'HEMICAL TERMS in the CHINESE LANGUAGE L/
MA LING-YUN
AND
HANOR A. WEBB
George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee
The cumbersome terminology developed i n f m l l y by h i c a l teachers and workers in China has been replaced y a systematic nomenclature, for the most part ofi&lly dopted by the Ministry of Education. The Chinese charcters now used for chemical ttrms are a minimum numer for each, are descriptive m.th few exceptions, and are +a1 in the naming of related substames. The former tethod of imitation of sounds f r m other languages i s bandoned mcept for rare objects and the proper names of :ientists.
++++++ LTHOUGH modern chemistry has been studied and practiced in China for more than half a century, a sound, stable, and e5cient Chinese hemical nomenclature has hardly yet been established. for many years Chiiese chemical terms were all obained through imitation of the sounds of English m s . This system not only required too many !hinese characters, but produced imitated syllables rhich did not indicate to the Chinese mind any properies of the substances they represented. The inconveniences and disadvantages of this type f nomenclature were seen by the early teachers and ~ioneerworkers in chemistry in China; hence a new ystem was gradually developed. In the year 1915 the Xinistry df Education appointed a Committee of levision, and some years later their recommendations oncerning a comprehensive list of terms were officially dopted. New needs for terminology constantly arise, however, and new texts and published works add to the hemical nomenclature. Although a few pamphlets and bulletins on Chinese hemical terms have been published in China, to the Vestern world the Chinese system is practically un=own. Prof. Adolph's brief account1 of the diiculies of a foreign teacher of chemistry in a Chinese uniwsity is the most recent discussion of the problem in he English language. The main object of this paper E to explain to English-speaking people some represenative principles underlying Chinese chemical terms ccording to the usage in approximately thirty Chiiese extbooks, a few dictionaries, and numerous catalogs md price lists of chemical apparatus and supplies. -..
1. All chemical terms shall be represented by as few Chinese characters as possible. 2. The Chinese terms shall indicate something about the classification, properties, or usage of the objects they represent. 3. The method of imitation of sounds from other languages shall be abandoned, except for rare objects and the proper names of foreign scientists. 4. There shall be a logical, systematic, organized plan for the naming of related substances (such as homologous series). Whatever p r o p s has been made in the development of chemical science in China during recent years is due to the wide acceptance of these principles by chemical teachers and workers. NAMES OP THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
I t is natural that the names of certain elements known from ancient times should be retained as common names. A few of these are shown in Table 1, Section A. In the modem simplified nomenclature one Chiiese character is assigned to each element; this is a compound character in two parts: (1) a symbol, one of four, classifying the element as of the "metal," "gas," TABLE 1 TABNALIBS OF CBBUICAL ELBMBNTS
A. Lom-known Elements
2%
carbon
-B.
Metsl ( Gas (
5
,=
) group:
Water (
5
pls:
fu
; hydmaan
3
) group: brodne
7
C
a
@s:li@t
z*
stone: " d i d
.
rater:stweh'
-Elements as hymen ~ e a dThen
The fundamentals of the new Chinese chemical ~omenclaturemav be summarized as follows:
anti-
$I,&
~ O L P H WILL& .
radon
a chemical ter-
fluorine
) group: carbon stone:charcoal ; iodine
/baA
CHBM.EDUC.,4, 1233-9 (Oct., 1927).
1.EF
&I@ & ) group: antimonymeta1:"ti"- ; bismthmetel: "bi"
Stone (;f;
-C.
%w
kbdern Names of Elements
boron
HENRY."Synthesizing
sulfur zinc
FIRST PRINCIPLES
ninolorr in China," J.
ti
&
gold
mony
"stone o? the friend
; iodine
"metel of the ; caleim y o w e r brother" "@a 0;. the east
; braine
??
&5 .a
iji
'stone of the lam"
"metal O; the begs? "natsr o! stench
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