მეტაფორიზაცია და მეტაფორული სამედიცინო ტერმინები

ანოტაცია

The sphere of medical terminology is one of the most unified in comparison with other scientific spheres. It is quite rare to find examples reflecting the semantic and nomination peculiarities of a particular language in medical terminology. Terms in this branch of science are of international origin and enter the vocabulary of different languages via their semantically equivalent translation.

Metonymy and metaphorization play a significant role in the nomination of medical terminology as one of the means for its enrichment. Structural diversity is not evidenced in such terms: one-word, simple-stem terms are rare. For example, in anatomy, the atlas is the most superior (first) cervical vertebra of the spine; it is named after Atlas in Greek mythology because it supports the globe of the head which is the skull. As another example, the middle ear contains three tiny bones known as the ossicles: malleus, incus and stapes. These ossicles were given the abovementioned Latin names for their distinctive shapes; they are also referred to in English as the hammer which is ჩაქუჩი [chaquchi] in Georgian, anvil (გრდემლი [grdemli], and stirrup (უზანგი [uzangi]).

There are terms derived by means of suffixes or suffixoids: gargoylism – Hurler’s syndrome, Hunter syndrome; Don Juanism – Don Juan syndrome; Narcissism – Narcissistic personality disorder; Pygmalionism. The terms containing two or more words are more frequent, e.g. Stendal syndrome (Stendhal's syndrome) or Florence syndrome; Dorian Gray syndrome; “Sleeping Beauty” syndrome – Kleine-Levin Syndrome.

Metonymy and metaphorization of the medical terms is a unified phenomenon and nomination is secondary. The starting point for the transferred interpretation is the physical resemblance between the familiar word naming an already existing object and the corresponding organ or its part (according to its form, size, or color). Another way is to link physiological or pathological conditions, behaviors, or symptoms of disease with another object’s or person’s appearance, physical condition, or behavior. Naming the conditions of a behavioral disturbance, psychical disorder, pathological demonstration of emotions and feelings, and other similar conditions after the names of characters from novels or other literary works or from the lives of historical personages is the result of thorough scientific observation.

Metaphorical medical terms can be divided into two large groups:

I. non-living things and II. living things.

The subgroups of the first group are: 1. geographic names, 2. everyday items, and 3. terms related to the external world. The terms of the second group are related to: 1. birds, animals, and their behavior, 2. human professions and activities, 3. historical and famous persons, and 4. characters from mythology, the Bible, fairy tales, and literary characters.

As time passes and the metaphor of the medical terms weakens, these terms become more like monosemantic notions. As for the principles of their nomination and the mechanisms of their metaphoric connotations, these relate to the sphere of research of the history of terms.