Neoclassical compounds are
compound word
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or Sign language, sign) that consists of more than one Word stem, stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. C ...
s composed from combining forms (which act as
affix
In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. The main two categories are Morphological derivation, derivational and inflectional affixes. Derivational affixes, such as ''un-'', ''-ation' ...
es or
stems) derived from
classical languages (
classical Latin
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...
or
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
)
roots
A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients.
Root or roots may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...
.
Neo-Latin
Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...
comprises many such words and is a substantial component of the
technical
Technical may refer to:
* Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle
* Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match
* Technical advisor, a person who ...
and
scientific
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
lexicon
A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...
of
English and other languages, via
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, lo ...
(ISV). For example, Greek ''
bio-'' combines with ''
-graphy
The English suffix -graphy means a "field of study" or related to "writing" a book, and is an anglicization of the French inherited from the Latin , which is a transliterated direct borrowing from Greek.
Arts
* Cartography – the art and f ...
'' to form ''
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...
'' ("life" + "writing/recording").
Source of international technical vocabulary
Neoclassical compounds represent a significant source of
Neo-Latin
Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...
vocabulary. Moreover, since these words are composed from
classical language
According to the definition by George L. Hart, a classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large body of ancient written literature.
Classical languages are usually extinct languages. Those that are still ...
s whose prestige is or was respected throughout the Western European culture, these words typically appear in many different languages. Their widespread use makes
technical writing
Technical writing is a specialized form of communication used by many of today's industrial and scientific organizations to clearly and accurately convey complex information to a user. An organization's customers, employees, assembly workers, engin ...
generally accessible to readers who may only have a smattering of the language in which it appears.
Not all European languages have been equally receptive to neoclassical technical compounds.
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
, for instance, have historically attempted to create their own technical vocabularies from native elements. Usually, these creations are German and Russian
calques on the international vocabulary, such as ''Wasserstoff'' and "водород" (''vodoród'') for ''
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
''. Like any exercise in
language prescription, this endeavour has been only partially successful, so while official German may still speak of a ''Fernsprecher'', public
telephone
A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...
s will be labelled with the internationally recognized ''Telefon''.
Formation, spelling, and pronunciation
These words are compounds formed from Latin and Ancient Greek root words. Ancient Greek words are almost invariably romanized (see
transliteration of Ancient Greek into English
Romanization of Greek is the transliteration ( letter-mapping) or transcription (sound-mapping) of text from the Greek alphabet into the Latin alphabet.
History
The conventions for writing and romanizing Ancient Greek and Modern Greek differ ...
). In English:
*Ancient Greek ''αι'' becomes ''e'' or ''æ''/''ae'';
*Ancient Greek groups with ''γ'' plus a velar
stop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lip ...
such as ''γγ'', ''γκ'' or ''γξ'' become ''ng'', ''nc'' (or ''nk'' in more recent borrowings) and ''nx'' respectively;
*Ancient Greek ''ει'' often becomes ''i'' (occasionally it is retained as ''ei'');
*Ancient Greek ''θ'' becomes ''th'';
*Ancient Greek ''κ'' becomes ''c'' (subject to
palatalization in English pronunciation) or ''k'';
*Ancient Greek ''οι'' becomes ''e'' or sometimes ''œ''/''oe'' in British English;
*Ancient Greek ''ου'' usually becomes ''u'', or occasionally ''ou'';
*Ancient Greek ' (
rho
Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...
with ''
spiritus asper
In the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, the rough breathing ( or ; ) character is a diacritical mark used to indicate the presence of an sound before a vowel, diphthong, or after rho. It remained in the polytonic orthography even afte ...
'') becomes ''rh'';
*Ancient Greek ''υ'' becomes ''y'';
*Ancient Greek ''φ'' becomes ''ph'' or, very rarely, ''f'';
*Ancient Greek ''χ'' becomes ''ch'';
*Ancient Greek ''ψ'' becomes ''ps'';
*Ancient Greek ''ω'' becomes ''o'';
*Ancient Greek rough breathing becomes ''h-''.
Thus, for example, Ancient Greek ''σφιγξ'' becomes English (and Latin) ''
sphinx
A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle.
In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...
''. Exceptions to these romanizing rules occur, such as ''
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
(leukaemia)''; compare ''
leukocyte
White blood cells (scientific name leukocytes), also called immune cells or immunocytes, are cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign entities. White blood cells are genera ...
'', also ''leucocyte''. In Latin, and in the target languages, the Greek vowels are given their neoclassical values rather than their contemporary values in
demotic Greek
Demotic Greek (, , , ) is the standard spoken language of Greece in modern times and, since the resolution of the Greek language question in 1976, the official language of Greece. "Demotic Greek" (with a capital D) contrasts with the conservat ...
.
Ancient Greek words often contain
consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...
s which are foreign to the
phonology
Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...
of contemporary English and other languages that incorporate these words into their lexicon: ''
diphthong
A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
''; ''
pneumatology
Pneumatology refers to a particular discipline within Christian theology that focuses on the study of the Holy Spirit in Christianity, Holy Spirit. The term is derived from the Greek language, Greek word ''Pneuma'' (wikt:πνεῦμα, πνε� ...
'', ''
phthisis''. The traditional response in English is to treat the unfamiliar cluster as containing one or more
silent letter
In an alphabetic writing system, a silent letter is a letter that, in a particular word, does not correspond to any sound in the word's pronunciation. In linguistics, a silent letter is often symbolised with a null sign , which resembles the ...
s and suppress their pronunciation, more ''modern'' speakers tend to try and pronounce the unusual cluster. This adds to the irregularities of
English spelling
English orthography comprises the set of rules used when writing the English language, allowing readers and writers to associate written graphemes with the sounds of spoken English, as well as other features of the language. English's orthograp ...
; moreover, since many of these words are encountered in writing more often than they are heard spoken, it introduces uncertainty as to how to pronounce them when encountered.
Neoclassical compounds frequently vary their stressed syllable when
suffixes
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...
are added: ''
ágriculture, agricúltural.'' This also gives rise to uncertainty when these words are encountered in print. Once a classical compound has been created and
borrowed, it typically becomes the foundation of a whole series of related words: e.g. ''
astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...
, astrological, astrologer/astrologist/astrologian, astrologism''.
Mainstream medical and ISV pronunciation in English is not the same as
Classical Latin
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...
pronunciation. Like
Ecclesiastical Latin
Ecclesiastical Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian theology, Christian thought in Late antiquity and used in Christianity, Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration ...
, it has a regularity of its own, and individual sounds can be mapped or compared. Although the Classical Latin pronunciation of ''venae cavae'' would be approximately , the standard English medical pronunciation is .
History and reception
English began incorporating many of these words in the sixteenth century; ''
geography
Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
'' first appeared in an English text in 1535. Other early adopted words that still survive include ''
mystagogue'', from the 1540s, and ''
androgyne'', from the 1550s. The use of these technical terms predates the
scientific method
The scientific method is an Empirical evidence, empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and ...
; the several varieties of
divination
Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...
all take their names from neoclassical compounds, such as ''
alectryomancy'', divination by the pecking of
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
s.
Not all English writers have been friendly to the inflow of classical vocabulary. The Tudor period writer Sir
John Cheke wrote:
and therefore rejected what he called "
inkhorn term
An inkhorn term is a loanword, or a word coined from existing roots, which is deemed to be unnecessary or over-pretentious.
Etymology
An inkhorn is an inkwell made of horn. It was an important item for many scholars, which soon became symb ...
s".
Similar sentiments moved the nineteenth century author
William Barnes to write "pure English," in which he avoided Greco-Latin words and found
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
equivalents for them: for Barnes, the newly invented art of the ''
photograph
A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...
'' became a ''sun-print''. Unlike this one, some of Barnes's coinages caught on, such as ''
foreword
A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...
'', Barnes's replacement for the ''
preface
__NOTOC__
A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...
'' of a book. Later,
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson ( ; November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until his death in 2001. Anderson also wrote historical novels. He won the Hugo Award seven times an ...
wrote a jocular piece called ''
Uncleftish Beholding'' in a
constructed language
A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed natural language, naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devise ...
based on English which others have called "Ander-Saxon"; this attempted to create a pure English vocabulary for
nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...
. For more information, see
Linguistic purism in English.
More recent developments
Many such words, such as ''
thermometer
A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...
'', ''
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
'', ''
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
'', and ''
rhododendron
''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...
'', are thoroughly incorporated into the English lexicon and are the ordinary words for their referents. Some are prone to
colloquial
Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...
shortening; ''rhinoceros'' often becomes ''rhino''. The
binomial nomenclature
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
of
taxonomy
image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy
Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...
and
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
is a major source for these items of vocabulary; for many unfamiliar species that lack a common English name, the name of the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
becomes the English word for that life form.
In the
metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...
, prefixes that indicate
multipliers are typically Greek in origin, such as ''kilogram'', while those that indicate
divisor
In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer m that may be multiplied by some integer to produce n. In this case, one also says that n is a '' multiple'' of m. An integer n is divisible or evenly divisibl ...
s are Latin, as in ''millimeter'': the base roots resemble Greek words, but in truth are
neologism
In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
s. These metric and other suffixes are added to native English roots as well, resulting in creations such as ''
gigabyte
The gigabyte () is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The SI prefix, prefix ''giga-, giga'' means 109 in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one gigabyte is one billion bytes. The unit symbol for the gigabyte i ...
''. Words of mixed Latin and Greek lineage, or words that combine elements of the classical languages with English – so-called
hybrid word
A hybrid word or hybridism is a word that etymologically derives from at least two languages. Such words are a type of macaronic language.
Common hybrids
The most common form of hybrid word in English combines Latin and Greek parts. Since m ...
s – were formerly castigated as "
barbarisms" by
prescriptionist usage commentators; this disapproval has mostly abated. Indeed, in scientific nomenclature, even more exotic hybrids have appeared, such as for example the dinosaur ''
Yangchuanosaurus''. Personal
name
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
s appear in some scientific names such as ''
Fuchsia
''Fuchsia'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees.
Almost 110 species of ''Fuchsia'' are recognized; the vast majority are native to South America, but a few occur north through Central America to Mex ...
''.
Neoclassical compounds are sometimes used to lend grandeur or the impression of scientific rigour to humble pursuits: the study of ''
cosmetology
Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''-logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/ pedicures, non-permanent hair removal suc ...
'' will not help anyone become an ''
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
''. Compounds along these models are also sometimes coined for humorous effect, such as ''odontopodology'', the science of putting your foot into your mouth. These humorous coinages sometimes take on a life of their own, such as ''
garbology
Garbology is the study of modern refuse and trash as well as the use of trash cans, compactors and various types of trash can liners. It is a major source of information on the nature and changing patterns in modern refuse, and thereby, human so ...
'', the study of
garbage
Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...
.
Some neoclassical compounds form
classical plurals, and are therefore irregular in English. Others do not, while some vacillate between classical and regular plurals.
Translation
There are hundreds of neoclassical compounds in English and other European languages. As traditionally defined, combining forms cannot stand alone as free words, but there are many exceptions to this rule, and in the late 20th century such forms are increasingly used independently: ''bio'' as a clipping of ''biography'', ''telly'' as a respelt clipping of ''television''. Most neoclassical combining forms translate readily into everyday language, especially nouns: ''bio-'' as 'life' ''-graphy'' as 'writing, description'.
Because of this, the compounds of which they are part (usually ''classical'' or ''learned compounds'') can be more or less straightforwardly paraphrased: ''biography'' as 'writing about a life', ''neurology'' as 'the study of the nervous system'. Many classical combining forms are designed to take initial or final position: ''autobiography'' has the two initial or preposed forms ''auto-'' and ''bio-'', and one postposed form ''-graphy''. Although most occupy one position or the other, some can occupy both: ''-graph-'' as in ''graphology'' and ''monograph''; ''-phil-'' as in ''philology'' and ''Anglophile''. Occasionally, the same base is repeated in one word: ''logology'' the study of words, ''phobophobia'' the fear of fear.
Preposed and postposed
Prefixes include: ''aero-'' air, ''crypto-'' hidden, ''demo-'' people, ''geo-'' earth, ''odonto-'' tooth, ''ornitho-'' bird, ''thalasso-'' sea. Many have both a traditional simple meaning and a modern telescopic meaning: in ''biology'', ''bio-'' means 'life', but in ''
bio-degradable'' it telescopes 'biologically'; although ''hypno-'' basically means 'sleep' (''hypnopaedia'' learning through sleep), it also stands for 'hypnosis' (''hypnotherapy'' cure through hypnosis).
When a form stands alone as a present-day word, it is usually a telescopic abbreviation: ''bio'' biography, ''chemo'' chemotherapy, ''hydro'' hydroelectricity, ''metro'' metropolitan. Some telescoped forms are shorter than the original neoclassical combining form: ''gynie'' is shorter than ''gyneco-'' and stands for both ''gynecology'' and ''gynecologist''; ''anthro'' is shorter than ''anthropo-'' and stands for ''anthropology''.
Suffixes include: ''-ectomy'' cutting out, ''-graphy'' writing, description, ''-kinesis'' motion, ''-logy'' study, ''-mancy'' divination, ''-onym'' name, ''-phagy'' eating, ''-phony'' sound, ''-therapy'' healing, ''-tomy'' cutting. They are generally listed in dictionaries without the interfixed vowel, which appears however in such casual phrases as 'ologies and isms'.
Variants
Some classical combining forms are variants of one base.
Some are also free words, such as ''mania'' in ''dipsomania'' and ''phobia'' in ''claustrophobia''.
Some are composites of other elements, such as ''encephalo-'' brain, from ''en-'' in, ''-cephal-'' head; and ''-ectomy'' cutting out, from ''ec-'' out, ''-tom-'' cut, ''-y'', a noun-forming suffix that means "process of".
Formation
In Greek and Latin grammar, combining bases usually require a thematic or stem-forming vowel. In ''biography'', from Greek, the thematic is -''o''-; in ''agriculture'', from Latin, it is ''-i-''. In English morphology, this vowel can be considered as an
interfix
An interfix or linking element is a part of a word that is placed between two morphemes (such as two roots or a root and a suffix) and lacks a semantic meaning.
Examples
Formation of compound words
In German, the interfix ''-s-'' has to be ...
: in biology, the interfix ''
-o-''; in ''miniskirt'', the interfix ''
-i-''. It is usually regarded as attached to the initial base (''bio-'', ''mini-'') rather than the final base (''-graphy'', ''-skirt''), but in forms where it is conventionally
stressed, it is sometimes considered as part of the final base (''-ography'', ''-ology''). If the final element begins with a vowel (for example, ''-archy'' as in ''monarchy''), the mediating vowel has traditionally been avoided (not *'), but in recent coinages it is often kept, sometimes accompanied by a hyphen (''auto-analysis'', ''
bioenergy
Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy that is derived from plants and animal waste. The Biomass (energy), biomass that is used as input materials consists of recently living (but now dead) organisms, mainly plants. Thus, Fossil fuel, fossil fu ...
'', ''
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
'', not *', *''bienergy'', *').
Its presence helps to distinguish neoclassical compounds like ''biography'' and ''agriculture'' from vernacular compounds like ''teapot'' and ''blackbird''.
Origin
Generally, English has acquired its neoclassical compounds in three ways: through French from Latin and Greek, directly from Latin and Greek, and by coinage in English on Greek and Latin patterns. An exception is ''schizophrenia'', which came into English through German, and is therefore pronounced 'skitso', not ''.
Terminological variation
Most dictionaries follow the ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'' in using ''combining form'' (''comb. form'') to label such classical elements. In appendices to dictionaries and grammar books, classical combining forms are often loosely referred to as roots or affixes: 'a logo …, properly speaking, is not a word at all but a prefix meaning word and short for logogram, a symbol, much as telly is short for television' (Montreal ''Gazette'', 13 Apr. 1981). They are often referred to as affixes because some come first and some come last. But if they were
affix
In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. The main two categories are Morphological derivation, derivational and inflectional affixes. Derivational affixes, such as ''un-'', ''-ation' ...
es proper, a word like ''biography'' would have no base whatever.
While affixes are grammatical (like prepositions), classical combining forms are
lexical
Lexical may refer to:
Linguistics
* Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language
* Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification
* Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge
* Lexical ...
(like nouns, adjectives, and verbs): for example, ''bio-'' translates as a noun (life), ''-graphy'' as a verbal noun (writing). This is why some reference works also call them
stems. They are also often loosely called roots because they are ancient and have a basic role in word formation, but functionally and often structurally they are distinct from
roots
A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients.
Root or roots may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...
proper: the ''-graph'' in ''autograph'' is both a root and a classical combining form, while the ''-graphy'' in ''cryptography'' consists of root ''-graph-'' and suffix ''-y'', and is only a classical combining form.
Philology
Conservative philological tradition
From the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
until the mid-20th century, the concept of derivational purity has often regulated the use of classical compounds, with a
philological
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
goal of like with like (Greek with Greek, Latin with Latin) and a minimum of
hybridization. For example, ''biography'' is Greek, ''agriculture'' Latin; but this ideal has seen only limited realization in practice, as for example the word ''television'' is a hybrid of Greek ''tele-'' and Latin ''-vision'' (probably so coined because the 'pure' form ''telescope'' had already been adopted for another purpose).
Contemporary developments
Generally, classical compounds were a closed system from the 16th century to the earlier 20th century: the people who used them were
classically educated, their teachers and exemplars generally took a purist's view on their use, contexts of use were mainly technical, and there was relatively little seepage into the language at large. However, with the decline of classical education and the spread of technical and quasitechnical jargon in the media, a continuum has evolved, with at least five stages:
Pure classical usage
In the older sciences, classical combining forms are generally used to form such strictly classical and usually Greek compounds as ''anthocyanin'', ''astrobleme'', ''chemotherapy'', ''chronobiology'', ''cytokinesis'', ''glossolalia'', ''lalophobia'', ''narcolepsy'', ''osteoporosis'', ''Pliohippus'', ''sympathomimetic''.
Hybrid classical usage
In technical, semitechnical, and quasitechnical usage at large, coiners of compounds increasingly treat Latin and Greek as one resource to produce such forms as ''accelerometer'', ''aero-generator'', ''bioprospector'', ''communicology'', ''electroconductive'', ''futurology'', ''mammography'', ''micro-gravity'', ''neoliberal'', ''Scientology'', ''servomechanism''.
Hybrid classical/vernacular usage
In the later 20th century, many forms have cut loose from ancient moorings: ''crypto-'' as in preposed ''Crypto-Fascist'' and ''pseudo-'' as in ''pseudoradical''; postposed ''-meter'' in ''speedometer'', ''clapometer''. Processes of analogy have created coinages like ''
petrodollar'', ''
psycho-warfare'', ''microwave'' on such models as ''
petrochemical
Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...
'', ''psychology'', ''microscope''. Such stunt usages as ''eco-doom'', ''eco-fears'', ''eco-freaks'', common in journalism, often employ classical combining forms telescopically: ''eco-'' standing for ''ecology'' and ''ecological'' and not as used in ''economics''. In such matters, precision of meaning is secondary to compactness and vividness of expression.
Combining forms as separate words
In recent years, the orthography of many word forms has changed, usually without affecting pronunciation and stress. The same spoken usage may be written ''micro-missile'', ''micro missile'', ''micromissile'', reflecting the same uncertainty or flexibility as in ''businessman'', ''business-man'', ''business man''. When used in such ways, classical compounds are often telescopic: ''Hydro substation'' Hydro-Electricity Board substation, ''Metro highways'' Metropolitan highways, ''porno cult'' pornography cult.
New classical compounds
The mix of late 20th century techno-commercial coinages includes three groups of post- and non-classical forms:
# ''Established forms'': ''econo-'' from 'economic', as in ''econometric'', ''Econo-Car''; ''mini-'' from 'miniature', as in ''miniskirt'', ''mini-boom''; ''-matic'' from 'automatic', as in ''Adjustamatic'', ''
Instamatic
: ''For the film formats associated with the ''Instamatic'' and ''Pocket Instamatic'' camera ranges, see 126 film and 110 film respectively.''
The Instamatic is a series of inexpensive, easy-to-load 126 film, 126 and 110 film, 110 cameras made b ...
'', ''Stackomatic''.
# Less established forms, often created by blending: ''accu-'' from 'accurate', as in ''
Accuvision''; ''compu-'' from 'computer', as in ''Compucorp''; ''docu-'' from 'documentary', as in ''docudrama''; ''perma-'' from 'permanent', as in ''permafrost'' and ''permaban''; ''dura-'' from 'durable', as in ''Duramark''.
# Informal vernacular material in pseudo-classical form: ''
Easibird'', ''
Healthitone'', ''
Redi-pak'', ''
Relax-A-Cizor'' (relax, exerciser).
Similar systems
In East Asia, a similar role to Latin and Greek has been played by Chinese, with non-Chinese languages both borrowing a significant number of words from Chinese and using morphemes borrowed from Chinese to coin new words, particularly in formal or technical language. See
Sino-Japanese vocabulary
Sino-Japanese vocabulary, also known as , is a subset of Japanese vocabulary that originated in Chinese language, Chinese or was created from elements borrowed from Chinese. Most Sino-Japanese words were borrowed in the 5th–9th centuries AD, from ...
,
Sino-Korean vocabulary
Sino-Korean vocabulary or Hanja-eo () refers to Korean words of Chinese origin. Sino-Korean vocabulary includes words borrowed directly from Chinese, as well as new Korean words created from Chinese characters, and words borrowed from Sino-Japan ...
, and
Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary
Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary (, Chữ Hán: 詞漢越, literally 'Chinese-Vietnamese words') is a layer of about 3,000 monosyllabic morphemes of the Vietnamese language borrowed from Literary Chinese with consistent pronunciations based on Middle Chi ...
for discussion.
The coinage of new native terms on Chinese roots is most notable in Japanese, where it is referred to as . Many of these have been subsequently borrowed into Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, with the same (or corresponding) characters being pronounced differently according to language, just as happens in European languages – compare English ''
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
'' and French ''
biologie
Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
.''
For example, 自動車 (Japanese ''jidōsha,'' Korean ''jadongcha,'' Mandarin ''zìdòngchē'') is a Japanese-coined word meaning "automobile", literally self-move-car; compare to ''auto'' (self) + ''mobile'' (moving).
See also
;Topics
*
English words of Greek origin
The Greek language has contributed to the English lexicon in five main ways:
* vernacular borrowings, transmitted orally through Vulgar Latin directly into Old English, ''e.g.'', 'butter' (, from Latin < ), or through French, ''e.g.'', 'ochre'; ...
*
Hybrid word
A hybrid word or hybridism is a word that etymologically derives from at least two languages. Such words are a type of macaronic language.
Common hybrids
The most common form of hybrid word in English combines Latin and Greek parts. Since m ...
*
Interlingua
Interlingua (, ) is an international auxiliary language (IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It is a constructed language of the "naturalistic" variety, whose vocabulary, ...
*
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, lo ...
*
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 ...
*
-ism
''-ism'' () is a suffix in many English grammar, English words, originally derived from the Ancient Greek suffix ('), and reached English language, English through the Latin , and the French language, French . It is used to create abstract noun ...
*
Latin influence in English
Although English is a Germanic language, it has significant Latin influences. Its grammar and core vocabulary are inherited from Proto-Germanic, but a significant portion of the English vocabulary comes from Romance and Latinate sources. A po ...
*
-ology
*
Sino-xenic vocabularies, for similar constructs in Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc.
;Lists
*
List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English
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 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 ...
*
*
List of Latin words with English derivatives
This is a list of Latin words with derivatives in English language.
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 art ...
Bibliography
* McArthur, Tom (ed.): ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', (Oxford University Press, 1992).
* Plag, Ingo "Word-Formation in English", Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN à0521525632, 9780521525633
External links
* ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998'' entries o
classical compoundan
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neoclassical Compound
English grammar
Etymology
Linguistic morphology
Greek language
Neo-Latin terminology
Latin language