CASES OF SYNONYMY AND ANTONYMY IN THE LATIN MEDICAL TERMINOLOGICAL SYSTEM

Abstract

One of the most significant traits of terminology is its consistency. Each term may be perceived as an entity with bilateral nature: 1. A unity of meaning and form; 2. An entity from the natural language subject to the same phenomena and processes, which are valid for all language units. Synonymy and antonymy result from the ambiguous relation between the form and meaning of the term; unfortunately, they cannot be avoided – even in specialized terminological systems. Since scientific terminology is intended for specific purposes, it is based on the convention regarding the structuring and usage of linguistic forms and their meanings more than any other lexical subsystem. The research object of the present text is the cases of synonymy and antonymy found in the Latin medical terminology as well as the reasons for their appearance. Such lexical relations are observed between lexemes, between a lexeme and a phraseological unit, and between phraseological units.The examples provided are called absolute antonyms and absolute synonyms (or lexical doublets) and they can be part only of the specialized terminological system. Those relations between terms may cause a problem in communication because they obstruct the possibility of a specific and identical nomination in the field of science. On the other hand, they facilitate the appearance of new different variants, and these different forms may also express different opinions about the same phenomenon.