Say What? Pronunciation and Usage
Chapter 5: Say What? Pronunciation and Usage
Example:
Ptosis: (TOE-sis)
Terms beginning with ch often take on the hard consonant sound like a “k.”
Examples:
Chronic: (KRON-ic) Chromatin: (KROME-a-tin)
Terms beginning with c or g can take on sound of “s” or “j” if they come before e, i, or y.
Examples:
Cycle: (SIGH-cull
Cytoplasm: (SIGH-toe-plazm) Genetic: (JEN-etic)
Giant: (J-EYE-unt)
But c and g have a hard sound before other letters.
Examples:
Cast: (CA-st) Cardiac: (CARD-iak) Gastric: (GAS-trick) Gonads: (GO-nadz)
From your ear to the dictionary
That’s a pretty good start, but now it’s time to throw a wild card into the mix.
What if you cannot see the term, but only hear it? Could you find it in a medi- cal dictionary? Some good, old-fashioned memorization rules will help you recall those hard-to-pronounce beginnings.
If it begins with an “s” sound, it could begin with c, ps, or s:
Cytology: (sigh-TOL-oh-jee) Psychiatrist: (sigh-KIY-a-trist) Serology: (sir-ROL-oh-jee)
Xeroderma: (zero-DER-mah) Zygote: (z-eye-GOAT)
If it begins with an “f” sound, it could begin with f or p:
Flatus: (FLAY-tus)
Phlegm: (FLEM — also note the silent g before m) If it begins with a “j” sound, it could be g or j:
Gingivitis: (JIN-jih-VIT-is) Jaundice: (JOHN-dis)
If it begins with a “k” sound, it could be c, ch, or k:
Crepitus: (KREP-i-tus) Cholera: (CALL-er-ah) Kyphosis: (kie-FOE-sis)
Pronouncing Common Suffixes and Endings
You’re not out of the woods yet. One might think that pronouncing the end- ings of words is fairly self-explanatory. But again, medical terminology is kind of like the curve ball of modern language. As such, letters don’t always sound like what they look like. This section lists some things to remember about saying word endings.
For terms ending in i (usually to form a plural), the i is always pronounced
“eye.”
Examples:
Glomerulus, glomeruli: (glom-MERUL-EYE) Radius, radii: (raid-ee-EYE)
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Chapter 5: Say What? Pronunciation and Usage
Terms ending in ae (again often plurals) are pronounced “ee.”
Example:
Vertebra, vertebrae: (VERT-e-bray)
In terms ending in es (you guessed it — often plurals), the es is pronounced as if it were a separate syllable.
Examples:
Naris, nares: (nar-EEZ) Testis, testes: (test-EEZ)
Pronouncing Common Combinations
Now that you have established a few pronunciation rules, consider what hap- pens to the pronunciation of a term when we combine a prefix with a root word or combining form, together with a suffix, and often a combining vowel.
The combinations are endless.
Keep a few simple explanations in mind before you start combining word parts. To review:
✓ Prefix: Always at the beginning of a term. Modifies the word root that it precedes. It almost always indicates a location, number, time or period of time, or status.
✓ Word root/combining form: Usually indicates a body part, such as cardi/o for heart, gastr/o for stomach, and neur/o for nerve.
✓ Suffix: Appears at the end of a medical term. Usually, though not always, indicates a condition, procedure, disorder, or disease.
A combining vowel can be used to change the spelling of a term, making the pronunciation easier. A combining vowel is not used when the suffix begins with a vowel as this would make pronunciation difficult. A combining vowel is only used when the suffix begins with a consonant. For example, gastr/o pertains to the stomach. Adding the suffix -itis, meaning inflammation, results in the term gastritis (GAS-TRY-tis). If the combining vowel o were not removed, the result would be gastroitis creating a double vowel and a word more diffi- cult to pronounce (GAS-TRO-it-is).
Putting It All Together
You’ve got all the tools, now you just need to use them to build your pronun- ciation skills. To do that, you have to get brave and start adding all of the word parts together. A long medical term must be broken up into the word parts in order to arrive at a definition and a pronunciation. You can do this in two ways.
Some people like to look at the suffix first to determine if the term is a condi- tion, a procedure, disorder, or disease. Once the suffix is defined, you can then move to the beginning of the word to define the prefix, if there is one, and the word root. This method is preferred by many people just getting their feet wet in the world of medical terms.
Others prefer to tackle the term from the beginning, establishing a meaning for the prefix first, then moving to the word root, and to the suffix last of all.
The pronunciation of a word can sometimes change when you take some pre- fixes, couple them with root words, and add vowels and suffixes. Following are some examples:
✓ Euthyroid (YOU-thyroid): The prefix eu means normal. Before thyroid, it means that the thyroid is normal.
✓ Febrile (FEB-ril): Means to have a fever. Add the prefix a, which means being away from or without, and the word becomes afebrile (ay-FEB-ril), meaning without a fever.
✓ Hypertension (high-per-TEN-shun): High blood pressure
✓ Hypotension (high-poh-TEN-shun): Low blood pressure. Though there is not much difference in the pronunciation of hypertension and hypoten- sion, and one means the opposite of the other, it is important to hear — and see — the different spelling of the prefix application.
✓ Oliguria (ol-ig-YOUR-ee-ah): Scanty or infrequent urination ✓ Polyuria (pol-ee-YOUR-ee-ah): Excessive or frequent urination
Suffixes can also affect the pronunciation of a word. Different suffixes can mean different pronunciations, particularly in respect to colors. Check out these two combinations and how the pronunciation and meaning change with altered suffixes:
✓ Erythrocytes (eh-RITH-roh-sites): Red blood cells
✓ Erythrocytosis (eh-RITH-ROH-sigh-TOE-sis): Having increased erythrocytes ✓ Melanosis (mel-ah-NO-sis): Unusual black pigmentation
✓ Melanocytes (mel-ah-no-SITES): Pigmentation cell in the skin layer
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Chapter 5: Say What? Pronunciation and Usage
Even the more grounded basis of a word, the root or combining form, can change the way we say and see words. The combining vowel, in particular, can change the meaning and pronunciation:
✓ Neuritis (new-RYE-tis): Inflammation of a nerve (neur/o) ✓ Neuropathy (new-OP-a-thee): A condition of a nerve ✓ Neuroplasty (NEW-row-PLAS-tee): Surgical repair of a nerve
What Condition Your Condition Is In
Pronouncing terms for conditions can be easy if you familiarize yourself first with the root word of the condition, and then with the suffix. Let’s use the simple, everyday stomach ailment as an example. By first pronouncing the root word, then adding different suffixes, you can up your vocabulary by a few points:
✓ Gastro (gas-troh): Stomach
✓ Gastritis (gas-TRY-tis): Inflammation of the stomach (-itis)
✓ Gastrodynia (gas-troh-DYNEee-ah): A pain in the stomach (-dynia) ✓ Gastropathy (gas-TROP-a-thee): A stomach condition (-pathy)
On the other hand, you can grow your condition vocabulary and usage skills by applying the suffix to a variety of roots:
✓ Cardiomegaly (kar-dee-oh-MEG-ah-lee): Enlargement of the heart ✓ Hepatosplenomegaly (he-PATO-splen-oh-MEG-ah-lee): Enlargement of
the liver and the spleen (splen/o for spleen) and hepat/o for liver ✓ -megaly (MEG-ah-lee): Enlargement of
✓ Splenomegaly (splen-oh-MEG-ah-lee): Enlargement of the spleen