Review article

The use of abbreviations in the language of medicine

Anamarija Gjuran-Coha ; Medicinski fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Brigita Bosnar-Valković ; Fakultet za hotelski i turistički menadžment Sveučilišta u Rijeci, Rijeka, Hrvatska

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the use of abbreviations in the language of medicine. In general, the tendency to use abbreviations is not only evident in everyday communication, but it is widespread in languages for special purposes. The reasons for their popularity vary, but linguistic economy is usually considered to be the main reason for the pervasive use of abbreviations. However, their use in Croatian medical terminology leads to several problems, such as the determination of gender (which is usually not determined according to grammatical rules — e.g., the feminine form rekombinantna DNK instead of the masculine rekombinantni DNK ’recombinant DNA’), abbreviations with multiple meanings, and pleonastic constructions, such as OGTT test instead of OGT test ’OGTT’.

Keywords

language of medicine; abbreviations; language economy

Hrčak ID:

33790

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/33790

Publication date:

11.3.2009.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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