This note examines diglossia affecting clinical communication and research validity in bilingual medical terminology.
Medical terminology in bilingual communities reflects linguistic stratification: one language (often a colonial heritage language or international lingua franca) dominates clinical and research communication while colloquial languages carry lay health concepts. This diglossia creates terminology gaps and translation asymmetries that affect clinical communication, diagnosis, and research validity. This note examines diglossia in medical systems, frameworks for terminology evaluation across languages, and the epidemiologic consequences of inadequate bilingual medical terminology.
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Tarek Ahmed Ibrahim Etman (2026) studied this question.
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