SEMANTIC ROLE OF LATIN AFFIXES IN ANATOMICAL TERMINOLOGY AND THEIR TRANSLATION CHALLENGES

Abstract:

Latin affixes form the semantic backbone of anatomical terminology, providing a stable and universally comprehensible system for describing structure, orientation, and function within the human body. This study examines the linguistic and conceptual roles of Latin prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms, emphasizing how these affixes shape meaning and sustain terminological precision across medical disciplines. Through etymological and semantic analysis, the research categorizes major affix types and explains their contributions to spatial orientation, morphological specification, functional classification, and descriptive attribution in anatomical nomenclature.The paper also investigates translation challenges that arise when Latin-derived anatomical terms are adapted into modern languages with differing morphological structures. Issues such as polysemy, structural mismatch, and incomplete semantic transfer often complicate accurate translation and may hinder scientific clarity