Classical Compound
Classical compounds (also known as neoclassical compounds, and combining forms) are compound words composed from Latin or Ancient Greek root words. A large portion of the technical and scientific lexicon of English and other Western European languages, such as international scientific vocabulary, consists of classical compounds. For example, bio- combines with -graphy to form biography. A vowel usually facilitates the combination: in biography, the Greek thematic vowel -o-, in miniskirt, the Latin thematic -i-. This vowel is usually regarded as attached to the initial base (bio-, mini-) rather than the final base (-graphy, -skirt), but in Greek-derived forms it is sometimes shown as attached to the final base (-ography, -ology). If, however, the final base begins with a vowel (for example, -archy as in monarchy), the mediating vowel has traditionally been avoided (no *monoarchy), but in recent coinages it is often kept and generally accompanied by a hyphen (auto-analysis, bio-energy, hydro-electricity, not *autanalysis, *bienergy, *hydrelectricity).
Read more about Classical Compound: Source of International Technical Vocabulary, Formation, Spelling, and Pronunciation, History and Reception, More Recent Developments, Translation, The Conservative Tradition, Similar Systems
Famous quotes containing the words classical and/or compound:
“Et in Arcadia ego.
[I too am in Arcadia.]”
—Anonymous, Anonymous.
Tomb inscription, appearing in classical paintings by Guercino and Poussin, among others. The words probably mean that even the most ideal earthly lives are mortal. Arcadia, a mountainous region in the central Peloponnese, Greece, was the rustic abode of Pan, depicted in literature and art as a land of innocence and ease, and was the title of Sir Philip Sidney’s pastoral romance (1590)
“Give a scientist a problem and he will probably provide a solution; historians and sociologists, by contrast, can offer only opinions. Ask a dozen chemists the composition of an organic compound such as methane, and within a short time all twelve will have come up with the same solution of CH4. Ask, however, a dozen economists or sociologists to provide policies to reduce unemployment or the level of crime and twelve widely differing opinions are likely to be offered.”
—Derek Gjertsen, British scientist, author. Science and Philosophy: Past and Present, ch. 3, Penguin (1989)