Week 3 – Discussion Board 2

[Art Liebl]

Why, as a medical interpreter, would it be helpful to know and understand the suffixes and prefixes used in medical terminology? Reply to two fellow students by Monday.

[Musharraf Bayramova]

Prefixes and suffixes in medical terminology can completely change the meaning of a word. Combining prefixes and suffixes with a root creates new meanings, whereas each part of the word on its own usually has a fixed meaning. The ability to recognize their form and, follow word formation rules, construct a definition provides an advantage in understanding, memorizing, translating, and using new terms.

From the Medical Vocabulary section, several important explanations about them can be highlighted. Prefixes most often indicate location or quantity related to an object or process. They function similarly to adjectives or prepositions. A prefix may end with the letter “o,” which resembles the combining vowel that appears after a root; however, a prefix differs from a root in that it cannot function as a root in other words. For example, the root in the combination electr/o appears as a root in other words (electrified, electricity, electronic), whereas prefixes cannot be found functioning as roots in other words (aniso-, apo-, auto-, etc.). A suffix often indicates a pathological condition or the name of a medical procedure. Suffixes can also change the part of speech (for example, psychosis → psychotic).

Without going deeply into medical roots, and knowing only a few prefixes and suffixes, we can try forming new words using roots from everyday language. For example:
read + itis (inflammation) = readitis (excessive reading);
think + itis = thinkitis (excessive thinking);
a (absence of, without) + reading = areading (without reading);
ab (away from) + thinking = abthinking (thinking directed away from the topic);
a + read + itis = areaditis (the absence of excessive reading);
ab + think + itis = abthinkitis (excessive thinking directed away from the topic).

Knowing prefixes and suffixes helps to recognize the structure of words and understand changes in meaning. If the knowledge is trained, medical terms become much easier to decode.

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 4 days ago by Musharraf Bayramova.

[Isnelda Mancia]

I love the examples you are giving,they are very helpful.

[Leidy Granados]

Those were great examples, thanks for sharing them!

[Julia Rosales]

Putting examples from non medical terminology was very helpful, and fun to try out as well!

[Isnelda Mancia]

Medical terms tend to follow a predictable structure of prefixes, root words, and suffixes. By learning these building blocks, you can easily break down a complicated medical term into its basic definition.

Once you become familiar with enough common prefixes,roots, and suffixes, you can begin to understand how the language of medicine is constructed.

It is very important and helpful to understand this terminology so we can prevent errors in diagnoses and treatments by ensuring that everyone involved in a patients care understands the same information,reducing the risk of mistakes.

[Julia Rosales]

The comparison between prefixes, root words, and suffixes to building blocks is a helpful visual.

[Musharraf Bayramova]

I like how you used “a predictable structure”, “building blocks”, “break down complicated into basic”. I think this way of explaining makes it easier to understand and remember the usefulness of knowing parts of medical words.

[Leidy Granados]

Understanding prefixes and suffixes in medical terminology is very helpful for medical interpreters, as the field uses an extensive and complex vocabulary. As a medical interpreting student, I find it difficult to know the meaning of every medical term, especially since words can vary by consultation type or medical specialty.
However, many medical terms are formed using prefixes, root words, and suffixes. By understanding these parts, interpreters can analyze unfamiliar words and often determine their meaning even if they have never heard the term before. Prefixes usually provide information about location, number, or time, while suffixes often describe conditions, diseases, or procedures. For medical interpreters, this knowledge helps improve accuracy and confidence during interpretation. It allows them to better understand complex terms, avoid misunderstandings, and communicate more clearly between healthcare providers and patients.

[Musharraf Bayramova]

Very good points about confidence, understanding complex terms, more clear communication that come with mastering the parts of the medical terms.

[Julia Rosales]

Medical interpreting is a field that heavily relies on knowing a vast amount of words, and in multiple languages. This can make it tricky and overwhelming to try and memorize words in the beginning, especially with all the complex medical terminology
The advantage of word structure is that a word is usually made up of different smaller bits, which have been given a meaning themselves. They are like a mosaic of different parts coming together in the forms of prefix, suffixes, and root words to create a new word with a combination of definitions into one meaning.

When you are able to recognize these smaller parts of the word, it will be easier for you to digest what you are learning. Taking the example from the manual, if you didn’t know the word Diagnosis instead of hearing a word such as Diagnosis, you could break it down into its prefix, root, and suffix. Dia (prefix) means complete. Gnos/o(root), with the combining vowel o, means knowledge. Lastly the suffix sis, means process. Taking these definitions and putting them into proper english grammar, you get the phrase “process of complete knowledge”

By memorizing common breakdowns of words such as the prefixes, roots, and suffixes, you will be able to better understand the meaning of each word, and hopefully have a better time memorizing their meanings. However, the only sure way to ensure you memorize more words, is to constantly repeat fluency exercises such as flashcards and mini quizzes to keep your mind sharp.

[Author]

Posts