Talk:Medical prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms

Merging proposal "Medical Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms" and "List of medical roots"

Medical Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms and List of medical roots - These two lists duplicate much of the same information or at least item members. They each have some good points. So some thoughts:

Naming or Rename?

I think an article name starting with "List of" is to be preferred, but "medical roots" seems awkward. List of Medical Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms is very precise but a very long title, perhaps List of Medical derivations instead?

Layout sections

I prefer the alphabetical sections of Medical Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms which allows for the neat contents bar for navigation. It also makes editing the list far easier as editors need only edit a single Letter section.

Layout types

Whilst List of medical roots has separate table for Prefixes, Roots and Suffixes, in part this is already implied by the use of dashes "a-" is clearly a prefix, whilst "-scopy" clearly is a root or suffix.

Distinguishing roots & suffixes seems arbitrary. Example "arthroscopy" - if one is interested in endoscopy then the root is "-scopy" and anything in front of the word is mere descriptive prefixing (hence list of endoscopies includes arthroscopy, colonoscopy, laparoscopy etc), whilst an orthopaedic surgeon would view "arthro" as pertaining to their field and "scopy" just a suffix (hence arthroscopy, arthodesis, arthroplasty etc). Hence I suggest there is no need have separate prefixes, suffixes & roots sections

Derivations

I like the formal way that List of medical roots implies that we should be giving the original source language word & meaning. I would though suggest switching column sequence over from Term, Origin language, Origin word, Origin meaning, Meaning, Example to Term, Meaning, Example, Origin language, Origin word, Origin meaning.

However this makes for large, somewhat unwieldy, tables. So are we better off with current system of manually added derivation information such as –graphy • process of recording (from Greek γραφειν (graphein) "to write") rather than having the fixed columns for this information ?

Table style

If we do add in additional columns then do we maintain a very tabular appearance with cell borders, or the current listings-appearance without borders ? David Ruben ^Talk 12:40, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

So my overal initial proposal is to pull across any missing additional items from List of medical roots, add in derivation information (but not with additional columns), and rename to List of Medical derivations. David Ruben ^Talk 12:48, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

I much prefer "List of" because, well, it is a list and that is the way to name a list on WP. Looking through some anatomy texts:

• Principles of Human Anatomy, 7th ed. (ISBN 0-673-99075-3) has a section in the back entitled "Glossary of Combining Forms, Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes."
• 8th Edition (ISBN 0-673-99355-8) is entitled the same.
• Human Anatomy, 5th ed. (ISBN 0-697-28413-1) entitles it "Prefixes and Suffixes in Anatomical and Medical Terminology" and mixes in the root words in there as well.
• Human Anatomy, 2nd ed. (ISBN 0-697-12252-2) entitles it less helpfully "Aids to Understanding Anatomical Terminology"

I would have to go with List of medical roots, suffixes, and prefixes with List of medical roots, list of medical suffixes, and list of medical prefixes as redirects. That said, I would also have to go with this article being merged into "List of ..." (contrary to what is proposed) because I find the visual layout much easier to read and use. I also have to go with maintaining the origin language and translation (it adds much more encyclopedic value that a simple list). Cburnett 04:34, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Completeness of the list!!!

If you would merge the two articles, you should not forget that List of medical roots, for example, is much more complete than List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes. To make the last one more complete, you should add some columns including etymological information, like you see in List of medical roots.