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Medical Terminology / Unit 1   MedTerm 0005 short lesson, about 20 seconds

The Combining Vowel

Captions available

The idea

A combining vowel is a single letter, almost always o, inserted between word parts to make a term pronounceable.

In practice

Gastroenterology joins the roots gastr and enter with the combining vowel o.

Where people slip

The combining vowel carries no meaning of its own. It is never translated.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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