<P> In medical terminology, the word root is not usually capable of standing alone as a complete word in a sentence . This is different from most word roots in modern standard English . The medical word root is taken from a different source language, so it will remain meaningless as a stand - alone term in an English sentence . A suffix or prefix must be added to make a usable medical term . For example the term for "concerning the heart" is "cardiacus", from the Greek kardía . If a person is suffering from a heart related illness, the statement, "The patient suffered a kardía event," would not make sense . However, with the addition of a suffix - ac, the statement would be modified to read, "The patient suffered a cardiac event" which is an acceptable use of medical terminology . The process is different in standard English because the word roots are capable of standing alone in a sentence . For example, the word eye is a word root in English that can be used without modification in a sentence . </P> <P> An additional challenge to the student of medical terminology is that the formation of the plural of a word must be done using the rules of forming the proper plural form as used in the source language . This is more difficult than in English, where adding - s or - es is the rule . Greek and Latin each have differing rules to be applied when forming the plural form of the word root . Often such details can be found using a medical dictionary . </P> <P> When more than one body part is used in the formation of a medical term, the individual word roots are joined together by using the combining form using the letter - o - to indicate the joining together of various body parts . For example if there is an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, this would be written as gastro - and enter - plus - itis, gastroenteritis . In this example, the - o - signifies the joining together of two body parts . </P> <P> Medical Terminology often uses words created using prefixes and suffixes in Latin and Ancient Greek . In medicine, their meanings, and their etymology, are informed by the language of origin . Prefixes and suffixes, primarily in Greek--but also in Latin, have a dropable - o - . Medical roots generally go together according to language: Greek prefixes go with Greek suffixes and Latin Prefixes with Latin Suffixes . Although it is technically considered acceptable to create hybrid words, it is strongly preferred not to mix different lingual roots . Examples of well - accepted medical words that do mix lingual roots are neonatology and quadriplegia . </P>

When is a combining vowel used in medical terminology