Abstract:

In this study, linguistic examination of some medicinal plants used in neurological therapies is discussed. Phytomins are handled both semantically and etymologically.  Besides, examples for the use of these words in the old texts about medicine are presented. Historical comparative research is used as methodology. It is important to investigate the etymology of the medicinal herbs used in health for two reasons. First, there is a direct interest between these words and healthcare organizations. Second, the words related with health constitute the oldest vocabulary of the languages. These words give comprehensive information about the journey of a language over time. Thanks to the common cultural heritage of the Ancient Greek and Latin languages the Latin names of diseases and medicinal plants are acknowledged internationally. However, plants in each language have their own special names and synonyms. In Turkish medicine and pharmacology terminology, a large group of terms form the names of diseases, plants and medicines. Most of the phytomins handled in the study, have Greek-Latin origins and international uses. They consist of the words which have brought in our language as a result of the relationship between the Turkish and the different languages like English, French, Arabic, Greek, Latin and Persian. Some of the medicinal herbs in the study, which are used for neurological treatments, presented with the technical terms in Latin, Turkish languages and as used by the public. Since the terminology related to the field is mostly produced in English, the English equivalents of the terms are given in parentheses. The other languages are also used.  The technıcal terms of the phytomins have been identified by taking account the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants (Melbourne Code). Investigating the roots and structure of the medicinal herbs or their connections with the several concepts of the authenticity around is a linguistic material. Accordingly, this study is an example for the future studies about the terminology and recipes of medicinal herbs and it also contains a useful bibliography for the linguists, lexicologists, sociologists, doctors and medicine students.

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