The Pronunciation of Chemical W o r d s A Report of the Nomenclature, Spelling, and Pronunciation Committee of the American Chemical Society 1 MUCHJVAJIIATION exists in t h e pronunciation of chemical words. One chemist, for example, says " à m ' ï d , " "sïk'lîk," and / ' m ô ' l ê - k û l , " and the next o n e is likely to pronounce t7h e same words (amide, cyclic, a n d molecule) as " à m ' ï d " or "a-mid ," "si'klïk" a n d "môl'ê-kul." If a student is listening he m a y not even feel sure that the same subjects are being discussed. * T h e marked variation in chemical pronunciations is a t t r i b utable in p a r t to the influence of languages other t h a n English. Many chemists, and in particular m a n y teachers of chemistry, have studied overseas. Science is international. Furthermore, chemical language is largely a written language, n o t a record of speech sounds. Chemists often become acquainted with chemical words through t h e literature without ever having heard t h e m pronounced. Our names for chemical compounds and our other chemical words are, however, words i n t h e English language a n d accordingly are, within certain limits, subject to t h e speech trends or laws operating t o fix or modify i t s use. An effort t o set u p some authoritative standards, at least for t h e commoner chemical terms, has seemed desirable. Dictionaries differ. T h e y find i t impracticable often fully t c ascertain current cultured a n d technical practice of Americans i n all p a r t s of t h e country so that t h e y are likely t o reflect too m u c h p a s t tradition as interpreted by a small group in one place. Teachers who h a v e occasion to lecture, b o t h to s t u d e n t classes a n d to o t h e r audiences, and chemists who are being called on to broadcast radio talks, are feeling particular need for guidance. I t is recognized t h a t this is not t h e m o s t pressing of our chemical problems, b u t there should be utilitarian a s well as cultural advantages in a nearer approach t o uniformity in chemical pronunciation. It is recognized also t h a t in t h i s m a t t e r of pronunciation absolute standards are well-nigh impossible. Brander M a t t h e w s , who believes t h a t there is a normal pronunciation for words in our language which w e all, more or less, recognize, says in his "Essays on English" (page 210, Scribner's):
On the basis of a careful study of t h e returns t h e following generahzations are offered. T h e y a r e i n t e n d e d not as inviolable rules, b u t rather a s an expression of t r e n d s t o be encouraged. There a r e words which, are exceptions according t o strongly predominant usage. These generalizations, i t will b e noted, refer chiefly to word endings, so significant in chemical nomen clature.
True it is that there is nowhere to be found a n inexpugnable authority having power to declare absolutely a final standard of pronunciation, and true it is also t h a t there are many divergencies of utterance, national, sectional, local, and individual, yet this diversity is far less than might be supposed. A large p a r t of i t is unconscious and would be denied indignantly by a majority of those who are guilty of it. Men whose pronunciation may be slovenly to the verge of illiteracy are often unaware of their linguistic delinquencies; and many of them would be greatly shocked if they could hear with their own ears an exact reproduction of their habitual utterances. The majority of us recognize t h a t there is a' normal pronunciation and we fondly believe that we conform to it. While it i s admitted t h a t usage is variant, it i s nevertheless believed t h a t a careful examination of a considerable section of good usage should yield a certain result helpful t o t h e chemist who likes t o be careful in such m a t t e r s . This has been a t t e m p t e d by t h e Nomenclature, Spelling, a n d Pronunciation Committee of t h e American Chemical Society with t h e results set forth below. A list of 361 chemical words, w i t h two or more possible p r o nunciations indicated for each, w a s sent t o some four hundred chemists selected so a s to b e representative of various interests in chemistry a n d of t h e various sections of the United States. A few copies were sent to C a n a d a and to England. T w o h u n dred did t h e requested checking, a n excellent response in view of t h e fact t h a t the task took a whole d a y according to t h e reports of some. Accompanying t h e list was a questionnaire designed t o bring o u t any special influences which m a y h a v e affected each referee's pronunciation practice. T h e referee w a s requested t o check or write his o w n pronunciation or pronunciations for each term and also t o indicate any pronunciations which, though n o t used b y him, in his opinion should be p r e ferred. T h e original list was supplemented b y a later one (120 words), checked by approximately t w o h u n d r e d referees who had indicated a willingness t o mark a second list. T h e supplementary list w a s made up of words suggested as t h e work progressed and of words selected t o provide further information on certain doubtful points. F o r the longer word list t h e v o t e was recorded independently on each of two separate groups of 100 checked copies w i t h closely agreeing results, which seems to indicate t h a t enough answers were obtained to provide a reasonably a c c u r a t e picture of usage. ι T h e members of this committee are Austin M. Patterson, C. A. Jacobaon, H. E . Howe, Arthur B. Lamb, E. J. Crane, Chairman, and the Board of Associate Editors of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
202
(1) Accenting names of chemical substances o n t h e final syllable i s to b e discouraged in all cases where t h e preference for such an accent is n o t e m p h a t i c . T h e n a m e s amine, arsine, quinone, and sulfone a n d words ending in these names (also t h e sufHx -phenone) r e p r e sent most of t h e exceptions. T h e g e n e r a l trend of t h e accent in t h e English language is recognized by a u t h o r i ties t o be a w a y from the end a n d t o w a r d the beginning of t h e word. However, when t h e l a s t syllable of a word is a significant suffix, a s -al for aldehydes, i t i s n o t slurred by chemists (2) I n the interest of uniformity a n d in accordance with a general t r e n d of English, pronunciation in America, t h e ending -ide should b e pronounced -Id. This appears t o be uniformly t h e p r a c t i c e in inorganic chemistry. M a n y organic n a m e s a r e so pronounced also. Certain organic terms, however, are pronounced -Id b y many, as acetanilide, irnide, phthalimide, lipide, amide, and several words ending in -amide. (3) For chemical names e n d i n g in -ine, usage is divided between t h e pronunciations -en a n d -In, w i t h a tendency in favor of -In. Since a distinction in spelling is m a d e b y m a n y between names of b a s e s ending i n -ine and names of nonbases ending in -in, t h e pronunciation -en for t h e ending -ine is t o be encouraged. (It is u n fortunate t h a t t h i s conflicts i n s o u n d with t h e p r o nunciation of the ending -ene, b u t it is believed t h a t this will cause confusion only w i t h a v e r y few w o r d s , as benzine a n d benzene, fluorine a n d fluorene. A s t o the pronunciation -τη, usage, a t least in America, is very strongly against it, and i t would conflict w i t h t h e pronunciation of t h e new ending -yne adopted for n a m e s of acetylene hydrocarbons.) Q u i n i n e , because of s t r o n g popular usage, is a n exception. (4) T h e pronunciation -ol for t b e ending of n a m e s of alcohols a n d phenols (except t h e w o r d alcohol itself!), whether regrettable or not, seems firmly fixed a n d should be recognized. E m p h a s i s o n a significant end ing i s probably an influence in t h i s p r a c t i c e . Chemical t e r m s not belonging to t h e above classes, b u t generally pronounced -ôl, should b e spelled w i t h a final e; e x a m ples, mole, pyrrole. T h i s is i n accordance w i t h t h e recommendation of the I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o m m i t t e e on Organic Nomenclature. For sol a n d words ending in -sol t h e spelling -ol and t h e p r o n u n c i a t i o n -οΊ should b e encouraged. (5) T h e ending -yl should b e pronounced -ïl. The pronunciation -êl i s apparently a G e r m a n i s m a n d , although still i n use t o some extent, i s to be discouraged. T h e pronunciation -ïl, a p p a r e n t l y c o m m o n in E n g l a n d , is seldom h e a r d in t h e United S t a t e s . (6) T h e ending -He ( a s in n i t r i l e ) . Usage is divided among t h e pronunciations -ïl, -ïl, a n d -el. T h e second of these is identical w i t h t h e pronunciation recommended for -yl, a n d t h e t h i r d is a p p a r e n t l y a Germanism. T h e pronunciation -%l should be favored. (7) T h e endings -acic, -alic, -anic, -arte, -elic, -enicy -eric, -elic, -idic, -ilic, -indc, -isic, -onic, -opic, -oric. A r a t h e r extensive s t u d y of t h e p r o n u n c i a t i o n of such endings shows a preference for a short vowel preceding -ic i n all b u t a few cases. This result i s in accord with age-old general English usage and is t o be a p p r o v e d . Acetic Oï-së'tïk) is a v e r y e m p h a t i c exception. Other exceptions a r e cetic (sê'tïk) a n d eerie (së'rïk) a n d adjectives derived from the names of u n s a t u r a t e d h y d r o carbons (because of the influence of t h e significant -ene ending). (8) T h e ending -olic. This ending is an exception to t h e rule for words ending i n -ic [compare (7)], perh a p s owing t o the influence of w o r d s ending in -ol. I n asmuch as t e n cases out of twelve s t u d i e d favor t h e long o, some of t h e m b y very large majorities, it is recommended t h a t this ending b e uniformly pronounced -o'lik.
May 20, 1934
INDUSTRIAL
AND
ENGINEERING
(9) Adjectives ending in -ic should be accented on the next to the last syllable, as glyceric, not glyceric. In names of salts the accent, following the trend indicated in (1) above, usually moves one syllable (occasionally more) towards the beginning of the word, as gly'cerate, salicylate. (10) The ending -ime. In oxime, at least, this should be pronounced -ëm, to accord with usage, th.ough this is contrary to the normal English trend. (11) The ending -oin should be pronounced a s two syllables, -δ-ϊη, with the accent coming on the preceding syllable (as, bën'zô-ïn, fû/rô-ïn). In certain words where the addition of a chemical suffix causes two vowels to come together there is a natural tendency to merge them and thus change their sound, as thefc>aine, linalool. While concession must be made t o usage in particular cases, as cocaine, the pronunciation of such vowels separately is to be encouraged. The xise o f the dieresis is helpful, as linaloôl. (12) Words ending in -valent should b e so pronounced t h a t the last two syllables are -vâ/l&rt; as trï-vâ/lënt (not trïv'a-lënt). Our committee has been fortunate in having the help of the late Paul W. Carhart, phonetician and managing editor of Webster's Dictionary, published by G. and C Mexxiam Co. His untimely death has been a matter of deep regret to us. The committee also wishes to express its appreciation of the interest and assistance of the Merriam company in our task, of the help of Miss Janet Scott of the Chemical Abstracts office and formerly in dictionary work, of the criticisms of G. Oscar Russel, director of the Phonetics Division of the Ohio State University, and of John S. Kenyon, professor of th.e English language, Hiram College, and lecturer in English, "Western Reserve University Graduate School, who have reviewed the findings, and of th.- help of the many who volunteered the considerable time and effort necessary to check over our long word lists. THE
WORD LIST
The words listed below are, except for a few deletions, the ones on which the committee's study was based. .Aiter each word there is given one or more pronunciations (shown by respelling and the use of symbols as explained at the head of the list). When only a single pronunciation is shown thus means that usage and perhaps other influences are so strongly in favor of it that no alternative is proposed. When more than one pronunciation is shown an attempt has been made to ;place these in the order of preference. The provision of two, occasionally three, pronunciations indicates that usage is divided -without a marked show of preference (this is true of many words throughout the English language), or that there is some confliot between usage and the other influences properly taken into corxsideration. The word "usage" in parentheses following a pronunciation signifies that usage supports it to a considerable exteni>, notwithstanding other dictates. Again let it be said that there is no attempt t o proclaim "This pronunciation is right and this one is wrong-'' Usage, chemical nomenclature considerations, derivation, and the rules of good English (a compromise has sometimes been necessary) suggest certain preferences and these we have tried to ascertain. WORDS STUDIED BY COMMITTEE
(The symbols used in the respeUing for pronunciation have the following values: ale, senate, âm, account, ârm; ë v e , event, end, recent, maker; ïce,_ïll; old, Obey, orb, odd, connect; use, Unite, urn, up, circiis; food; oil; chair; go: thin.) abietic acetal acetaldehyde acetaldoxime acetamide
àb'ï-ët'ïk âs'ët-âl às'ët-àl'dê-hïd as 'ët-âl-dëk'sem âs'ët-àm'ïd
acetanilide acetic acetoacetate acetoacetic acetone acetonitrile acetonyl acetophenone acetoxime acetyl acetylene aciacrolein acyclic acyl adiabatic
âs'ët-àn'ï-lïd &-së'tïk âs'ê-tô-as'ê-tàt às'ê-tô-â-së'tïk âs'ê-tôn às'ê-tô-nî'trïl #-sët'Ô-nïl _ às'ê-tô-fê-non' às'ët-ôk'sëm às'ê-tïl â-sët'ï-lën &s'ïàVkrô'lê-ïn a-sï'klïk às'ïl âd'ï-cï-bât'ïk
às/ôt-âm/ïcl (-usage) â-sët 'α-mid. às'ët-ân'ï-lïd Çusagé) 7
â-së tÔ-âs 'è-t sût â-së'tÔ-â-sê'tÎk as'ê-tô-nï'trïl (usagé) às'ê-tô-nïl â-së^ô-fê-nôn'
CHEMISTRY
adrenaline alantolic alizarin alkaline allotropy allylamine aluminum amide amido amine amino ammine ammino amyl anhydride aniline anisic anthranil anthranilate anthranilic antimonic antimonyl aqua aqueous arabitol arabonic arachidic areeoline arsenic (acid) arsine arsonic asphalt assay asymmetric atropine auricyanide avitaminosis azelaic azide azine azobenzene barium behenic benzamide benzanilide benzene benzil benzilic benzine benzohydrol benzoin benzophenone benzoyl benzyl betaine betulinamaric biuret bivalent borneol boron bromal bromide bromine buret butadiene butanolide butyl butyronitrile cacodyl cacodylate caffeine
àd-rën/d-lën al'àn-tô'lïk α-lïz'd-rln àl'kd-lïn ώ-lôt'rô-pï âl'Il-d-men' d-lôo'mï-ntlm (usage) àm'îd d-më'dô o-mën' d-më'nô àm'ën âm'ï-nô àm'Il ân-hï'drîd àn'ï-lën â-nïs'ïk ân'thrd-nïl àn-thrân'ï-lât an'thrà-nïl'ïk ân'tï-môn'ïk ân'tï-mô-nïl àk'wa à'kwê-'&s d-râb'ï-tôl ar'tf-bôn'ïk âr'£-kïd'ïk ώ-rë'kô-len àr-sën'ïk âr-sën' âr-sôn'ïk as'fôlt as'à (usage) â'sï-mët'rïk àt'rô-pën ô'rï-sï'â-nïd â-vî'tâ-mïn-ô 'sïs âz'ê-lâ'ïk âz'ïd âz'ën âz'ft-bën'zen bâ'rï-'&m bê-hën'ïk bën-zàm'ïd bën-zân'ï-lïd bën'zën bën'zïl bën-zïl'ïk bën'zën bën'zô-hï'drôl bën'zô-ïn bën'zô-fê-nôn' bën'zô-ïl bën'zïl bë'tâ-ên bët'Û-lïn-d-mâr'ïk bï'Û-rët' (usage) bï-và'lënt bôr'nê-ôl bô'rôn brô'màl brô'mïd brô'mën bû-rët' bû'ta-dï'en bû-tàn'ô-lïd bû'tïl bû'tï-rô-nï'trïl kàk'Ô-dïl kâk'Ô-dïl-ât kàf'ê-ën
calorimetric camphanic campholenic campholic caproate caprylate carbamate carbamide carbanilide carbethoxy carbinol carbonyl cataphoresis catechol cerebroside eerie cetic cetyl
kài'Ô-rï--mët'rïk kâm-fàn'ïk kâm/fô-lë'nïk kàm-fô'lïk kâp'rô-at kâp'rï-lât kâr'ba-mât kâr-bâm'ïd kâr-bân'ï-lïd kâr'bëth-ôk'sï kâr'bï-nôl kâr'bô-nïl kât'a-fô-rë'sïs kàt'ê-chôl sër'ê-brô-sïd së'rïk së'tïk së'tïl
203
àd-rën'd-lïn (usage) àl'kâ-lïn Sl'Ô-trô'pï â-lû/mï-n'&m àm'ïd (usage) àm'ï-dô â-më'nô (usage) àn'ï-lïn (usage*)
àp/tï-mô'nïk (usage)
#-rê'kÔ-lïn (usage) âr'sê-nïk (usage) o-sâ' às'ï-mët'rïk ô'rï-sï'â-nïd (usagé)
bâr'ï-um bën-zàm'ïd (usage) bën-zan'ï-lïd (usage)
bën'zô-hï-drôl' (usage] bën'zô-ël (usage) bï'û-rët bôr'Ôn
bû-tàn'Ô-lïd (usage) bû/tï-rô-nï'trïl (usage) kâk'Ô-dïl'ât kaf'ê-ïn (usage) kàf'ën (popular) kâm'fô-lën'ïk kâr-bâm'ât (usagé) kàr-bàm/ïd (usagé) kâr-bân'ï-lïd (usage}
kât'ê-kôl (usage) sê-rë'brô-sïd sër'ïk
sët'n
204
chalcone chelidonic chloral chloride chlorophyllide cholesterol cholic choline choloidanic chromyl cinene cinnamal cinnamate ciniiamic citrate clupeine cobalticyaiiide cocaine codeine colchicine colloid comenic coniceioe coniine constitutive convallamarin coumaric coumarin creatine cresol cresyl crotonic cyanamide cyanogen cyclic cyclohexane cysteine decyl decylene desoxy diacetyl diazo dichromate diethylamine dinaphthol dioxindole diphenic diphenylethane dipropargyl distillate dynamite elaidic elemolic enol enolic enterokinase enzyme enzymic ephedrine ergosterol erythrose ethoxide ethyl ethylidene ferricyanide fluorene fluorescein fluorine formamide fructose fulminic fumaric furan furfural furoin galalitL· geraniol gitogenic gluconic glucosamine glucoside glutamic glutaric glutattdone glyceric glycine giycolic glycyl glycyrrhetie glyoxal
NEWS kàl'kôn kël'l-dôn'ïk klô'ràl klô'rîd klô'rô-fïl'îd kô-lës'têr-ôl kô'lïk ko'lën kôl'oi-dàn'Ik krô'mïl sï'nen sïn'd-mal sïn'd-mât sï-nâm'ïk sït'rât klôô'pê-ën kô-bôl 'tï-sî'd-nîd kô-kàn' (popular) kô'dê-ën kôl'chï-sën (usage) kôl'oid kô-mën'ïk kô-nïs'ê-ën kô'nï-ën kôn'stï-tù'tïv ktfn-vàl'd-mâr'ïn kôô-mar'ïk kôo'md-rrn krë'd-tën krë'sôl krës'ïl krô-tôn'ïk sï'ân-àm'ïd sï-an'Ô-jôn sï'klïk sï'klÔ-hëVsan sïs'tê-ën dës'ïl dêVï-lën dës-ôk'sï dï-âs'ê-tïl dï-âz'Ô dî-krô'màt dï-ëth'ïl-d-mën' dï-naf'thôl dï'ôk-sïn'dôl di-fën'ïk dï-fënOl-ôth'ân dï'prô-pàr'jïl dïs'tï-lât dî'nd-mït ël'a-ïd'ïk ël'ê-mô'lïk e'nôl ê-nô'lïk ën'tër-Ô-kï'nâs ën'zïm ën-zï'mïk ëf'ê-drên ër-gôs'tër-ôl ër'ï-thrôs ëth-ôk'sîd ëth'ïl ëth-ïl'ï-dên fëVï-sï'd-nïd flôô'Ô-rën flôô'Ô-rës'ê-ïn flôô'Ô-rën fôrm-âm/ïd frûk'tôs fùl-mïn'ik fû-màr'ïk fu'ràn fûr'f-iir-âl fù'rô-ïn gâl'd-lïth jê-râ'nï-ôl jït^Ô-jën'ïk gloo-kôn'ïk glôô 'kôs-a-mën ' gloo'kô-sïd glôo-tâm'ïk glôô-târ'ïk gloo 'td-thï'ôn glï-sër'ïk glï'sen glï-kô'lïk glï'sïl glïs'ï-rët'ïk glï-ôk'sàl
châl'kon (usage) kë'lï-dôn'ïk {usage)
sïn'ën sï-nàm/ât kô-bôl'tï-sï'à-nid (usage) kô'kâ-ën kôl'kï-sën
k
