Medical Terminology Simplified

Glossary of English-to-Spanish Translations • APPENDIX G 625

Letter Spanish Pronunciation Sounds Like

qu* kas in kite

r trilled r

rr* strongly trilled r

v vas in void

z sas in sun

*Note: quand rrare not consonants but, rather, sounds. As such, they are not part of the Spanish alphabet. We include them here

purely as an aid in pronunciation for non–Spanish-speaking health-care providers.

EMPHASIS IN SPANISH

In the tables that follow, capitalization is used to indicate primary emphasis of Spanish words. The capital letters in

the Spanish pronunciation column indicate that emphasis is placed on the capitalized syllable. You will note that

some Spanish terms, such as perspiraciónand úlcera, have a diacritical mark above a vowel. This mark indicates emphasis

that falls on a syllable other than the one predicted by the rules of Spanish pronunciation.

Although there are some exceptions to these rules, the suggested guidelines here will help you learn Spanish terms

and pronunciations of selected key terms in each chapter. Start by reviewing English and Spanish terms, and then

practice Spanish pronunciations by applying the English system of phonetics.

ADJECTIVE ENDINGS

Many Spanish adjectives change the last letter of the word to denote the gender of the noun being modified. If the

noun is feminine, the letter will be a;for a masculine noun, the letter used is o.For example, the adjective lenta(slow)

modifies a feminine noun. The same adjective when modifying a masculine noun ends with the letter o,so it would be

lento.To change the gender of an adjective to correspond with the noun it modifies, change the ending vowel. For

example, if the noun is masculine, change the ending vowel to o.The table below clearly identifies Spanish adjectives

that should receive a specific gender.

ENGLISH-TO-SPANISH TRANSLATIONS

The following selected terms are used in the medical environment to denote anatomical structures and their

functions; signs, symptoms, and diseases; and other related terms.

English Spanish Spanish Pronunciation

abdomen abdomen ab-DOH-men

adrenal gland glándula adrenal GLAN-doo-lah ah-dreh-NAHL

adrenaline adrenalina ah-dreh-nah-LEE-nah

allergy alergia ah-LEHR-hee-ah

alveolus alvéolo ahl-VEH-oh-loh

aneurysm aneurisma a-neh-oo-REES-mah

ankle tobillo toh-BEE-yoh

antacid antiácido ahn-tee-AH-see-doh

appendix apéndice ah-PEHN-dee-seh

appetite apetito ah-peh-TEE-toh

arm brazo BRAH-soh

Continued

3971_App G_624-632 13/02/14 11:27 AM Page 625