Milli mála - 2020, Page 80

80 Milli mála 12/2020
VANADIO , ITRIO , ÁNGSTROM …

10.33112/millimala.12.2
Abstract
Vanadio, itrio, ángstrom…
About scientific terms of Nordic origin in Spanish
In the 18th century significant advancements occurred in science,
especially in the field of natural sciences and technology. New knowl-
edge and recent discoveries in Chemistry and Physics needed to be
assigned a name; words were needed for new minerals, elements,
compounds, etc. Scientists, among whom some were Nordic, created
new terms whereof various have Nordic roots. Several of these neolo-
gisms derive from the vocabulary of the Nordic Mythology (vanadi-
um), others are based on the name of the place where the item was
discovered (itrium) or the name of the discoverer (angstrom). The words
of Nordic origin soon entered other languages in their Latinized form
and are today internationally used. Among other languages these
have been adopted and adapted into Spanish in the period from 18th
until the 20th century. In this article we shed light on the history of
fifteen technical words of Nordic origin incorporated in Spanish.
These words stand for chemical substances like scandium, hafnium,
holmium, itrium, terbium, erbioum iterbium, nobelium, torium, tungstenium,
vanadium, and physical phenomenes like angström, celsius, oersted and
sievert.
Keywords: lexicology – loanwords – Nordic – scientific terms – Span-
ish