word roots with two meanings
This is a list of other scientific words and word roots which have two meanings.
Other differences
Another difference between scientific terms and classical Latin and Greek is that many compounded scientific terms do not
elide
In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase. However, these terms are also used to refer more narrowly to cases where two words are run toget ...
the
inflection
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defin ...
vowel at the end of a
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
before another root or prefix that starts with a vowel, e.g.
gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydra ...
; but elision happens in
gastrectomy
A gastrectomy is a partial or total surgical removal of the stomach.
Indications
Gastrectomies are performed to treat stomach cancer and perforations of the stomach wall.
In severe duodenal ulcers it may be necessary to remove the lower portio ...
(not *''gastroectomy'').
The Greek word () = " monster" is usually used to mean "monster (abnormal)" (e.g.
teratology
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology. The related t ...
, teratogen), but some biological names use it to mean "monster (enormous)" (e.g. the extinct animals ''
Teratornis
''Teratornis'' (Greek: "wonder" (teretos), "bird" (ornis)) was a genus of huge North American birds of prey – the best-known of the teratorns - of which, two species are known to have existed: ''Teratornis merriami'' and
''Teratornis woodburnen ...
'' (a
condor
Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere.
They are:
* The Andean condor (''Vult ...
trilobite
Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...
2 feet long)).
Haplology
A feature affecting clarity in seeing a scientific word's components is
haplology
Haplology (from Ancient Greek, Greek "simple" and , "speech") is, in spoken language, the elision (elimination or deletion) of an entire syllable through dissimilation (a differentiating shift that affects two neighboring similar sounds). The ...
, i.e. removing one of two identical or similar syllables that meet at the junction point of a compound word. Examples are:
*
appendectomy
An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...
= , , (Latin for "
appendix (anatomy)
The appendix (or vermiform appendix; also cecal r caecalappendix; vermix; or vermiform process) is a finger-like, blind-ended tube connected to the cecum, from which it develops in the embryo. The cecum is a pouch-like structure of the large i ...
") + '' -ectomy'' (ultimately from Greek , "a cutting")
*
Dracohors
Dinosauromorpha is a clade of avemetatarsalian archosaurs (reptiles closer to birds than to crocodilians) that includes the Dinosauria (dinosaurs) and some of their close relatives. It was originally defined to include dinosauriforms and lag ...
= , , "Latin for
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
" + , "
cohort
Cohort or cohortes may refer to:
* Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum
* Cohort (floating point), a set of different encodings of the same numerical value
* Cohort (military unit ...
"
*
Hapalemur
The bamboo lemurs or gentle lemurs are the lemurs in genus ''Hapalemur''. These medium-sized primates live exclusively on Madagascar.
Etymology
Bamboo lemurs were first described by French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1851. Compar ...
= ''hapalo-'' (Greek , "gentle") +
lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 exist ...
See also
*
Binomial nomenclature
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
*
Classical compound
Neoclassical compounds are compound words composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from classical Latin or ancient Greek roots. New Latin comprises many such words and is a substantial component of the technical and ...
Greek and Latin roots in English
The English language uses many Greek and Latin roots, stems, and prefixes. These roots are listed alphabetically on three pages:
* Greek and Latin roots from A to G
* Greek and Latin roots from H to O
* Greek and Latin roots from P to Z.
Some ...
*
Hybrid word
A hybrid word or hybridism is a word that etymologically derives from at least two languages.
Common hybrids
The most common form of hybrid word in English combines Latin and Greek parts. Since many prefixes and suffixes in English are of Latin ...
*
Internationalism (linguistics)
In linguistics, an internationalism or international word is a loanword that occurs in several languages (that is, translingually) with the same or at least similar meaning and etymology. These words exist in "several different languages as a re ...
*
Latinization (literature)
Latinisation (or Latinization) of names, also known as onomastic Latinisation, is the practice of rendering a ''non''-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with historical proper names, including personal names and toponyms, and in t ...
*
Lexicography
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoretica ...
*
Language-for-specific-purposes dictionary
A language-for-specific-purposes dictionary (LSP dictionary) is a reference work which defines the specialised vocabulary used by experts within a particular field, for example, architecture. The discipline that deals with these dictionaries is s ...
(LSP dictionary)
*
Medical dictionary
A medical dictionary is a lexicon for words used in medicine. The three major medical dictionaries in the United States are '' Stedman's'', ''Taber's'', and ''Dorland's''. Other significant medical dictionaries are distributed by Elsevier. Dict ...
*
Medical terminology
Medical terminology is a language used to precisely describe the human body including all its components, processes, conditions affecting it, and procedures performed upon it. Medical terminology is used in the field of medicine
Medical terminolog ...
Scientific terminology
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 are comp ...
*
Scientific notation
Scientific notation is a way of expressing numbers that are too large or too small (usually would result in a long string of digits) to be conveniently written in decimal form. It may be referred to as scientific form or standard index form, o ...
*
Systematic name A systematic name is a name given in a systematic way to one unique group, organism, object or chemical substance, out of a specific population or collection. Systematic names are usually part of a nomenclature.
A semisystematic name or semitrivial ...
*
Terminology
Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, compound word, or multi-wor ...
Lists
*
List of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions
This is a list of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions, including hospital orders (the patient-directed part of which is referred to as sig codes). This list does not include abbreviations for pharmaceuticals or drug name suffixes such as C ...
*
List of Latin abbreviations
This is a list of common Latin abbreviations. Nearly all the abbreviations below have been adopted by Modern English. However, with some exceptions (for example, ''versus'' or '' modus operandi''), most of the Latin referent words and phrases a ...
*
List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...
*
List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents
This list contains Germanic elements of the English language which have a close corresponding Latinate form. The correspondence is semantic—in most cases these words are not cognates, but in some cases they are doublets, i.e., ultimately deriv ...
*
List of Latin words with English derivatives
This is a list of Latin words with derivatives in English (and other modern languages).
Ancient orthography did not distinguish between ''i'' and ''j'' or between ''u'' and ''v''. Many modern works distinguish u from v but not i from j. In this ...
*
List of Greek and Latin roots in English
The English language uses many Greek and Latin roots, stems, and prefixes. These roots are listed alphabetically on three pages:
* Greek and Latin roots from A to G
* Greek and Latin roots from H to O
* Greek and Latin roots from P to Z.
Som ...