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Neoclassical compounds are
compound word In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or sign) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. Compounding occurs when ...
s composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from
classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later period ...
or
ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
.
New Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
comprises many such words and is a substantial component of the technical and
scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
lexicon of
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and other languages, via international scientific vocabulary (ISV). For example, '' bio-'' combines with ''
-graphy The English suffix -graphy means a "field of study" or related to "writing" a book, and is an anglicization of the French ''-graphie'' inherited from the Latin ''-graphia'', which is a transliterated direct borrowing from Greek. Arts * Cartogr ...
'' to form ''
biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
'' ("life" + "writing/recording").


Source of international technical vocabulary

Neoclassical compounds represent a significant source of
Neo-Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
vocabulary. Moreover, since these words are composed from
classical language A classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the ...
s whose prestige is or was respected throughout the Western European culture, these words typically appear in many different languages. Their widespread use makes
technical writing Technical writing is writing or drafting technical communication used in technical and occupational fields, such as computer hardware and software, architecture, engineering, chemistry, aeronautics, robotics, finance, medical, consumer electronics, ...
generally accessible to readers who may only have a smattering of the language in which it appears. Not all European languages have been equally receptive to neoclassical technical compounds.
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, for instance, have historically attempted to create their own technical vocabularies from native elements. Usually, these creations are German and Russian
calques In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language whi ...
on the international vocabulary, such as ''Wasserstoff'' and "водород" (''vodoród'') for ''
hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
''. Like any exercise in language prescription, this endeavour has been only partially successful, so while official German may still speak of a ''Fernsprecher'', public
telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
s will be labelled with the internationally recognized ''Telefon''.


Formation, spelling, and pronunciation

These words are compounds formed from Latin and Ancient Greek root words. Ancient Greek words are almost invariably romanized (see
transliteration of Ancient Greek into English Romanization of Greek is the transliteration ( letter-mapping) or transcription (sound-mapping) of text from the Greek alphabet into the Latin alphabet. History The conventions for writing and romanizing Ancient Greek and Modern Greek differ ...
). In English: *Ancient Greek ''αι'' becomes ''e'' or ''æ''/''ae''; *Ancient Greek groups with ''γ'' plus a velar stop consonant such as ''γγ'', ''γκ'' or ''γξ'' become ''ng'', ''nc'' (or ''nk'' in more recent borrowings) and ''nx'' respectively; *Ancient Greek ''ει'' often becomes ''i'' (occasionally it is retained as ''ei''); *Ancient Greek ''θ'' becomes ''th''; *Ancient Greek ''κ'' becomes ''c'' (subject to palatalization in English pronunciation) or ''k''; *Ancient Greek ''οι'' becomes ''e'' or sometimes ''œ''/''oe'' in British English; *Ancient Greek ''ου'' usually becomes ''u'', or occasionally ''ou''; *Ancient Greek ' (
rho Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...
with ''
spiritus asper In the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, the rough breathing ( grc, δασὺ πνεῦμα, dasỳ pneûma or ''daseîa''; la, spīritus asper) character is a diacritical mark used to indicate the presence of an sound before a vowel, d ...
'') becomes ''rh''; *Ancient Greek ''υ'' becomes ''y''; *Ancient Greek ''φ'' becomes ''ph'' or, very rarely, ''f''; *Ancient Greek ''χ'' becomes ''ch''; *Ancient Greek ''ψ'' becomes ''ps''; *Ancient Greek ''ω'' becomes ''o''; *Ancient Greek rough breathing becomes ''h-''. Thus, for example, Ancient Greek ''σφιγξ'' becomes English (and Latin) ''
sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
''. Exceptions to these romanizing rules occur, such as ''
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
(leukaemia)''; compare '' leukocyte'', also ''leucocyte''. In Latin, and in the target languages, the Greek vowels are given their neoclassical values rather than their contemporary values in demotic Greek. Ancient Greek words often contain
consonant cluster In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound, is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...
s which are foreign to the
phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
of contemporary English and other languages that incorporate these words into their lexicon: '' diphthong''; ''
pneumatology Pneumatology refers to a particular discipline within Christian theology that focuses on the study of the Holy Spirit. The term is derived from the Greek word ''Pneuma'' ( πνεῦμα), which designates "breath" or "spirit" and metaphorica ...
'', ''
phthisis Phthisis may refer to: Mythology * Phthisis (mythology), Classical/Greco-Roman personification of rot, decay and putrefaction Medical terms * Phthisis bulbi, shrunken, nonfunctional eye * Phthisis miliaris, miliary tuberculosis * Phthisis pulmo ...
''. The traditional response in English is to treat the unfamiliar cluster as containing one or more
silent letter In an alphabetic writing system, a silent letter is a letter that, in a particular word, does not correspond to any sound in the word's pronunciation. In linguistics, a silent letter is often symbolised with a null sign . Null is an unprono ...
s and suppress their pronunciation, more ''modern'' speakers tend to try and pronounce the unusual cluster. This adds to the irregularities of
English spelling English orthography is the writing system used to represent spoken English, allowing readers to connect the graphemes to sound and to meaning. It includes English's norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation, word breaks, emphasis, and p ...
; moreover, since many of these words are encountered in writing more often than they are heard spoken, it introduces uncertainty as to how to pronounce them when encountered. Neoclassical compounds frequently vary their stressed syllable when
suffixes In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry g ...
are added: '' ágriculture, agricúltural.'' This also gives rise to uncertainty when these words are encountered in print. Once a classical compound has been created and borrowed, it typically becomes the foundation of a whole series of related words: e.g. ''
astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...
, astrological, astrologer/astrologist/astrologian, astrologism''. Mainstream medical and ISV pronunciation in English is not the same as
Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later period ...
pronunciation. Like
Ecclesiastical Latin Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late Antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration down to the present day, especially in the Ca ...
, it has a regularity of its own, and individual sounds can be mapped or compared. Although the Classical Latin pronunciation of ''venae cavae'' would be approximately , the standard English medical pronunciation is .


History and reception

English began incorporating many of these words in the sixteenth century; ''
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
'' first appeared in an English text in 1535. Other early adopted words that still survive include '' mystagogue'', from the 1540s, and ''
androgyne Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in h ...
'', from the 1550s. The use of these technical terms predates the
scientific method The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific ...
; the several varieties of divination all take their names from neoclassical compounds, such as ''
alectryomancy Alectryomancy (also called alectoromancy or alectromancy; derivation comes from the and ) is a form of divination in which the diviner observes a bird, several birds, or most preferably a white rooster or cockerel pecking at grain (such as wheat ...
'', divination by the pecking of
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
s. Not all English writers have been friendly to the inflow of classical vocabulary. The Tudor period writer Sir
John Cheke Sir John Cheke (or Cheek) (16 June 1514 – 13 September 1557) was an English classical scholar and statesman. One of the foremost teachers of his age, and the first Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge, he played a great ...
wrote: and therefore rejected what he called "
inkhorn term An inkhorn term is a loanword, or a word coined from existing roots, which is deemed to be unnecessary or overly pretentious. Etymology An inkhorn is an inkwell made of horn. It was an important item for many scholars, which soon became symb ...
s". Similar sentiments moved the nineteenth century author William Barnes to write "pure English," in which he avoided Greco-Latin words and find Anglo-Saxon equivalents therefor: for Barnes, the newly invented art of the '' photograph'' became a ''sun-print''. Unlike this one, some of Barnes's coinages caught on, such as '' foreword'', Barnes's replacement for the ''
preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often close ...
'' of a book. Later,
Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
wrote a jocular piece called ''
Uncleftish Beholding "Uncleftish Beholding" (1989) is a short text by Poul Anderson, included in his anthology "All One Universe". It is designed to illustrate what English might look like without its large number of loanwords from languages such as French, Greek, an ...
'' in a
constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction ...
based on English which others have called "Ander-Saxon"; this attempted to create a pure English vocabulary for
nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
. For more information, see
Linguistic purism in English Linguistic purism in English involves opposition to foreign influence in the English language. English has evolved with a great deal of borrowing from other languages, especially Old French, since the Norman conquest of England, and some of its n ...
.


More recent developments

Many such words, such as ''
thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer ...
'', ''
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
'', ''
rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...
'', and '' rhododendron'', are thoroughly incorporated into the English lexicon and are the ordinary words for their referents. Some are prone to
colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
shortening; ''rhinoceros'' often becomes ''rhino''. The
binomial nomenclature In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
of
taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
and
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
is a major source for these items of vocabulary; for many unfamiliar species that lack a common English name, the name of the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
becomes the English word for that life form. In the
metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the Interna ...
, prefixes that indicate multipliers are typically Greek in origin, such as ''kilogram'', while those that indicate
divisor In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer m that may be multiplied by some integer to produce n. In this case, one also says that n is a multiple of m. An integer n is divisible or evenly divisible by ...
s are Latin, as in ''millimeter'': the base roots resemble Greek words, but in truth are
neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
s. These metric and other suffixes are added to native English roots as well, resulting in creations such as '' gigabyte''. Words of mixed Latin and Greek lineage, or words that combine elements of the classical languages with English – so-called
hybrid word A hybrid word or hybridism is a word that etymologically derives from at least two languages. Common hybrids The most common form of hybrid word in English combines Latin and Greek parts. Since many prefixes and suffixes in English are of Latin ...
s – were formerly castigated as " barbarisms" by prescriptionist usage commentators; this disapproval has mostly abated. Indeed, in scientific nomenclature, even more exotic hybrids have appeared, such as for example the dinosaur ''
Yangchuanosaurus ''Yangchuanosaurus'' is an extinct genus of metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in China from the Middle to Late Jurassic periods (Bathonian to Oxfordian stages), and was similar in size and appearance to its North American and Eu ...
''. Personal names appear in some scientific names such as ''
Fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' () is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, ''Fuchsia triphylla'', was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) ...
''. Neoclassical compounds are sometimes used to lend grandeur or the impression of scientific rigour to humble pursuits: the study of ''
cosmetology Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , '' -logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/ pedicures, non-permanent hair removal such ...
'' will not help anyone become an '' astronaut''. Compounds along these models are also sometimes coined for humorous effect, such as ''odontopodology'', the science of putting your foot into your mouth. These humorous coinages sometimes take on a life of their own, such as ''
garbology Garbology is the study of modern refuse and trash as well as the use of trash cans, compactors and various types of trash can liners. As an academic discipline it was pioneered at the University of Arizona and long directed by William Rathje. The ...
'', the study of garbage. Some neoclassical compounds form classical plurals, and are therefore irregular in English. Others do not, while some vacillate between classical and regular plurals.


Translation

There are hundreds of neoclassical compounds in English and other European languages. As traditionally defined, combining forms cannot stand alone as free words, but there are many exceptions to this rule, and in the late 20th century such forms are increasingly used independently: ''bio'' as a clipping of ''biography'', ''telly'' as a respelt clipping of ''television''. Most neoclassical combining forms translate readily into everyday language, especially nouns: ''bio-'' as ‘life’ ''-graphy'' as ‘writing, description’. Because of this, the compounds of which they are part (usually ''classical'' or ''learned compounds'') can be more or less straightforwardly paraphrased: ''biography'' as ‘writing about a life’, ''neurology'' as ‘the study of the nervous system’. Many classical combining forms are designed to take initial or final position: ''autobiography'' has the two initial or preposed forms ''auto-'' and ''bio-'', and one postposed form ''-graphy''. Although most occupy one position or the other, some can occupy both: ''-graph-'' as in ''graphology'' and ''monograph''; ''-phil-'' as in ''philology'' and ''Anglophile''. Occasionally, the same base is repeated in one word: ''logology'' the study of words, ''phobophobia'' the fear of fear.


Preposed and postposed

Prefixes include: ''aero-'' air, ''crypto-'' hidden, ''demo-'' people, ''geo-'' earth, ''odonto-'' tooth, ''ornitho-'' bird, ''thalasso-'' sea. Many have both a traditional simple meaning and a modern telescopic meaning: in ''biology'', ''bio-'' means ‘life’, but in '' bio-degradable'' it telescopes ‘biologically’; although ''hypno-'' basically means ‘sleep’ (''hypnopaedia'' learning through sleep), it also stands for ‘hypnosis’ (''hypnotherapy'' cure through hypnosis). When a form stands alone as a present-day word, it is usually a telescopic abbreviation: ''bio'' biography, ''chemo'' chemotherapy, ''hydro'' hydroelectricity, ''metro'' metropolitan. Some telescoped forms are shorter than the original neoclassical combining form: ''gynie'' is shorter than ''gyneco-'' and stands for both ''gynecology'' and ''gynecologist''; ''anthro'' is shorter than ''anthropo-'' and stands for ''anthropology''. Suffixes include: ''-ectomy'' cutting out, ''-graphy'' writing, description, ''-kinesis'' motion, ''-logy'' study, ''-mancy'' divination, ''-onym'' name, ''-phagy'' eating, ''-phony'' sound, ''-therapy'' healing, ''-tomy'' cutting. They are generally listed in dictionaries without the interfixed vowel, which appears however in such casual phrases as ‘ologies and isms’.


Variants

Some classical combining forms are variants of one base. Some are also free words, such as ''mania'' in ''dipsomania'' and ''phobia'' in ''claustrophobia''. Some are composites of other elements, such as ''encephalo-'' brain, from ''en-'' in, ''-cephal-'' head; and ''-ectomy'' cutting out, from ''ec-'' out, ''-tom-'' cut, ''-y'', a noun-forming suffix that means "process of".


Formation

In Greek and Latin grammar, combining bases usually require a thematic or stem-forming vowel. In ''biography'', from Greek, the thematic is -''o''-; in ''agriculture'', from Latin, it is ''-i-''. In English morphology, this vowel can be considered as an
interfix In phonology, an interfix or (more commonly) linking element is a part of a word that is placed between two morphemes (such as two roots or a root and a suffix) and lacks a semantic meaning. Examples Formation of compound words In German, ...
: in biology, the interfix '' -o-''; in ''miniskirt'', the interfix '' -i-''. It is usually regarded as attached to the initial base (''bio-'', ''mini-'') rather than the final base (''-graphy'', ''-skirt''), but in forms where it is conventionally stressed, it is sometimes considered as part of the final base (''-ography'', ''-ology''). If the final element begins with a vowel (for example, ''-archy'' as in ''monarchy''), the mediating vowel has traditionally been avoided (not *'), but in recent coinages it is often kept, sometimes accompanied by a hyphen (''auto-analysis'', '' bioenergy'', ''
hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
'', not *', *''bienergy'', *'). Its presence helps to distinguish neoclassical compounds like ''biography'' and ''agriculture'' from vernacular compounds like ''teapot'' and ''blackbird''.


Origin

Generally, English has acquired its neoclassical compounds in three ways: through French from Latin and Greek, directly from Latin and Greek, and by coinage in English on Greek and Latin patterns. An exception is ''schizophrenia'', which came into English through German, and is therefore pronounced ‘skitso’, not ‘’.


Terminological variation

Most dictionaries follow the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'' in using ''combining form'' (''comb. form'') to label such classical elements. In appendices to dictionaries and grammar books, classical combining forms are often loosely referred to as roots or affixes: ‘a logo …, properly speaking, is not a word at all but a prefix meaning word and short for logogram, a symbol, much as telly is short for television’ (Montreal ''Gazette'', 13 Apr. 1981). They are often referred to as affixes because some come first and some come last. But if they were affixes proper, a word like ''biography'' would have no base whatever. While affixes are grammatical (like prepositions), classical combining forms are
lexical Lexical may refer to: Linguistics * Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language * Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification * Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge * Lex ...
(like nouns, adjectives, and verbs): for example, ''bio-'' translates as a noun (life), ''-graphy'' as a verbal noun (writing). This is why some reference works also call them stems. They are also often loosely called roots because they are ancient and have a basic role in word formation, but functionally and often structurally they are distinct from
roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
proper: the ''-graph'' in ''autograph'' is both a root and a classical combining form, while the ''-graphy'' in ''cryptography'' consists of root ''-graph-'' and suffix ''-y'', and is only a classical combining form.


Philology


Conservative philological tradition

From the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
until the mid-20th century, the concept of derivational purity has often regulated the use of classical compounds, with a
philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as t ...
goal of like with like (Greek with Greek, Latin with Latin) and a minimum of hybridization. For example, ''biography'' is Greek, ''agriculture'' Latin; but this ideal has seen only limited realization in practice, as for example the word ''television'' is a hybrid of Greek ''tele-'' and Latin ''-vision'' (probably so coined because the ‘pure’ form ''telescope'' had already been adopted for another purpose).


Contemporary developments

Generally, classical compounds were a closed system from the 16th century to the earlier 20th century: the people who used them were classically educated, their teachers and exemplars generally took a purist's view on their use, contexts of use were mainly technical, and there was relatively little seepage into the language at large. However, with the decline of classical education and the spread of technical and quasitechnical jargon in the media, a continuum has evolved, with at least five stages:


Pure classical usage

In the older sciences, classical combining forms are generally used to form such strictly classical and usually Greek compounds as ''anthocyanin'', ''astrobleme'', ''chemotherapy'', ''chronobiology'', ''cytokinesis'', ''glossolalia'', ''lalophobia'', ''narcolepsy'', ''osteoporosis'', ''Pliohippus'', ''sympathomimetic''.


Hybrid classical usage

In technical, semitechnical, and quasitechnical usage at large, coiners of compounds increasingly treat Latin and Greek as one resource to produce such forms as ''accelerometer'', ''aero-generator'', ''bioprospector'', ''communicology'', ''electroconductive'', ''futurology'', ''mammography'', ''micro-gravity'', ''neoliberal'', ''Scientology'', ''servomechanism''.


Hybrid classical/vernacular usage

In the later 20th century, many forms have cut loose from ancient moorings: ''crypto-'' as in preposed ''Crypto-Fascist'' and ''pseudo-'' as in ''pseudoradical''; postposed ''-meter'' in ''speedometer'', ''clapometer''. Processes of analogy have created coinages like ''
petrodollar Petrodollar recycling is the international spending or investment of a country's revenues from petroleum exports ("petrodollars"). It generally refers to the phenomenon of major petroleum-exporting states, mainly the OPEC members plus Russi ...
'', '' psycho-warfare'', ''microwave'' on such models as ''
petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable so ...
'', ''psychology'', ''microscope''. Such stunt usages as ''eco-doom'', ''eco-fears'', ''eco-freaks'', common in journalism, often employ classical combining forms telescopically: ''eco-'' standing for ''ecology'' and ''ecological'' and not as used in ''economics''. In such matters, precision of meaning is secondary to compactness and vividness of expression.


Combining forms as separate words

In recent years, the orthography of many word forms has changed, usually without affecting pronunciation and stress. The same spoken usage may be written ''micro-missile'', ''micro missile'', ''micromissile'', reflecting the same uncertainty or flexibility as in ''businessman'', ''business-man'', ''business man''. When used in such ways, classical compounds are often telescopic: ''Hydro substation'' Hydro-Electricity Board substation, ''Metro highways'' Metropolitan highways, ''porno cult'' pornography cult.


New classical compounds

The mix of late 20th century techno-commercial coinages includes three groups of post- and non-classical forms: (1) ''Established forms'': ''econo-'' from ‘economic’, as in ''econometric'', ''Econo-Car''; ''mini-'' from ‘miniature’, as in ''miniskirt'', ''mini-boom''; ''-matic'' from ‘automatic’, as in ''Adjustamatic'', ''
Instamatic : ''For the film formats associated with the ''Instamatic'' and ''Pocket Instamatic'' camera ranges, see 126 film and 110 film respectively.'' The Instamatic is a series of inexpensive, easy-to-load 126 and 110 cameras made by Kodak beginning ...
'', ''Stackomatic''. (2) Less established forms, often created by blending: ''accu-'' from ‘accurate’, as in '' Accuvision''; ''compu-'' from ‘computer’, as in ''Compucorp''; ''docu-'' from ‘documentary’, as in ''docudrama''; ''perma-'' from ‘permanent’, as in ''permafrost'' and ''permaban''; ''dura-'' from ‘durable’, as in ''Duramark''. (3) Informal vernacular material in pseudo-classical form: '' Easibird'', '' Healthitone'', '' Redi-pak'', '' Relax-A-Cizor'' (relax, exerciser).


Similar systems

In East Asia, a similar role to Latin and Greek has been played by Chinese, with non-Chinese languages both borrowing a significant number of words from Chinese and using morphemes borrowed from Chinese to coin new words, particularly in formal or technical language. See
Sino-Japanese vocabulary Sino-Japanese vocabulary, also known as refers to Japanese vocabulary that had originated in Chinese or were created from elements borrowed from Chinese. Some grammatical structures and sentence patterns can also be identified as Sino-Japanese. S ...
, Sino-Korean vocabulary, and
Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary ( vi, từ Hán Việt, Chữ Hán: 詞漢越, literally ' Chinese-Vietnamese words') is a layer of some 3,000 monosyllabic morphemes of the Vietnamese language borrowed from Literary Chinese with consistent pronunciatio ...
for discussion. The coinage of new native terms on Chinese roots is most notable in Japanese, where it is referred to as . Many of these have been subsequently borrowed into Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, with the same (or corresponding) characters being pronounced differently according to language, just as happens in European languages – compare English ''
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
'' and French '' biologie.'' For example, 自動車 (Japanese ''jidōsha,'' Korean ''jadongcha,'' Mandarin ''zìdòngchē'') is a Japanese-coined word meaning “automobile”, literally self-move-car; compare to ''auto'' (self) + ''mobile'' (moving).


See also

;Topics * English words of Greek origin *
Hybrid word A hybrid word or hybridism is a word that etymologically derives from at least two languages. Common hybrids The most common form of hybrid word in English combines Latin and Greek parts. Since many prefixes and suffixes in English are of Latin ...
*
Interlingua Interlingua (; ISO 639 language codes ia, ina) is an international auxiliary language (IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It ranks among the most widely used IALs and is t ...
* International scientific vocabulary *
Internationalism (linguistics) In linguistics, an internationalism or international word is a loanword that occurs in several languages (that is, translingually) with the same or at least similar meaning and etymology. These words exist in "several different languages as a re ...
*
-ism ''-ism'' is a suffix in many English words, originally derived from the Ancient Greek suffix ('), and reaching English through the Latin , and the French . It means "taking side with" or "imitation of", and is often used to describe philosop ...
*
Latin influence in English Although English is a Germanic language, it has Latin influences. Its grammar and core vocabulary are inherited from Proto-Germanic, but a significant portion of the English vocabulary comes from Romance and Latinate sources. A portion of thes ...
*
-ology ''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the Latin ''-logia ...
* Sino-xenic vocabularies, for similar constructs in Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. ;Lists *
List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English This list contains Germanic elements of the English language which have a close corresponding Latinate form. The correspondence is semantic—in most cases these words are not cognates, but in some cases they are doublets, i.e., ultimately deriv ...
* List of Greek and Latin roots in English *
List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...
*
List of Latin words with English derivatives This is a list of Latin words with derivatives in English (and other modern languages). Ancient orthography did not distinguish between ''i'' and ''j'' or between ''u'' and ''v''. Many modern works distinguish u from v but not i from j. In this ...


Bibliography

* McArthur, Tom (ed.): ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', (Oxford University Press, 1992). * Plag, Ingo "Word-Formation in English", Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN à0521525632, 9780521525633


External links

* ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998'' entries o
classical compound
an

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neoclassical Compound English grammar Etymology Linguistic morphology Greek language Latin language