Aan 29-11-96 9:36, in bericht <[log in to unmask]>, "Marco
BOZZO / FISICA (GENOVA) 010.353 6375" <[log in to unmask]> schreef:
> Margaret Hayon wrote this for Samantha:
>
> Disease Glossary) - hope it will help:
> dysarthria: difficult, poorly articulated speech.
> dyskinesia: abnormal involuntary movement.
> dysphagia: difficulty in swallowing.
> dystonia: slow twisting involuntary movemeent, associated with
> forceful muscle contractions or spasms.
> (these terms are all etymologically derived from Greek - any classical Greek
> scholars out there?)
>
> Well since I had ancient Greek in high school I can try (in fact you can find
> these info's in any Webster or similar...)
>
> dis- is a prefix that indicates "lack of..." or "wrong, erroneous ..."
>
> - Kinesia means movement, (see for ex. kinetic) hence dyskinesia = wrong (i.e.
> involuntary movement)
>
> - phagia indicates the act of eating
>
> - tonic : well you know about muscle tone....
>
> then the words get a more definite meaning with the usage (in the case given
> from the medical profession)
>
> I have some doubts about "arthria" since in my recollection arthr... is said
> about limbs (arms and legs..) but I do not have access to any large Webster
> at
> present.
>
> Sorry, Marco Bozzo
>
I was planning to answer this question the same way. I too had difficulty to
find the origin of the arthria, but found in my dictionary class. Greek
arthroein ( alpha rho theta rho o-mikron o-mega ) articulate. One " r" is
lost anywhere on the way from Greek to English.
Scientific terms are taken directly from old Greek,so the lost character
appears again
The word "kinhesia" is the grandparent of the English "cinema" for the
the movies. This word has arrived in English via the Latin which has no
"k"
Ida Kamphuis
Holland
