FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Tobi]

In another thread i saw the discussion about special mineral names between Roger and Antonio, and i thought it could be worth an own topic. As a person both interested in minerals and history of mining, i am fascinated of old mineral names which sometimes seem funny to us modern people but sometimes also are reminiscent of old times. German language is blessed with many of such old names. For example, Roger mentioned the German word "Honigblende" (= honey blende), which is a variety of sphalerite. And when Antonio mentioned that there is also a Spanish word meaning nearly the same (blenda acaramelada), i became interested if there are other examples in Spanish, English, French etc.

Some other samples of older German mineral names:

Gelbbleierz (yellow lead ore) = Wulfenite
Grünbleierz (green lead ore) = Pyromorphite
Rotbleierz (red lead ore) = Crocoite
Himbeerspat (raspberry spar) = Rhodochrosite
Schwerspat (heavy-weight spar) = Baryte

I think they are similar in English, but i don't know about the other languages ... And there are some which are surely that fancy that they don't have a linguistic counterpart in the other languages, or do they? ;-)

Lithiumeisenglimmer (lithium iron glimmer) = Zinnwaldite
Kieselzinkerz (silicon-dioxide zinc ore) = Hemimorphite
Kieselkupfersmaragd (silicon-dioxide copper emerald) = Dioptase (in former times often mistaken for emerald)
Schrifterz (script/font ore) = Sylvanite
Nadeleisenerz (needle iron ore) = Goethite

There are hundreds more in German, especially among ore minerals. I would like to see such examples of ancient/funny or somehow special names from the other languages - but please with an English translation ;-)

Cheers!

[Antonio Alcaide]

Very interesting topic, especially for a an enthusiastic of languages like me - I studied Spanish, Latin...-. I am sure that by far German is the language with more descriptive names of minerals. I have realized it when I received a mineral with its card from Germany. You always have another German name for a standard mineral, and usually it is descriptive as in the examples you wrote above.

The sources for the Spanish names of the minerals are Greek, Latin and at less degree English -above all in modern times-. However, give me a couple of days to collect some examples.

Regards

[Tobi]

[David Von Bargen]

Stink-fluss From the German for "stink" and "flow" - fluorite

[Tobi]

Though it consists of two German words, the name Stinkspat is more common in German than Stinkfluss/Stink-Fluss.

[alfredo]

Japanese uses many many compound translated mineral names like this, some are ancient traditional names, some are translations of old german names, and some are translations from greek. Rather than make a long useless list, I'll give one example:

RINYOSEKI = "phosphorus leaf stone" = phosphophyllite

[Jordi Fabre]

Recommended Reading: "Baryte vs. Baryte" -> https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?t=543

[Andreas Gerstenberg]

Yeah, great topic. Here are some of my favourites:

Pimelite (no, this is a decent forum, I do not translate this...)
"Pissophan" = amorphous pittcite-like stuff, not a valid mineral, however.
"Gänsekötigerz" (goose shxx ore;-)) = mixture of chlorargyrite and pittcite

The names Tobias mentioned show the metaphoric character of the old mineral names. As mentioned, before being named after locations or scientists the minerals got the most obvious names: descriptions of compound or appearance (Rotgültigerz = red, valid (i.e. valuable) ore).

Especially the German language is a reservoir of curious names. Otto Volger (1855) created sheer monsters when translating crystallographic terms (i.e. cube = Würfling, octahedron = Eckling, tetrahedron = Timpling...). Some moderate neologisms of Volger are the following: "knöchliger würfliger Timpling" (boracite) or "rechtstimpliger würfliger Knöchling" (boracite). But there are others: "plattlig-kreuzlig-dreifachvornstreblig-vornhalbfirstliger, gieblig-schärfliger, kreuzgiebliger Wolframit-Schärfling" (crystallographic description of a wolframite), "wendelkreisligkreisliger, wendelspindlig-spindliger, rechtstrugspindlig-wendliger Apatit-Ständling" (apatite) and - on the top of oddness - the "rechtsknöchelhöckertimplig-knöchlig-flachkippliger, linksknöchelhöckertimplig-würfliger, linker Fahlerz-Timpling" (tetraehedrite). I am not able to translate these terms, it´s too German for me...

Cheers
Andreas

[Tobi]

I don't wonder why Volger's work didn't make it into the modern crystallography ;-)