Autumn Term 2019/2020 Handout 1
0. corpus, oris, n. body
cutis, is, f. skin
1. caput, itis, n. head
2. capilli, orum, m. hair
3. facies, ei, f. face
4. os, oris, n. mouth, opening
lingua, ae, f. tongue
5. mentum, i, n. chin
6. axilla, ae, f. armpit, axilla
7. brachium, ii, n. upper arm, brachium
8. cubitus, i, m. elbow
9. antebrachium, ii, n. forearm
10. carpus, i, m. wrist
11. pollex, icis, m. thumb
12. palma, ae, f. palm (of the hand)
13.,18. digitus, i, m. finger
14. sulcus, i, m.1
groove, furrow
15.,28. penis, is m. penis
1
sulcus glutealis
16. femur, oris, n. thigh, femur
17. genu, us, n. knee
19. frons, frontis, f. forehead
20. oculus, i, m. eye
21. nasus, i, m. nose
22. auris, is, f. ear
23. bucca, ae, f. cheek
24. collum, i, n. neck (mostly with bones)
cervix, icis, f. neck (with soft tissues)
25. pectus, oris, n. chest
26. abdomen, inis, n. belly, abdomen
27. hypogastrium, ii, n. hypogastrium
29. truncus, i, m. trunk
30. manus, us, f. hand
31. crus, cruris, n. lower leg, calf
32. tarsus, i, m. tarsus
talus, i, m. anklebone, talus
33. pes, pedis, m. foot
34. hallux, ucis, m. big toe
Corpus humanum
Autumn Term 2019/2020 Handout 1
Skeleton
0. skeleton, i, n. skeleton
os, ossis, n. bone
cranium, ii, n. skull
1. orbita, ae, f. orbit
2. collum, i, n. neck (mostly with
bones)
cervix, icis, f. neck, cervix (with soft
tissues)
3. thorax, acis, m. thorax (chest with ribs)
4. costa, ae, f. rib
5. discus, i, m. (vertebral) disc
6. processus, us, m. process (protuberance)
7. vertebra, ae, f. vertebra
8. pelvis, is, f. pelvis
coxa, ae, f. hip, hip joint
ilium, ii, n. ilium
9. os sacrum* sacral bone
10. coccyx, gis, f. tailbone, coccyx
11. ischium, ii, n. ischium
12. os pubis* pubic bone
13. symphysis, is, f. symphysis
14. nasus, i, m. nose
15. dens, ntis, m. tooth
16. mandibula, ae, f. lower jaw
17. clavicula, ae, f. collarbone, clavicle
scapula, ae, f. shoulder blade
18. sternum, i, n. breastbone
19. humerus, i, m. arm bone, humerus
20. arcus, us, m.2
arch
21. radius, ii, m. radial bone, radius
22. ulna, ae, f. elbow bone
23. metacarpus, i, m. metacarpus
carpus, i, m. wrist
24. phalanx, gis, f. finger bone
25. femur, oris, n. thighbone, femur
26. patella, ae, f. kneecap
27. tibia, ae, f. shinbone
28. fibula, ae, f. calf bone
29. metatarsus, i, m. metatarsus
2
arcus costalis
Autumn Term 2019/2020 Handout 1
INTRODUCTION TO LATIN GRAMMAR
LATIN (inflectional language) vs. ENGLISH (analytic language)
Inflection vs. Word Order
Unlike English, where it is the fixed word order (SWOMPT) that tells us how the words are related
to each other in a sentence (i.e. what is a subject, object, etc.), Latin conveys such information by
the endings of individual words (i.e. via inflection). Therefore, the word order is much looser in
Latin and it may differ significantly from the English one.
e.g. complicated fracture of the left humerus = fractura complicata humeri sinisteri /
fractura humeri sinistri complicata
Gender and Adjectives
Every Latin noun is inherently masculine, feminine, or neutral, even though it denotes a non-living
object. REMEMBER to learn each noun together with its gender, since adjectives assume the same
gender as the nouns they modify. Unlike English, adjectives usually stand right after the noun they
modify, or somewhere further in the sentence. In other words, you often cannot tell which noun an
adjective goes with, unless you know the noun’s gender.
*If we describe an anatomical structure with more than one adjective, the most specifying one is
used last (i.e. unlike English where the most specifying adjective comes first):
e.g. superior deep lymph nodes = nodi lymphatici profundi superiores
Genitive Case
expresses possession; in anatomy, it is used to denote parts of structures – REMEMBER! the
word that would have ’s or comes after the preposition of in English has a Genitive form in Latin,
e.g. caput tibiae = head of tibia / tibia’s head
*In English medical terminology, you may sometimes come across an adjective phrase
instead of an of-phrase; however, if the term denotes a part of a structure, we still have to
use Genitive in Latin; e.g. scapular notch is a part of scapula (= notch of scapula/scapula’s
notch); therefore, the Latin term uses Genitive to describe the structure (just like in the
previous example): i.e. scapular notch = incisura scapulae
Autumn Term 2019/2020 Handout 1
DICTIONARY ENTRY (vocabulary format)
Dictionary entry of each noun includes three pieces of information:
1) basic form of the noun in Nominative singular (i.e. functioning as a subject)
2) Genitive ending (i.e. declension clue) * full Genitive with short nouns (e.g. os, ossis, n.)
3) gender (necessary for the correct form of an adjective)
It is necessary to memorize this information along with the noun itself!
Without learning Genitive form, you cannot classify the noun into a proper declension
(Nominative form is not conclusive); thus, you cannot use the word properly in a sentence;
without learning the gender, you cannot attach correct forms of adjectives to describe the nouns;
besides, the nouns of neutral gender have a special set of endings.
fibula, ae, f. > 1st
declension noun of female gender: fractura fibulae; fibula dextra
humerus, i, m. > 2nd
declension noun of male gender: fractura humeri; humerus dexter
corpus, oris, n. > 3rd
declension noun of neutral gender: fractura corporis humeri; corpus alienum
ductus, us, m. > 4th
declension noun of male gender: obstructio ductus venosi; ductus venosus
facies, ei, f. > 5th
declension noun of female gender: deformitas faciei; facies lunata
*Dictionary entry of adjectives includes the Nominative sg. forms/endings of all three genders
(in the order m., f., n.). E.g. longus, a, um > all three forms mean ‘long”, but the choice of the form
depends on gender of the noun it modifies.
BASIC GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES
1) number: singular (i.e. one) / plural (i.e. two and more)
2) gender: male / female / neutral
3) case: a form of a noun that indicates its grammatical role in a sentence; used to express relations
of words in a sentence
Nominative (i.e. subject) / 1st
case: corpus ulnae
Genitive (i.e. possession, like in English “of” phrases) / 2nd
case: fractura corporis ulnae
Accusative (after certain prepositions) / 4th
case: status post operationem
Ablative (after certain prepositions) / 6th
case: fractura sine dislocatione
* 3rd
and 5th
case are not used in medical terminology; therefore, they are omitted from the list
4) declension: a group of nouns declined in the same way (i.e. taking the same set of case endings)
Autumn Term 2019/2020 Handout 1
DECLENSION SYSTEM
GENITIVE STEM
= a part of the word to which we attach individual case endings, hence of supreme importance for
declining Latin words (it may differ significantly from the Nominative form); it is derived from
the full Genitive form by removing the genitive case ending:
vena, ae, f. > full Genitive venae > remove case ending -ae > stem: vennervus,
i, m. > full Genitive nervi > remove case ending -i > stem: nervcorpus,
oris, n. > full Genitive corporis > remove case ending -is > stem: corporFor
instance, if we want to say “veins”, “nerves”, or “bodies” in plural, we attach a case ending
(based on the declension table) to the Genitive stem of the word (not to the Nominative form).
> vena in Plural: venae, not venae
> nervus in Plural: nervi, not nervusi
> corpus in Plural: corpora, not corpusa
>>>For the pronunciation rules, see the .ppt in study materials (week 1)<<<
PREPARATION FOR THE NEXT CLASS
With the help of the declension table decide on the declension of the given nouns, and write
down their full Genitive forms and genitive stems.
DECLENSION 1 2 3 4 5
GENITIVE
ENDING
-ae (-es) -i -is -us -ei
GENDER
exceptions
F.
m.
M., N.
f.
M., F., N. M., N.
f.
F.
m.
EXAMPLE coxa, ae, f.
chole, es, f.
diabetes, ae, m.
humerus, i, m.
cancer, i, m.
diameter, tri, f.
cranium, ii, n.
coccyx, gis, f.
dens, dentis, m.
femur, oris, n.
pelvis, is, f.
arcus, us, m.
manus,us, f.
genu, us, n.
facies, ei, f.
Autumn Term 2019/2020 Handout 1
dictionary entry declension full genitive stem
corpus, oris, n
caput, itis, n
os, ossis, n
collum, i, n
cervix, icis, f
abdomen, inis, n
vena, ae, f
humerus, i, m
femur, oris, n
facies, ei, f
arcus, us, m
manus, us, f
pes, dis, m
genu, us, n
pectus, oris, n
capilli, orum, m
os, oris, n
antebrachium, ii, n
coxa, ae, f
dens, ntis, m
sternum, i, n
thorax, acis, m
costa, ae, f
cranium, ii, n
coccyx, gis, f
radius, ii, m
pelvis, is, f
vertebra, ae, f
nasus, i, m
oculus, i, m
cutis, is, f
clavicula, ae, f