Филологические науки/3.Теоретические и методологические проблемы  исследования языка

Vakhotskyi M.M.

Department of Foreign Languages

Bukovinian State Medical University, Chernivtsi, Ukraine

Onymic Component in Compiling Dictionary of Medical Terms

Structure and content of a dictionary entry mainly depends upon the type of onymic element. Traditionally eponyms constitute the greatest group of terms in medical terminology containing proper names. “An eponym can be either an item which provides a name-source for a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item to be named, or it can also be an item which acts as a name-recipient” [1]. It is important to give some information about the author of any symptom or disorder, this data should be suggested separately from the entry itself since the definition may be considered as a completely medical notion in this case and bibliographic encyclopedic information is just a kind of additional cognitive note, e.g.:

Down syndrome (DS) or Down’s syndrome – is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is typically associated with physical growth delays, characteristic facial features, and mild to moderate intellectual disability; also known as trisomy 21. [John Langdon Down, the British doctor who fully described the syndrome in 1866.]

Appellatives – derivatives from proper names have to be mentioned here as well, since their eponymic nature is not always transparent. E.g.: parkinsonism (Parkinson's syndrome, atypical Parkinson's, or secondary Parkinson's) is a neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, rigidity and postural instability. It also forms derivatives like parkinsonian; kocherization (Kocher maneuver) is a surgical maneuver done to expose the retroperitoneum and allow visualization of structures of abdomen. [Emil Theodor Kocher (25 August 1841 – 27 July 1917) was a Swiss physician and medical researcher who received the 1909 Noble Prize for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid.]; achillotomy (achillotenotomy) is a surgical division of the Achilles tendon. [In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character and greatest warrior of Homer’s Iliad.]. Another subgroup of proper names used in medical terminology is toponyms. Toponym from the point of view of Kazakh researchers [2] “is one of the types of lexicon which is mostly defined as: 1) a place name; 2) name derived from place name. In science toponyms are one of the types of proper names. Geographical or place names are the nouns we use to refer to specific characteristics of places and geographic features. Toponyms can be both place names, real or imaginary, as well as names derived from places or regions, connected with wars, treaties and agreements, bands, food, and fabric, among other items”. According to dictionaries toponym is “A place name or a word coined in association with the name of a place” [1].

In medical terminology we singled out such types of toponyms: choronyms – names of large areas [1] (continents, countries, etc.), e.g.: Mallorca acne – acneiform eruption developing following excessive sun exposure, first described in European tourist going to Mallorca in mid-winter, more common in women 20-40 years. Synonym: acne aestivalis. [Majorca / Mallorca – is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, the largest island in the Balearic Islands archipelago, in Spain]

Brazilian waxing is the removal of all hair in the pelvic area, front and back, while sometimes leaving a thin strip of hair on the mons pubis. [the Brazilian wax was first so named in modern times by the J. Sisters salon in Manhattan, founded in 1987 by seven sisters from Brazil named Padiha].

English rhinoplasty – a plastic surgery procedure for correcting, reconstructing the form, restoring the functions and aesthetically enhancing the nose by means of the flaps taken from the cheek.

The toponyms “Brazilian, English, Majorca” are not explained in the entry because these proper names are well-known, that’s why the definition of the very term is given instead; usually such onymic units indicate the place where some phenomenon was observed or initially diagnosed.

Another group includes oikonyms (names of a village or town): Jerusalem syndrome is a mental disorder involving the presence of either religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions or other psychosis-like experiences, a form of hysteria; Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in an abducted hostage, in which the hostage shows signs of sympathy, loyalty or even voluntary compliance with the hostage taker.

Hydronyms also constitute a great group of toponyms, among them we have distinguished such subgroups: pelagonyms (names of seas): Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary inflammatory disorder affecting groups of people originating from around the Mediterranean Sea; potamonyms (names of rivers): West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic arbovirus. This flavivirus is found in temperate and tropical regions of the world. It was first identified in the West Nile subregion in the East African nation of Uganda in 1937.

As all the examples mentioned above show that toponyms are also an important source of enrichment of medical vocabulary and take their deserving place in the given paper.

Among the other groups of proper names used in the formation of medical terms as secondary nomination objects we may single out phytonyms, ethnonyms, mythonyms, theonyms and others. These nominations are not numerous but they still take a conspicuous place in the medical terminology.

The term “fleur-de-lys” may be considered both a phytonym (name of a plant) and a heraldic object since in the definition we come across two key notions “heraldic device” / “flower” and this name is transmitted to denote a surgical procedure: Fleur-de-lys abdominoplasty is a surgery to remove large amounts of excess skin and fat; named for the shape of the two-part, T-shape vertical and horizontal incision in the center of the abdomen, which resembles the flower of Lyon, a heraldic device used by French kings.

An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group, at present we verified two of them: Cagot ear is an ear with a missing earlobe – inherited birth defect named for the Cagot area of the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain where the defect is most common; Aztec ear is a defect characterized by the absence of lobule in an auricle people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14^th to 16^th centuries.

Mentioning appellatives derived from proper names we used terms “achillotomy” and “atlas” as examples, both of the terms are mythonyms, i.e. they describe an eponym of unreal imagined living being. In such cases we propose to give the explanation of the phenomenon in the dictionary entry to illustrate why this mystic character gave a nomination for a term: narcissism is the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's own attributes. The term originated from the Greek mythology, where the young Narcissus fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water; Oedipus complex (Oedipal complex) denotes the emotions and ideas that concentrate upon a child's desire to have sexual relations with the parent of the opposite sex.

In this paper it was also traced that even biblionyms can generate scientific terms, e.g.: Adam’s apple reduction (chondrolaryngoplasty, tracheal shave) is a surgical procedure in which the thyroid cartilage is reduced in size by shaving down the cartilage through an incision in the throat, generally to aid men and women who are uncomfortable with the girth of their Adam’s apple.

All types of proper names are to be described in our dictionary: eponyms, toponyms, phytonyms, ethnonyms, mythonyms and others. Thus, the dictionary entry of eponym should contain bibliographic information of the researcher or author, the one of toponym – an explanation about the location / place where some disease was first detected. Other groups of proper names are not so numerous, but still, they need an accurate definition to show the connection with a term, tracing its inner form and motivation.

References:

1. Подольская Н. В. Словарь ономастической терминологии / Н. В. Подольская. – М. : Наука, 1988. – 188 с.

2. Bugybayeva Z. Word-formation in Kazakh toponyms / Z. Bugybayeva, A. Omarova, Z. Sydykova and others // Life Science Journal. – Almaty, 2014. – № 11(6). – P. 516–521.

3. Rinzler C. A. The encyclopedia of cosmetic and plastic surgery / Carol Ann Rinzler. – 2009. – 264 р.

4. Al-Kasimi Ali M. Linguistics and Bilingual Dictionaries / Ali M. Al-Kasimi. – Leiden, 1983. – 135 p.