Morphology of the English veterinary term

Abstract

Veterinary terminology is an essential component of the professional activity of a veterinarian. A great deal of attention should be paid to the study of veterinary terminology, as it facilitates the establishment of communication and exchange of information between veterinary medicine specialists worldwide. Thus, the article aims to investigate the morphology of the veterinary term in the English language with the possibility of further improving the methodology of their teaching in higher education institutions. The article defines the etymology of English veterinary terms. In particular, it is demonstrated that most of such terms come from Greek and Latin; terms derived from Arabic, French, German, African languages, etc., are also demonstrated. It was determined that veterinary terminology in the English language could be formed with the help of suffixes, prefixes, and endings not of Latin or Greek origin. Mostly, this will happen when terms are transferred from one part of the language to another. Due to conversion, the term acquires a new meaning, and changes in grammatical categories occur. In English veterinary terminology, some terms have the exact spelling but belong to different parts of speech. The foreign origin of these terms causes such transformations. The article examines paradigmatic relationships of veterinary terms in the English language – the relationship between words based on the commonality or oppositeness of their meanings. Among such relationships are synonymy, antonymy, hyper-hyponymy, and eponymous terms. Veterinary homonyms in English were studied; these terms sound and are spelled the same but have different meanings. The meaning of such terms will depend on the context in which they are used. It was determined that in the semantic field of English veterinary terminology, the archseme or common, generalized meaning is “animal”. All other terms of veterinary medicine will directly or indirectly relate to animals, and their meaning will be either closer to the core of the semantic field (seme animal) or further away.