Greek language: analysis of the cardiologic anatomical etymology: past and present

Abstract

Introduction: The Greek language, the root of most Latin anatomical terms, is deeply present in the Anatomical Terminology. Many studies seek to analyze etymologically the terms stemming from the Greek words. In most of these studies, the terms appear defined according to the etymological understanding of the respective authors at the time of its creation. Therefore, it is possible that the terms currently used are not consistent with its origin in ancient Greek words.Methods: We selected cardiologic anatomical terms derived from Greek words, which are included in the International Anatomical Terminology. We performed an etymological analysis using the Greek roots present in the earliest terms. We compared the cardiologic anatomical terms currently used in Greece and Brazil to the Greek roots originating from the ancient Greek language. We used morphological decomposition of Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes. We also verified their use on the same lexicons and texts from the ancient Greek language.Results: We provided a list comprising 30 cardiologic anatomical terms that have their origins in ancient Greek as well as their component parts in the International Anatomical Terminology. We included the terms in the way they were standardized in Portuguese, English, and Modern Greek as well as the roots of the ancient Greek words that originated them.Conclusion: Many works deal with the true origin of words (etymology) but most of them neither returns to the earliest roots nor relate them to their use in texts of ancient Greek language. By comparing the world's greatest studies on the etymology of Greek words, this paper tries to clarify the differences between the true origin of the Greek anatomical terms as well as the origins of the cardiologic anatomical terms more accepted today in Brazil by health professionals. Keywords: Etymology. Terminology as topic. Cardiology. ResumoIntrodução: O idioma grego, base para a criação do idioma latino, está muito presente na terminologia anatômica. Muitos trabalhos buscam analisar etimologicamente os termos provindos do idioma grego. Na maioria destes, os termos aparecem definidos conforme o entendimento etimológico dos respectivos autores da época de sua criação. Portanto, é possível que os termos atualmente utilizados não estejam condizentes com sua origem no idioma grego antigo.Métodos: Foram selecionados termos anatomocardiológicos derivados do idioma grego que constam da terminologia anatômica internacional. A análise etimológica foi realizada por meio dos radicais mais primitivos que compõem os termos. Os termos anatomocardiológicos atualmente utilizados na Grécia e no Brasil foram comparados aos radicais originários do idioma grego antigo. Utilizou-se a decomposição morfológica dos radicais, prefixos e sufixos e verificou-se o emprego dos mesmos em léxicos e textos do idioma grego antigo.RBCCV 44205-1387