Medical terminology in modern Serbia - more than one and a half century long journey (1841-1872-2022)

Abstract

Introduction. Linguistic expressions in a certain country, used in new or less developed sciences and professions, are commonly associated with difficulties due to the mother-tongue poverty. This also applies to the medical terminology. In modern Serbia, despite an eight-century-long hospital tradition, an institutional approach to the medical terminology was first established 180 years ago by the Society of Serbian Letters, founded in 1841, lasting until 1885. It was continued 30 years later by the Serbian Medical Society, founded in 1872. Society of Serbian Letters. The work of the Society of Serbian Letters on the Serbian language and terminology was very short, because Vuk Karadzic, among others, pointed out that the Society had to provide accurate and reliable terminology, which was not possible at the time. The work of Dr. Jovan Stejic and his translations of the books Macrobiotics and Anthropology are significant for medical terminology. Serbian Medical Society. Precisely set goals related to medical terminology and the preservation of the Serbian language in medicine were an integral part of the first Constitution of the Serbian Medical Society. However, during the continuous, 150-year-long work of the Society and the beginning of medical terminology standardization, for reasons still not explored, medical terminology has disappeared from its highest legal act, including the current Statute. Conclusion. Not even 180 years since the first short-term and 150 years since the long-term process of institutional approach to medical terminology was enough to develop and standardize medical terminology in modern Serbia. In order not to leave it to the arbitrariness of individuals, medical terminology must be a national strategy, such as, for example, the terminology of 33 professions in the Republic of Croatia called Croatian Professional Nomenclature.