IRREGULAR PLURALS IN MEDICAL ENGLISH

Authors

  • T. Stoycheva Medical Psychology, Social Activities and Foreign Languages Department, Faculty of Medicine, Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria Author
  • Il. Angelova Medical Psychology, Social Activities and Foreign Languages Department, Faculty of Medicine, Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15547/tjs.2025.s.02.005

Keywords:

medical terminology, plural forms, Latin and ancient Greek terms, Anglicized forms

Abstract

Competent professional communication and preparation of scientific documentation in English in the healthcare field requires not only acquisition of the specific medical terminology, but also certain rules for its correct use.

The current study concerns main patterns and their rules for irregular plural formation in English medical terminology, coming from Latin and Ancient Greek languages.

The aim of this report is to analyze and systematize the main models of irregular plural forms in medical English by examining their etymology and the potential challenges in mastering them in academic and practical environments. Especially in English medical terminology, these two ancient languages have a powerful influence, giving a significant impact on English vocabulary and grammar.

The conclusions show tendencies to adapt Latin and ancient Greek medical plural forms to the English language, and at the same time confirm the use of the Latin plural as a distinctive feature of the scientific style.

References

Simonenko N.O., Irregular Plurals from Latin and Greek, Sumy State University, 2009,

https://www.academia.edu/115245981/Irregular_plural_from_Latin_and_Greek.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. htpps://www.merriam-webster.com.

Garner, B. A., Garner’s Modern English Usage (GMEU), Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 2016.

Holmberg, R, Bahshi, T.S., Ulici-Petrut, J., Reckseidler-Zenteno, S., Carmichael, R., Irregular Plurals in Biology/Zoology, Athabasca University, Canada, p.1-11.

Idigo, J. C., Idigo, D. I., Medical English, Earth Forever Foundation, 2004.

Ehrlich A., Schroeder, C., Medical Terminology for Health Professions, 6th Edition, DELMAR CELGAGE Learning, 2009.

Stankova, I., Latin Medical Terminology, Iztok-Zapad, Sofia, 2015.

https://writingexplained.org/formulas-or-formulae-correct.

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Published

2025-10-20

Issue

Vol. 23 No. Supplement 2 (2025): Series Social Sciences - INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE "30 YEARS OF TRAKIA UNIVERSITY" - PEDAGOGY, BUSINESS AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Section

Original Contributions

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

IRREGULAR PLURALS IN MEDICAL ENGLISH. (2025). TRAKIA JOURNAL OF SCIENCES, 23(Supplement 2), 5. https://doi.org/10.15547/tjs.2025.s.02.005

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