CLA 201H1S

GREEK AND LATIN IN SCIENTIFIC TERMINOLOGY

AH 400 (Muzzo Family Alumni Hall, St. Michaels College),
Tuesdays, Thursdays 10 AM -1 PM
Instructor: David Wallace-Hare
email: david.wallace.hare@mail.utoronto.ca
Lillian Massey Building, 125 Queens Park Crescent (Bloor and Avenue),
(across from the R.O.M.)
Ofce Hours: Fridays 10:00 - 11:30 AM, or by appointment, room 124 in
the above building
Teaching Assistant: John MacCormick,
email: john.maccormick@utoronto.ca
Blackboard (portal.utoronto.ca) will be used to communicate with
the class as a whole as well as to post readings for the course, so
students in the class should check that their Toronto email accounts
are current to receive these communications.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course deals with the study of technical and scientic terms
derived from Latin and Greek. A study like this looks at what elements
constitute technical terms, how to gain an understanding of technical
jargon, how such terms are formed, and how such terms are analyzed.
The course is meant to enable students to recognize, dissect,
understand, and employ technical terminology derived from Greek
and/or Latin.
Both these languages have heavily influenced modern technical
terminology and, as a result, understanding the meanings present
behind even the most difficult and seemingly impenetrable terms can
prove extremely benecial to students regardless of their chosen eld.
Although such terminology is most prevalent in the life sciences, we
nd such technical jargon in practically every eld, with new terms,
called neologisms, being coined daily (and likely to be coined even in
this very course).
Of course, technical terms at rst glance may seem alien and
needlessly complicated, but by the end of this course they will seem at
home in your linguistic tool kit, able to be utilized and even coined with
precision and informed eloquence.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the end of this course, students will be able to

recognize,
dissect,
perhaps coin,
and understand a wide variety of Greek and Latin roots and
technical terms that are so prevalent in most scientic and
technical elds

TEXTBOOKS:
Donald M. Ayers, Bioscientic Terminology, Tucson, University of
Arizona Press, 1972
Donald J. Borror, Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms,
Mayeld Publishing Company, 1960.
EVALUATION:
Two one-hour term tests, each worth 15% of the nal mark. (see the
following pages). Two quizzes worth 5% each, occurring about a week
before each of the big tests. These quizzes aim to aid the studying
process.
One three-hour nal exam, worth 30% of the nal mark. (Date TBD)
And nally, a term assignment worth 30%.
PROJECT THEMES:
EITHER:
(a)

You are a researcher/explorer/scientist who has just discovered a

new species of animal, plant, insect, or other organism. Your task
is to describe this new species, etc. that you have found. You will
name it according to the principles of word formation and
etymology you have learned thus far (special guidance will be
given in a tutorial on how to name the species). You will describe
some elements of its biology or ecology, which might include
descriptions of its environment, diet, (possibly its powers), etc.,
after the same fashion as you would nd in a scientic article
detailing one or more of the standard features one would nd in a
standard biological entry on an animal, plant, etc. in a standard
zoological work/ article. Examples of articles detailing newly
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discovered species and already discovered species will be given

as templates. Your aim should be to cover one or more of the
following: the anatomy, structural features, ecology, behaviour,
or habitat in a technically faithful way. Feel free to be creative,
such as diagrams, sketches, etc. (though this is not necessary to
do well), but creative in an informed way, describing your ndings
in a rationale fashion based on what you have learned of word
formation and terminology. Part of the exercise is a commentary
to explain your choices of technical terms where you use them.
Here is where you will want to make use of external etymological
aids such as medical terminology books your textbook, books on
term creation. In coining new terms, a process called neolexia,
you should not just create something out of nothing but look for
similar formations as templates of stability and euphony.
The essay will be 7-10 pages, typed, double-spaced. You should
view the assignment in two parts: a description and a
commentary that follows along with your word choices. This
commentary should explain your word choices, giving examples
of similar word formations. For example, this is a fake example
(your species should be located on Earth (although its origins
may be extraterrestrial):
"In an expedition to a newly discovered moon in the Alpha
Centauri system near ours, a new species of wolf, Canis
caeruleus ("Blue Wolf"), has been found by the expedition team.
The wolf exhibits a heightened capacity for acceleration and
jumping, hypercelerity and telesaltation ("far-jumping").... "
The two neologisms coined here (which I have put in italics,
would need to be explained. Not all of your words have to be like
this. The technical terminology you inject into your report may
already exist. It is best, however, to select some words that are
outside of the textbook, perhaps many of your words. A list of
areas to consult has been appended in the bibliography. The
works can be accessed through the library website. Feel free to
email the instructor, myself, or the TA if you gave questions.
The description portion will likely be smaller than the
commentary portion. You may have footnotes in the description
portion
linking technical vocabulary to your appended
commentary explaining the rationale behind the terms (not all of

which need to be neologisms of your own creation).

b)
Topic: Greek and Latin in the Terminology of a technical eld
Length: 7-10 double spaced pages (about 2000 words)
Requirements:
The essay must be based on an article of variable length, dated
AFTER Jan. 1st 2014) FROM A REPUTABLE (i.e. you could nd it in
Robarts/Gerstein or through the library catalogue) SCIENTIFIC OR
TECHNICAL JOURNAL. A PHOTOCOPY OR PRINT OF THE PASSAGE MUST
BE SUPPLIED). FROM THIS ARTICLE YOU SELECT A 500 WORD SECTION
OF A CONTINUOUS NATURE (if pictures break up the text that is okay.).
The essay will be an analysis and discussion of the etymology of 15-25
words selected from this passage. You should include the publication
date and title of the journal on the copy of the article you submit with
your paper. Please underline or highlight the terms you have chosen to
discuss on the photocopy of your article (It can also be helpful to bold
the terms inside the paper itself for ease of reading). The eld you
choose is up to you,, as long as the journal is reputable and the article
or eld features Greek and Latin derived technical terms you are
relatively free to choose your eld of inquiry, be it virology, economics,
engineering, quantum physics, mathematics, palaeontology, etc.
Format: This is a research paper designed to test your ability to
identify and decipher the Greek and Latin roots of scientic terms in a
scientic text. It does not, therefore, need to argue a point. You do not
need a thesis. However, proper essay format should apply. Please
double-space your essay and number your pages. Use a 12 point
standard font (e.g. Times New Roman) with 1 to 1 inch margins. Use
formal academic prose.
1.
Title of essay (something more specic and/or creative
than Essay for CLA201), your name, your student number, course
number, due date (and word count, if you want). Feel free to make the
title witty, however.
2. Essay:
i. Opening Paragraph: You should summarize the article (or
the section of the article you are using) and make a brief
statement about the nature of the paper and the presence
of Graeco-Latin technical terminology in the article.
ii. Main Body Paragraphs: see below
iii. Concluding Paragraph: Although it is hard to make a
concluding paragraph when no conclusion has been drawn,
you should still endeavour
to make at least one

statement to draw the paper together and summarize

generally.
3.
Bibliography: Make sure to note all books and journals you
use in your bibliography. In addition, make sure to note all dictionaries
used. Also cite websites if you have employed them. If you are deriving
all your denitions from the OED (not the best idea to use one source)
you could site just once to say that this and the following denitions
are taken from the OED. This format can be used for when one uses
the same source for a number of continuous references, but as soon as
the source changes that needs to be cited.
Main Body Paragraphs:
Each paragraph may introduce a new word. For each word, you should
include an English denition, a list of the Latin and Greek parts into
which the word can be broken, and the Latin or Greek denitions of
those parts and/or (where applicable) the Latin or Greek denition of
the whole word. If the word has a prex make sure to note what the
prexed form means attached to the root/base and what the
unprexed from means, sometimes the difference is great. If the Latin
or Greek denition matches the English denition, you should make
note of this. Otherwise, you should note the differences and, if
possible, provide an explanation for these differences. This point is an
important one: you should discuss the relationship between the current
scientic usage of the word and the etymological origins of the
elements of the word. This process of analysis will allow you to make
the most of your research, and allows you the opportunity to develop
your ndings into something more substantive and thoughtful than just
the denitions that you nd initially. Here is where you will show off
your originality through insightful analysis. You may nd it helpful to
consult (and refer to!) other reputable academic sources to
supplement and support your analysis. Be sure to include these in the
bibliography and footnote them accordingly.
You may alternatively, and some might say that you should denitely
do this, group your paragraphs according to function or some other
organizing principle (e.g. words to describe conditions, words to
describe parts of the body, and so forth), or you may follow the order
in which the terms appear in the article. If you choose to organize your
paragraphs according to function, be sure to include in a footnote the
page of the article on which each term appears. Finding an organizing
principle or structure for your words can also play an important part in
developing the intellectual progression of the paper.
Dictionary Definitions: All dictionary denitions should be
paraphrased, and the dictionaries used must be identied in your
footnotes.
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Recommended Dictionaries:
The Oxford English Dictionary is the most complete English dictionary.
As an added bonus, it can be accessed online via the University of
Torontos e-resources.
A Latin Dictionary by C. T. Lewis & Charles Short and A Greek-English
Lexicon (abbreviated LSJ) by Henry George Liddell & Robert Scott can
also
be
accessed
online
via
the
Perseus
Project
(www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/collections -- Greek and Latin Materials
Charleton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary or -- Henry
George Liddell, Robert Scott -- A Greek-English Lexicon). However, the
Greek-English lexicon can be extremely difficult to use online, as it
requires text to be entered in Greek. Unless you already have
experience doing this, you will be better off using a printed copy in one
of the U of T libraries. Recently, however the site has been made much
better and you can search for words using English, It will look up the
Greek denitions where the English word is used in the dictionary. This
goes for the Liddell and Scott as well as the Lewis and Short. One
should use the largest version of the dictionary that actually cites
ancient authors in full and not the intermediate/middle versions. For
example Hippocrates versus Hippocrates (or Hipp.), De Aere Aquis et
Locis 1 (i.e. Hp.Ar.1). Many people nd the Oxford Latin Dictionary
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968-82) to be superior to the Lewis & Short.
Lewis and Short, however includes a wider array of authors and is
online, unlike the OLD.
Some other resources:
The Perseus website:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/collection?
collection=Perseus:collection:Greco-Roman
The Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=CC9443BFE27AE4
D8B8B788616C1919C8?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0059
http://www.etymonline.com/
Nybakken, Oscar Edward. 1985. Greek and Latin in Scientic
Terminology. Ames: Iowa State College Press.

St. Michael's College (John M. Kelly) 2nd Floor Q179 .N9 1985
SMC

Victoria University E.J. Pratt Reference Q179 .N9 1985

Gerstein's Science Library, can be found in Reference and in

Stacks Q179. N9 1960

The last site has some links which also may be of use
There are many etymology books in the libraries of U of T.
Style: Although this is a report rather than an essay, formal essay
style must nevertheless be observed. Point-form, contractions, slang,
and most abbreviations should be avoided. Please be sure to proofread your essay. Spell-check and grammar-check, while helpful, very
rarely catch every error. If you cite a website make sure the website
exists and is accessible, following bibliographic and footnote
conventions in citing it. Stick to a known citation method you are
comfortable with, like Chicago Style, MLA, etc. and be consistent in it
(don't make up a style). If the style uses footnotes, use footnotes, if
endnotes, then endnotes, if in in-text citation, etc. Try to use more than
one or two sources; a varied bibliography shows that you have tried to
consider the problem from a number of angles.
Marking Scheme: The accuracy of your denitions and ability to
break down correctly the chosen terms into their Greek and Latin roots
will be of primary importance. The difficulty of the chosen words (avoid
choosing too many words specically examined in the textbook),
clarity of thought and expression, and originality will also be taken into
account. If you are unsure what constitutes a technical term, do
contact myself or the T.A. It is better to know if a term is technical or
not before you hand in your paper.
An abbreviated Final Checklist:
o Title page
o Bibliography
o Page numbers
o a correct citation method consistently used.
o Copy of Journal Article Used or the relevant section thereof (i.e.
either photocopied or printed from the web)
o Remember that the article MUST HAVE BEEN PRINTED
AFTER January 1st 2014. Note, however, that the article
may have been submitted for publication at an earlier
date but only later published. If this is the case, it is also
fine, so long as that publication date is AFTER (and
including the day of) Jan. 1st 2014.

o article must be from a reputable journal (if you are unsure if your
journal qualies, send an email to the T.A. or myself. Such a
journal should be accessible through the library catalogue and
can be found usually in such databases as JSTOR, PubMed,
BIOSIS etc.
o 7-10 double-spaced pages (about 2000 words). I'm more
concerned about reaching the minimum set of words, going over
is not as problematic. So you shouldn't stress about the max
word count.
Essay Tutorial(s) to be announced shortly.

SCHEDULE:
WEEK 1:
Thursday July 3rd: INTRO Syllabus stuff; Scientic terms from Ancient Greek
Introduction Bases, Prexes and Suffixes
Chapters 1: Introduction to Greek Bases and Prexes
2: The Greek Alphabet
3: More Greek Prexes.

WEEK 2:
Tuesday July 8th: Greek Adjective-Forming and Compound Suffixes (Chapters
4, 5 & 6)
Chapter 4: Greek Adjective-Forming Suffixes
Chapter 5: Greek Compound Suffixes 1
Chapter 6: Greek Noun-Forming Suffixes 1
Thursday July 10th: Greek Noun-Forming Suffixes (Chapters 7, 8, 9)
Chapter 7: Greek Noun-Forming Suffixes 2
Chapter 8: Greek Noun-Forming Suffixes 3
Chapter 9: Greek Noun-Forming Suffixes 4

QUIZ 1

WEEK 3
Tuesday July 15th:
Chapter 10: Greek Diminutive Suffixes
Chapter 11: Greek Verb-Forming Suffixes
Chapter 12: Greek Plurals
Chapter 13: Bioscientic terms derived from Classical Mythology

Thursday July 17th: Evolving Meanings I (Chapters 14, 15 & 16)

Chapter 14: Bioscientic Words and the History of Science
Chapter 15: Figurative Usage
Chapter 16: Specialization and Generalization of Meaning
TERM TEST 1

WEEK 4:
Tuesday July 22nd: Evolving Meanings II (Chapters 17, 18, 19 & 20)
Chapter 17: Changes of Meaning in Technical Usage
Chapter 18: Diseases Named from Symptoms
Chapter 19: Changes in the Forms of Greek and Latin Words
Chapter 20: Part II: Bioscientic Words Derived from Latin
Thursday July 24th: Latin Prexes and Bases (Chapters 21, 22 & 23)
Chapter 21: Introduction to Latin Bases and Prexes
Chapter 22: Latin Prexes I
Chapter 23: Latin Prexes II

WEEK 5:
Tuesday July 29th: Latin Suffixes I (Chapters 24, 25, 26, 27)
Chapter 24: Latin Suffixes I
Chapter 25: Latin Suffixes II
Chapter 26: Latin Suffixes III
Chapter 27: Latin Suffixes IV
Thursday July 31st: Latin Suffixes II (Chapters 28, 29, 30, 31)
Chapter 28: Latin Suffixes V
Chapter 29: Latin Suffixes VI
Chapter 30: Latin Suffixes VII
Chapter 31: Latin Suffixes VIII
QUIZ 2

WEEK 6:

Tuesday August 5th: Chapters 32, 33, 34

Chapter 32: Latin Suffixes IX
Chapter 33: Latin Suffixes X
Chapter 34: Latin Verb Suffixes
Thursday August 7th:
Latin Nouns I (Chapters 35, 36, 37)
Chapter 35: Latin Nouns
Chapter 36: Latin Third Declension Nouns
Chapter 37: Latin Fourth and Fifth Declension Nouns
TERM TEST II

WEEK 7:
Tuesday August 12th: Latin Nouns II, Latin Phrases (Chapters 38, 39 & 40)
Chapter 38: Latin First and Second Declension Adjectives
Chapter 39: Latin Third Declension Adjectives
Chapter 40: Latin Phrases
PROJECT DUE THIS DAY IN WEEK 7

There are no make up tests or quizzes. If a student has a serious

reason for missing the date of any of these, the other elements of the
course will be reweighted, ONLY if the student presents a University of
Toronto Medical Certicate or of a note from the students college
registrar. If a student misses the exam, this will be rewritten only in
keeping with the policy of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
STATEMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Academic integrity is fundamental to learning and scholarship at the University of
Toronto. Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in this academic
community ensures that the U of T degree that you earn will be valued as a true
indication of your individual academic achievement, and will continue to receive the
respect and recognition it deserves.
Familiarize yourself with the University of Torontos Code of Behaviour on Academic
Matters (http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/behaveac.htm). It is the
rulebook for academic behaviour at U of T, and you are expected to know the rules.
Potential offences include, but are not limited to:

In papers and assignments:

Using someone elses ideas or words without appropriate
acknowledgement.
Copying material word-for-word from a source (including lecture and
study group notes) and not placing the words within quotation
marks.
Submitting your own work in more than one course without the
permission of the instructor.
Making up sources or facts.
Including references to sources that you did not use.
Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment
including:
working in groups on assignments that are supposed to be
individual work;
having someone rewrite or add material to your work while
editing.
Lending your work to a classmate who submits it as his/her own
without your permission.
On tests and exams:

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Using or possessing any unauthorized aid, including a cell phone.

Looking at someone elses answers
Letting someone else look at your answers.
Misrepresenting your identity.
Submitting an altered test for re-grading.

Misrepresentation:
Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University,
including doctors notes.
Falsifying institutional documents or grades.
The University of Toronto treats cases of academic misconduct very seriously. All
suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated following the procedures
outlined in the Code. The consequences for academic misconduct can be severe,
including a failure in the course and a notation on your transcript. If you have any
questions about what is or is not permitted in this course, please do not hesitate to
contact me. If you have questions about appropriate research and citation methods,
seek out additional information from me, or from other available campus resources
like the U of T Writing Website (http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/) . If you are
experiencing personal challenges that are having an impact on your academic work,
please speak to me or seek the advice of your college registrar.
Adding and Cancelling Courses

Section Code

Final Date to Add or Change Meeting Section

Final Date to Cancel

July 8

July 29

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