Larysa Zapotochna

Bukovinian State Medical University, Ukraine

Affixation as one of the most productive morphological way of word formation in English cardiologic terminology

The process of term formation according to its structure is unique and multifaceted; it is closely connected with a particular field of science or engineering, where scientists or specialists feel the need of the establishment of new forms of expression of certain concepts and phenomena of reality. Methods and models of term formation differ in accordance with the field of use, nature of scientific interests of people and objectives of term formation, but all of them are based on general language methods and patterns of word formation, as in linguistic theory terminological units are indistinguishable from lexical items (for example, comparing their morphological and syntactic properties) [3; 132].

A great number of Ukrainian and foreign linguists were and are interested in the derivation processes which take part in the formation of scientific terminology. Among them are R. Fisher, P. H. Mathews, Ch. F. Meyer, J. C. Sager, P. Schmitter, V. P. Danylenko, A. S. Diakov, T. R. Kyiak, Z. B. Kudelko, V. V. Levytskyi.

In linguistics, affixation is the process of adding a morpheme (or affix) to a word to create either (a) a different form of that word (e.g., heart → hearts), or (b) a new word with a different meaning (electrocardiograph → electrocardiography). Affixation is the most common way of making new words in English. The two primary kinds of affixation are prefixation (the addition of a prefix) and suffixation (the addition of a suffix). Clusters of affixes can be used to form complex words.

Investigating the processes of cardiologic terminology in English terminology, we should primarily examine the classification of the main ways of constructing lexical units proposed by Ukrainian and foreign scientists. Noteworthy is the distribution method of formation of terminological units proposed by V. P. Danylenko, which defines them as follows:

1) semantic method that is the formation of new terms by semantic transformation of existing language words; 2) syntactic method, which is the basis of word combination formation; 3) morphological way - coining terms for the same model and using the same word-building tools, as well as commonly used language; here belongs affixation (prefixes, suffixes, prefixes suffix-way) basis and compounding, abbreviations. A significant in the formation of terminological units are also borrowings, which in terminology always occupy a much larger portion of borrowings compared to literary language [ 5; 98]. J. Sager proposed the following differentiation way to the formation of terminological units: 1) the use of existing resources in the language, which is based on expanding the meaning of words, the process of metaphor; 2) change (modify) existing language resources, which include derivational and affixed ways of coining, compounding, formation of neologisms, compression, which is based on various cuts (including "abbreviation", "clipping", "blending"); 3) formation of new lexical categories (neologisms)[2; 28]

Based on the classification methods of well known Ukrainian and foreign linguists we propose a classification scheme used in the study of English cardiologic terminology: 1) Morphological methods of creation cardiologic terms: a) affixation (prefixing, suffixes, prefixes suffix-way); b) compounding (composition); c) formation of abbreviations and acronyms; d) conversion; 2) Semantic method of formation of terminological units (semantic nomination): a) expanding and narrowing of meaning; b) metaphorical and analogical transfer value lexical unit; 3) Syntactic method (TC formation); 4) Borrowing terms or terminological elements.

Affixation in cardiology is one of the leading and productive ways of derivation specific terms. It is used for establishment of terms by joining one or more affixes to the root morpheme. The process of affixation in terminology operates with different structural word-building elements, combinations of which are very diverse and almost inexhaustible [6; 137]. Derived medical terms can consist of a prefix, one or two word roots, and a suffix in various combinations, as witnessed in the following examples: myocarditis = myo- (root) + card (root) + -itis (suffix), abiosis = a- (prefix) + bio- (root) + -osis (suffix), cardiopulmonary = cardia- (root) + pulmon- (root) + -ary (suffix).

One of the common ways of word formation is a suffixation. The most common suffixes in word formation of cardiac English terms are: -al: сardiological, aortal, atrial, internal, arterial, abnormal; -ary: ventriculary, pulmonary, сapillary, coronary; -iс: cardiogenic, systolic, amphibaric, agranulocytic; -able: curable, agglutinable, observable; -ion: circulation, infarction, regulation, location; -osis: stenosis, atherosclerosis, thrombosis; -itis: myocarditis, endocarditis, angiodermatitis, pericarditis; -ancy: abberancy; ism: anacrotism, anadicrotism; -is: anerythropolesis, angiogenesis; -oma: angiolymphoma, angiosarcoma, -ist: cardiologist, haematologist; -or, -er: blockader, bleeder. The second way of derivation occupies prefixes. Most prefixes and roots used in formation of English cardiologic terms are of Greek and Latin origin. The most common of them are: ab- (lat. “from”): abnormal, ablation; hyper- (gr. "above normal rate”): hypertension, hypertrophy; hypo- (gr. “under normal rate”): hypoxia, hypodynamia; inter- (gr. “between”): intercarotic, intermission; intra- (lat. “internal”): intramuscular; intravenous; trans- (lat. “through”): transfusion, transpulmonary; – micrо- (gr. “minor, little”): microcardia; microcirculation; endo- (gr. “inside”) endoaneurysmorrhaphy, endoarteritis peri- (gr. “around, near”) periarterial, pericardectomy; mуo- (gr. “muscle”): myocardium, myoglobin, myohemoglobin; brady- (лат. “slow”) bradycardia, bradydiastole, tachy- (gr. “fast, quick”): tachycardia, tachysystole; cardio- (gr. “heart”): cardiogram, cardiopulmonary, cardiovascular, cardioangiography, cardiomyopathy, cardiomegaly, cardiogenic, cardiograph, cardiospasm, cardiology. Such borrowings from Greek and Latin indicate that English terms are in regular lexical relations with Latin and Greek terminological elements that is important for the formation of new terms in different fields of medical vocabulary. Most Latin-Greek terminological elements that appeared in the English language are rarely used by doctors in everyday life, but most of these formants are used in scientific articles, books and medical manuals. The most productive type of derivation in the process of formation of English cardiologic terminology is the use of both prefixes and suffixes: depletion, depressor, abnormality, acyanotic, nonvascular, presphygmic, presystolic, prognosticate, uncontrollable, unremitting, compatibility, congenital, consanguineous, endaortitis, epicardial, exsanguination.

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