What’s in a name: a comparison of Chinese and Japanese approaches to the translation of chemical elements

Abstract

When we research the development of Chinese terms in chemistry, a historical study of the Japanese approach to chemical nomenclature needs also to be considered. The Chinese terms yuansu (element), yuanzi (atom), fenzi (molecular), dangliang (valence), youji (organic) and wuji (inorganic) were derived from Japanese, and were introduced after the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). However, the Chinese nomenclature had also a great impact on the development of Japanese terms in chemistry. So the influence of the Chinese terms is no doubt a point to be discussed when considering chemical terms in Japanese. The term huaxue (chemistry), for example, was coined in the middle of nineteenth century in China and was then introduced into Japan soon after. The Japanese term kagaku (chemistry) came to be widely used in public in the 1870s.

A comparative look at the exchanges between China and Japan’s inorganic compound names, 1842–1945

“…Also, their limited knowledge of chemistry caused errors and deviations in translation [2]. In our previous article, we reviewed the origins of Chinese and Japanese element names in detail [3]. We found that Chinese element names were hardly influenced by Japan's kanji counterparts.…”