Structural and semantic analysis as a strategy for the study of anatomical terminology

Anatomy is one of the fundamental sciences that studies the structure of human organs and systems. Studying the etymology and grammatical structure of anatomical terms allows one to gain a deep understanding of their meaning and, naturally, expands the vocabulary of medical specialists.

The purposes of this study are: 1) structural and semantic analysis of some groups of Latin anatomical terms (taking the names of bones, glands, and membranes as an example); 2) comparative analysis of the grammatical structure of Latin anatomical terms and their Russian equivalents.

The main source of information for the research is the International Anatomical Terminology (Terminologia Anatomica). An attempt was made to identify the features of the formation of names of certain systems of terms based on a comparative analysis of the structure of the names of bones, membranes and glands in Latin terms and their Russian equivalents.

The overwhelming majority of Latin anatomical terms were translated into Russian, preserving the grammatical structure: a phrase with an agreed attribute (os occipitale – occipital bone; glandula lacrimalis – lacrimal gland; tunica mucosa – mucous membrane). A significant number of anatomical terms are represented by single-word names of Greek origin, which are transliterated into Russian, while requiring interpretation. As examples, we can cite the names of endocrine glands: hypothalamus – hypothalamus, epiphysis – epiphysis (pineal gland).The same tendency is clearly seen in the names of the membranes of the heart: myocardium – myocardium, endocardium – endocardium, epicardium – epicardium, which require interpretation: muscular membrane, inner membrane, outer membrane of the heart, respectively. Among the Latin terms of the specified groups, substantivates have also been identified, which are rendered into Russian by a phrase. This mainly concerns the names of the membranes: conjunctiva, ae f - connective membrane. The conducted analysis of anatomical terms – names of glands, membranes, bones – allowed us to identify the main structural models of the terms of the sections mentioned.

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