1–28 Underline the word root in the following combining forms:
therm/o
abdomin/o
nephr/o
1–29 Use the combining vowel oto change the following roots to combining
forms, and separate the elements with a slash.
Root Combining Form (Root + Vowel)
cyst ____________________
arthr ____________________
leuk ____________________
gastr ____________________
1–30 Usually, the combining vowel is an o, although other vowels may be encoun-
tered occasionally.
The combining vowel is usually an _____.
1–31 Instead of joining the two elements chemand -therapydirectly, the combin-
ing vowel ois attached to the root to form the word chem/o/therapy. The vowel has
no meaning of its own, but enables two elements to be connected to each other.
Use the combining vowel to build medical terms below. Chem/o/therapy is given as
an example.
Word Root Suffix Medical Term
chem therapy becomes chem/o/therapy
dermat -logy becomes __________ / _____ / __________
encephal -graphy becomes __________ / _____ / __________
neur -logy becomes __________ / _____ / __________
therm -meter becomes __________ / _____ / __________
1–32 The words in Frame 1–31 are easier to pronounce because the word roots
are linked with the combining vowel o.
To make a word easier to pronounce, attach a combining __________ to the
word root.
1–33 Although you may not know the meaning of all the words in this unit, you
have already started to learn the word-building system by identifying the basic
____________________ of a medical word.
6 CHAPTER 1• Introduction to Programmed Learning and Medical Word Building
therm/o
abdomin/o
nephr/o
cyst/o
arthr/o
leuk/o
gastr/o
o
vowel
elements, or parts
chem/o/therapy
kē-mō-THĔR-ă-pē
dermat/o/logy
dĕr-mă-TŎL-ō-jē
encephal/o/graphy
ĕn-sĕf-ă-LŎG-ră-fē
neur/o/logy
nū-RŎL-ō-jē
therm/o/meter
thĕr-MŎM-ĕ-tĕr