Анатомия внутренних органов для «чайников»

Last week, I took you on a whirlwind tour through the digestive tract. Today, we’ll continue our виртуальное вскрытие (“virtual dissection”) of the human body. Actually, almost everything one can say about our own internal anatomy is also true of other млекопитающие (“mammals”), and much of it applies to позвоночные животные (“vertebrate animals”) in general. (Of course, there are significant exceptions — e.g., fish have жабры, “gills,” instead of лёгкие, “lungs.”)

Before we peel back the кожа (“skin”) to look at lungs and whatnot, let’s go down to a much smaller масштаб (“scale of size”). And by the way, mouse-hovering over yellow-highlighted words will give you a pop-up with optional (but maybe useful) info about the term’s etymology, or alternative meanings, etc.

The basic единица (“unit”) of multicellular organisms such as ourselves is the клетка (“cell”).

Hundreds or thousands of клетки may be arranged into a long волокно (“fiber”), and multiple волокна are further organized into ткани (“tissues”). Finally, one or more types of tissue may constitute an орган (take a guess!).

We could also discuss structures at the sub-cellular level — for example, the клеточное ядро (“cell nucleus”) — and continue all the way down to a molecular масштаб. But that gets numbingly technical, and frankly it’s less interesting from a language perspective because much of the vocabulary is of modern Greco-Latin origin.

So let’s focus on the major organs. And since my previous post ended in the lower regions of the туловище (“torso”), while we’re down here we might as well consider those internal structures that are significantly different in males and females — namely, the…

Органы размножения, или половые органы
(“Organs of reproduction, or sexual organs”)

As we all know, sexual reproduction involves the union of a яйцо (“egg; ovum”) and a сперматазоид (“sperm cell”) — a process known as оплодотворение (“impregnation; insemination”). In females, the ova are produced in each яичник (“ovary”), while a male’s sperm cells are formed in each яичко (“testicle”). Speaking of which, allow me to offer a…

Anyway, the сперматазоиды get mixed with fluids from various glands to make сперма (“semen”), which exits by way of the член (“penis”) and — sometimes! — makes its way into a влагалище (“vagina”). As fate dictates, the sperm cells may encounter an ovum coming down one of the фаллопиевы трубы (“Fallopian tubes”). The fertilized egg implants itself in the wall of the матка (“uterus; womb”), and thus begins the long process of беременность (“pregnancy”), as the single cell gradually develops into a зародыш (“embryo; fetus”).

With that mammal-centric but thoroughly цензурный (i.e., “G-rated; safe for all audiences”) lesson in Sex-Ed out of the way, let’s move on to…

Кости и мышцы
(“Bones and muscles”)

For the most part, individual кости (“bones”) in the скелет (“skeleton”) take their names from the body parts in which they’re located. The “thighbone” or “femur,” for instance, is the бедренная кость, using the adjectival form of бедро (“thigh”).

However, a few bones have their own special names. The word for “rib” is particularly easy for English speakers because it’s almost a sound-alike: ребро (pl. рёбра).

And on a pirate flag, you’ll find not only скрещённые кости (“crossed bones”) but above them a череп (“skull”) with two gaping глазницы (“eye sockets”) — and depending on the flag’s design, Mr. Skull may or may not be in possession of a челюсть (“lower jaw; jawbone”).

Going downward from the skull, an individual “vertebra” is a позвонок — while позвоночник refers collectively to the entire “backbone” or “spine”. (But remember that спина means the whole back, not just the spine!) On the upper back, to either side of the позвоночник, you’ll find a лопатка (“shoulder-blade”). And at the bottom of the spine is the таз (“pelvic girdle; hipbones”).

Whatever names they go by, when two or more bones meet they form a сустав (“joint”), which may be padded with rubbery хрящ (“cartilage”) — the stuff that also makes up the entire скелет of хрящевые рыбы (“cartilaginous fishes”), such as the акула (“shark”). And сухожилия (“tendons”) связывают кости с мышцами (“connect bones to muscles”).

Speaking of muscles, you’ll notice that мышца (“muscle”) looks a lot like мышь (“mouse”). That’s not a coincidence — in both English and Russian, muscles got their name from Latin musculus, “little mouse.” In fact, the Latin word entered Russian twice; it was Slavicized as the noun мышца and its adjectival form мышечный (“relating to muscle tissue”), and then borrowed again as мускулистый (“built like Schwarzenegger”) and also мускульный (a synonym for мышечный).

Coming in the final part of our Russian anatomy lesson: Circulation and nerves!