1) skund
The shortest possible Icelandic name for second is 'skund'. The words scores on many fronts.
1) It is short
2) It sounds like the international word and Icelandic 'stund' and is declined like the latter word.
3) It refers to the verb "skunda" (hurry). Indeed, a "second" is the time-frame often refered to when someone is in a hurry.
2) Other possibilities:
tifskeið or tifstund (tick-period), stundarkorn (hour-particle, moment)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Neon - ljóft
Neon (ljóft, ljós + loft), the gas which is a component of 'air' (loft), used in lighting (ljós). If the neologism ljörvi (laser) is acceptable as an acronym of ljós (light) and 'örvi (derived from the verb örva, stimulate), the so should be ljóft. It aso sound a bit like the adjective ljúfur (in the meaning of geðfelldur (agreeable, pleasing). Neon-light is indeed an pleasant sight.The noble gases are commonly used in lighting because of their lack of chemical reactivity. Neon was the first in its group to be used for this purpose and its name with respect to lighting has been extended to other noble gases. Argon- or krypton-filled light-tubes are called 'neonlights' as well. It's slightly comparable to the chemical term 'salt', which originally denoted sodium chloride before its meaning was extended to 'any ionic compound, made from a metal cation and a non-metal anion'. In the same way we can extend the meaning of 'ljóft' to that of 'noble gas'.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Atlantic ocean - frónhaf
Why can't we name the Atlantic ocean after Iceland? This has nothing to do with far-going hubris. Icelanders are the only native people who inhabit the largest part of new land formed on the MID-Atlantic Ridge. Yes, they are the only ones among the native Atlantic people (Guanches, Faroese, Icelanders, that's all I guess) who live right in the middle. How much more Atlantic can one get? The term 'Frónhaf' is shorter than Atlantshaf and it's transparent too! After all, there is only one sea known to encompass iceland, isn't it! YEEES, BINGO!examples:
Atlatintic states: Frónhafsríkin
Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Frónhafshryggur, Jörmungandshryggur
NATO: Frónhafsbandalagið
Gap in the ozone-layer - leifthvolfsgat
LEIFT is LEIFTUR integrated in the word 'loft' (air) or a contraction of 'leifturloft' (lightening air)
The reason why I choose hvolf instead of lag is because I wanted to make the Icelandic equivalent sound completely unlike the English term and the latter word, although purely Icelandic, sounds too much like the English layer, its etymological cognate. By the way, the term ozonosphere is sometimes used instead of ozone layer and the current translation of sphere is hvolf (exosphere - úthvolf)
þrildi (ozone, þrí- (three) + ildi (oxygen)), að þrilda (ozonize), þrildir (ozonizator)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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