# otolaryngologist / ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor



## elroy

In your language or a language you know, do you have a way to say “otolaryngologist” by referring to the parts of the body they treat and if so, what order are the body parts listed in?  English, Arabic, and German use three different orders!

English: ear, nose and throat doctor
Arabic: طبيب أنف وأذن وحنجرة [nose ear throat]
German: Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Arzt [throat nose ear]

I wonder how many of the six orders are used.  I’ll keep a tally in this post.

ENT: English, Hungarian, Greek, Welsh, Swedish, Finnish, Turkish, Mandarin
ETN: Russian
NET: Arabic, Hebrew
NTE: Dutch 
TEN:
TNE: German
N/A: Italian, French, Catalan, Spanish


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## AndrasBP

The Hungarian order is the same as in English:

*fül-orr-gége* (ear-nose-larynx)


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## Awwal12

In Russian it's rather complex. The full official name is оториноларинголог (otorinolaringólog), though, much like in English, the "-r(h)ino-" part is usually skipped. So it's basically "ear, nose and throat" (from Greek).

However, the usual abbreviation in Russian is ЛОР (LOR), which indicates an entirely different order ("throat, ear and nose").

And to the top of it, the (seemingly dated) colloquial Russian name is ухогорлонос (ukhogorlonós), which is, quite literally, "ear-throat-nose".


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## alfaalfa

Ciao,
in Italian:
_ORL: OtoRinoLaringoiatra_ (ENT) often shorten to _otorino._


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## elroy

Awwal12 said:


> the (seemingly dated) colloquial Russian name is ухогорлонос (ukhogorlonós), which is, quite literally, "ear-throat-nose".


I think this is what I'm interested in, because it uses the actual Russian words for the body parts, right?


Awwal12 said:


> the usual abbreviation in Russian is ЛОР (LOR), which indicates an entirely different order ("throat, ear and nose").


This is unexpected.  I wouldn't have expected a borrowing language to tamper with the Greek word order, especially not when you use the original word order for the full name. 


alfaalfa said:


> _ORL: OtoRinoLaringoiatra_ (ENT) often shorten to _otorino._


So Italian doesn't have a version that uses "orecchio naso gola" in some order?


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## apmoy70

In Greek it's *«ωτορινολαρυγγολόγος»* [o̞to̞ɾino̞laɾiŋɡo̞ˈlo̞ɣo̞s̠] (masc. and fem.) --> _ear-nose-throat-specialist_. The name is a modern Katharevousa construction from 1890's, calqued for the Fr. _otorhinolaryngologiste_.
The Greek Katharevousa name *«ὠτοῤῥινολαρυγγολόγος»* is a compound: Classical oblique *«ὠτο-» ōtŏ-* as member is compounds < Classical 3rd declension neut. noun *«οὖς, ὠτός»** oûs* (nom. sinɡ.), *ōtós* (ɡen. sinɡ.) --> _ear_ + oblique *«ῥινο-» rʰīnŏ-* as member in compounds < Classical 3rd declension fem. noun *«ῥίς, ῥῑνός»** rʰī́s* (nom. sinɡ.), *rʰīnós* (ɡen. sinɡ.) --> _nose_ + oblique *«λαρυγγο-» lărŭnɡŏ-* as member in compounds < Classical 3rd declension masc. noun *«λάρυγξ, λάρυγγος»** lắrŭnks* (nom. sinɡ.), *lắrŭnɡŏs* (ɡen. sinɡ.) --> _throat, larynx_ + Classical deverbative masc. noun *«λόγος» lóɡŏs*, _o-ɡrade_ of v. *«λέγω» léɡō*. The "slangy" name is *«ωριλάς»* [o̞ɾiˈlas̠] (masc. and fem.).

Note that in Standard Modern Greek these nouns (with the exception of _larynx_) are considered archaic and obsolete:
-Ear is *«αφτί»* [aˈfti] (neut.) < Late Byzantine neuter noun *«ἀφτί(ο)ν» aphtí(o)n* (idem), the result of crasis of the neuter definite article with the noun: *«τὰ ὠτία» tà ōtía* (neut. nom. pl.) --> _the ears_ > **«ταοὐτία» taoutía* (idem) > **«τἀφτία» taphtía* and with reanalysis, the sinɡular *«τ' ἀφτί(ο)ν» t'* (=apocope of the neuter definitive article in the nominative before a vowel) *aphtí(o)n*.
-Nose is *«μύτη»* [ˈmi.ti] (fem.); it gradually replaced the difficult Classical name for it, «ῥίς» rʰī́s (fem. 3rd declension nom. sinɡ.), «ῥῑνός» rʰīnós (ɡen. sinɡ.). It derives from the Classical 3rd declension fem. noun *«μύτ(τ)ις» mút(t)ĭs* (nom. sinɡ.), *«μύτιδος» mútĭdŏs* (ɡen. sinɡ.) --> _snout_, possibly related to the 3rd declension noun *«μύσταξ» mústăks* (masc. nom. sinɡ.), *«μύστακος» mústăkŏs* (ɡen. sinɡ.) --> _upper lip, moustache_. Of unknown etymology.
-Larynx is *«λάρυγγας»* [ˈlaɾiŋɡas̠] (masc.); in MoGr the nouns belonging in the ancient 3rd declension with complex stems and difficult declension have been simplified by taking the ancient accusative, as modern nominative.

[Apologies for my late editing, I corrected some mistakes]


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## alfaalfa

elroy said:


> So Italian doesn't have a version that uses "orrecchio naso galo" in some order?


No, it hasn't. In this case we don't use the words "_orecchie, naso o gola_". If I have some illness, I need the _otorino _takes care of me.


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## Awwal12

elroy said:


> I think this is what I'm interested in, because it uses the actual Russian words for the body parts, right?


It does, but again, it's colloquial and seems largely dated. Search engines provide incomparable amounts of results for "лор" and "ухогорлонос" (even though "лор" can be also a slang term for "lore" in fictional settings).


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## elroy

Awwal12 said:


> it's colloquial and seems largely dated.


That's okay.  I'm not necessarily interested in what's most commonly used and in what register(s).  I'm just interested in knowing what order the body parts are listed in if there's a version that uses them.


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## Welsh_Sion

Boring, Cymraeg/Welsh: *Clust, Trwyn a Gwddf *(Order as in English).

But the individual words are interesting. 

*Clust* (n.m.) - is a shibboleth word. The vowel is short, high and frontal in the South of Wales. It's long, high and more centralised in the North.

*Trwyn *(n.m.) - just the normal word for 'nose'. But if someone (usually a female) is a bit of a snob, she's 'a bit of an old nose'. ('*hen drwyn*').

*Gwddf *(n.m.) - is usually pronounced by us Northerners as 'GOOdhoo' although standard is 'GOOdhv'.


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## AutumnOwl

Swedish: 
Öron, näsa, hals (ears, nose, throat)

Finnish: 
Korva, nenä, kurkku (ear, nose, throat)


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## DearPrudence

alfaalfa said:


> in Italian:
> _ORL: OtoRinoLaringoiatra_ (ENT) often shorten to _otorino._


Exactly the same in French:
_ORL_ : _oto-rhino-laryngologiste_, often shortened to _oto-rhino_ (or _ORL_).


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## Şafak

In Turkish: Kulak burun boğaz (uzmanı) => ear-nose-throat.


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## DearPrudence

Then, I'm thinking; the words are Greek in French, but the order is ENT as well.


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## Şafak

DearPrudence said:


> Exactly the same in French:
> _ORL_ : _oto-rhino-laryngologiste_, often shortened to _oto-rhino_ (or _ORL_).


ORL is also used in Spanish.


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## Penyafort

Same in Catalan as for the other Romance sisters: *l'otorrinolaringòleg* (male),* l'otorrinolaringòloga* (female), colloquially shortened to *l'otorrí* / *l'otorrina*.


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## elroy

As a side note, I've only ever heard the full name used in Palestinian Arabic, which is eight syllables long: /anfuʔuzonuħunʒara/ (that's just the ENT part; it's doesn't include "doctor" or "clinic" or whatever).  There is no short form that I know of.


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## elroy

DearPrudence said:


> the words are Greek in French, but the order is ENT as well.


I suspect that most languages use ENT precisely because that's the Greek order.  So far, in the tally in the first post, we have seven languages with ENT and only one language for each of three other word orders.

I wonder why it is that some languages have departed from the Greek word order (and I wonder if there's any logic to the latter).


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## amikama

Hebrew:
*אף-אוזן-גרון*, abbreviated אא"ג (NET)


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## elroy

amikama said:


> *אף-אוזן-גרון*, abbreviated אא"ג


So Arabic and Hebrew use the same word order!  Interesting!

Another interesting thing is that Palestinian Arabic uses the MSA words with the pronunciation adjusted, as opposed to the Palestinian Arabic words, which are different.  For "nose" and "ear," the MSA words happen to be cognates of the Hebrew words.

Palestinian Arabic:
nose: منخار/خشوم /munxa:r/ or /xʃu:m/
ear: دان /da:n/
throat: حلق/زور /ħalʔ/ or /zo:r/

MSA:
nose: أنف /anf/
ear: أذن /ʔuðn/ (PA /ʔuzon/)
throat: حنجرة /ħunʒara/


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## Circunflejo

DearPrudence said:


> Exactly the same in French:
> _ORL_ : _oto-rhino-laryngologiste_, often shortened to _oto-rhino_ (or _ORL_).


Exactly the same in Spanish: otorrinolaringólogo, often shortened to otorrino.


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## Yendred

Circunflejo said:


> Exactly the same in Spanish: otorrinolaringólogo, often shortened to otorrino.


Do you know why there is a "rr", since it's not present in the Greek stems? Maybe to mark a stop between _oto _and _rino_?

EDIT: More probably the equivalent of the French and English "_rh_" which come from the old aspiration of the "r" in _rino _when it evolved from Greek ῥινός in Celtic languages.


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## Dymn

Morphemes rarely start with /ɾ/, so double _r_ must be used to mark it's pronounced /r/. For example _Bielorrusia, contrarreloj._


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## Yendred

Very interesting @Dymn thank you!


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## raamez

In Syria it is also ear nose throat ENT.
 The doctor is called for short طبيب أذنية


elroy said:


> I suspect that most languages use ENT precisely because that's the Greek order.  So far, in the tally in the first post, we have seven languages with ENT and only one language for each of three other word orders.
> 
> I wonder why it is that some languages have departed from the Greek word order (and I wonder if there's any logic to the latter).


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## elroy

raamez said:


> In Syria it is also ear nose throat ENT.


So is it أذن وأنف وحنجرة?


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## raamez

elroy said:


> So is it أذن وأنف وحنجرة?


Usually yes but it is not rigidly fixed. I can imagine some people use also أنف أذن instead. But as I said the doctor is called دكتور أذنية


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## Kaoss

Circunflejo said:


> Exactly the same in Spanish: otorrinolaringólogo, often shortened to otorrino.


Which sometimes becomes "Doctor Rino". Doctor's joke: Rino is must be a very common surname, there is a doctor Rino on every hospital).


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## Welsh_Sion

Kaoss said:


> Which sometimes becomes "Doctor Rino". Doctor's joke: Rino is must be a very common surname, there is a doctor Rino on every hospital).



He must be a German, too. 

Dr. Otto Rino.


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## ThomasK

Dutch: NKO, neus, keel, oor...


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## ioanell

Yendred said:


> Do you know why there is a "rr", since it's not present in the Greek stems? Maybe to mark a stop between _oto _and _rino_?
> 
> EDIT: More probably the equivalent of the French and English "_rh_" which come from the old aspiration of the "r" in _rino _when it evolved from Greek ῥινός in Celtic languages.





Dymn said:


> Morphemes rarely start with /ɾ/, so double _r_ must be used to mark it's pronounced /r/. For example _Bielorrusia, contrarreloj._


As the words and their order for this medical speciality are Greek (as excellently analyzed by apmoy70 in #6 above) in most European languages, the story with the double -_rrh- _goes as follows: Apart from some simple words which in Classical Greek contained a double -ρρ-, e.g. θάρρος (courage), a lot of words which started with a *ῥ*- (rh-, _the _*ῥ*_ at the beginning of a word being always aspirated_), as second members of compounds with other words, doubled this *ῥ*-, if the first member ended in a short vowel, that is ε, ο, ᾰ, ῐ, ῠ or in the consonant -ν (n), e.g. the prepositions _ἐν_ and _σὺν_ or the time/place adverd _πάλιν_. This doubling had a phonological value as it resulted in the double pronunciation of the phoneme –ῥ. Some of these compound words, such as _aporrhoea, catarrh(oe), diarrhoea, h(a)emorrhage, platyrrhine, psychorrhagy, pyorrh(o)ea_ (to mention just some in English rendition) either adopted directly from Greek or through Late Latin passed into most of the European languages from the 9th c. on. These borrowings had to do only with the real Ancient Greek words. In newer times, from the 17th-18th centuries, when science in general and, especially, the medical science began to develop, and up to now, a lot of new words-medical terms have been coined with the help of AG materials observing at the same time the AG rules for synthesis and the double -rrh-, although there wasn’t and there isn't any phonological value for this double -rrh- anymore, terms like _parrhesia (not medical), dysmenorrhoea, errhine, galactorrhoea, gastrorrhagia, leucorrhoea, lymphorrhage, metrorrhagia, otorrhoea, sialorrhoea_. That’s the reason for the existence of the double -rrh- in many newer words, even hybrid compounds like _seborrhoea _(<Lat. _sebum _+ Gr. -_rhoea _[<rhoia/rhoe ‘flow, flux’]). One of the created terms that did not follow the “general rule” and did not adopt the double -rrh- is *otorhinolaryngology *(< Fr. otorhinolaryngologie). Spanish and Catalan are among the European languages which retain the double -rr- (without the -h) in this word, along with MoGr, which has both forms, ωτο*ρρ*ινολαρυγγολογία (rather obsolete now) and ωτο*ρ*ινολαρυγγολογία, shortened to Ω.Ρ.Λ. Note 1: Another Ancient and Modern Greek word with double -ρρ-, καταρράκτης (waterfall) → cataract, passed through variants of Late Latin into most of the European languages with just one -r-, meaning both “a large waterfall” and “a medical condition of the eye etc…”. Note 2: All the abovementioned terms keep in MoGr the historical orthography with double -ρρ-.


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## hx1997

Mandarin uses the same order as English does: 耳鼻喉科医生 (literally "ear nose throat department doctor"), but I suspect the word came directly or indirectly (via Japanese, for example) from some Western language that uses the ENT order (in TCM there wasn't this thing called "otolaryngology", after all!).


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