https://doi.org/10.15255/KUI.2013.037
Published: Kem. Ind. 64 (1-2) (2015) 19−25
Paper reference number: KUI-37/2013
Paper type: Original scientific paper / History of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
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Chemical Nomenclature and Terminology in the Light of Nationalism
N. Raos
Abstract
Chemical nomenclature and terminology are not only determined by the development of chemistry, but also by linguistic policies of the nation which uses them. The first modern chemical nomenclature, developed in France at the end of the 18th century, had been intended for international usage, and thus the names of new elements were developed from Greek and Latin roots. Conversely, in Germany the names of elements were coined in strict reference to the German language. In Croatia, both tendencies were present. In the 19th century, when Croatia was part of the Austro- Hungarian Empire, the chemical language was established on the basis of purism, but many new words were actually bohemianisms and literal translations of German terms. In both Yugoslav states (Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1918–1941, and Communist Yugoslavia, 1945–1991), unitaristic strivings were dominant, culminating in the Unified Yugoslav Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry, published in 1966. As it is impossible to make one nomenclature out of terms in two languages (Croatian and Serbian), the “Yugoslav” nomenclature was actually a strange mixture of Serbian and “international” terms. The new nomenclature however was never fully developed, even less generally accepted. Eventually it became obsolete in 1991 by establishment of the independent Croatian state, the Republic of Croatia.
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Keywords
Bogoslav Šulek, Fran Bubanović, Vladimir Njegovan, Hrvoje Iveković, neologisms, language policy, Yugoslav unitarism