Names of the alkaline earth metals:
1) einsætlingsefni, einsætla (Beryllium is the "lightest element having but one isotope" or the "dwarf of the monoisotopic elements": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoisotopic_element
It is possible to found a term upon the icelandic samsæta (isotope). The first step is coining an equivalent of the adjective "monoisotopic", which denotes elements that have but one stable isotope, like beryllium. The Orðabanki íslenskrar málstöðvar doesn't contain an equivalent for the term "monoisotopic element" yet, and my first guess was something like "einsamsætu-". But this might well be reduced to simply einsætu-, judging from the shortening of "monoisotopic" into the more flexible term monotopic in some sources: http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/@api/deki/pages/7959/pdf
This convinces me of the accuracy of a construction like einsæta, einsætu-. The term monoisotope is used to designate the isotope of a monoisotopic element (google "is a monoisotope"(between brackets!)). This Pdf-file even contains the word monotope:
http://homepages.rpi.edu/~danony/Papers/Neutron%20Cap%20and%20Trans%20of%20Nb.pdf
"Since natural niobium is a monotope, all of the niobium was 93-Nb".
The literal translation of this "monotope" is einsæta: "Málmynja (Mn), feðginasilfur (Nb), illmálmungur (As), lýsill (P), þengi (I), dyrgi (Co) og lútargull (Cs) eru einsætur."
Beryllium is the "hermit of the spallation triad" (einsetuefni í splundrunarþrennd)", because the other two, lithium and boron, have more than 1 isotope. The "spallation triad" or the "rare lights", as they were called on this webpage http://168.144.87.33/~conworld/cwbb/viewtopic.php?t=942&sid=3129e708fe8d7c361795a74d814ee0e1 , are the three dwarf elements (two metals and a metalloid), that are formed in an extrastellar spallation process because their nuclei can't survive the temperature generated in the core of stars,
One could the diminutive suffix -la (as in pípla) and form einsætla, einsætlingsefni (the "little monotope" or the "dwarf-monotope" or einsetluefni, the "dwarf-hermit of the periodic system"). The name for the element itself can be formed on addition of "málmur" (metal)), which gives the construction: einsætlingsmálmur or einsetlumálmur, but reduced forms einsætlingur or einsætla, might already suffice.
A friend of mine asked me why I didn't use "einsetu- (hermit) constructions", because monoisotopal elements could indeed as well be designated as "hermit elements" (einsetuefni). Add to this the fact the beryllium MONOtope was into the bargain created occasionly in the cold, void extrastellar space, completely in opposite to the other elements formed together in a stellar fusion process or neutron absorption in supernova events and he "hermit-idea" becomes a very interesting avenue of thought. But for the time being I'm not inclined to loose the connection with "-sæta" in samsæta, so I stick with einsætlingsefni instead of einsetlumálmur for the time being.
The interesting thing here is that a whole element can be terminologically isolated merely by building further upon the term samsæta (isotope): einsæta (monoisotope), einsætla, einsætlingur (the smallest monoisotope, which is beryllium-9) and finally einsætlingsefni (the element beryllium itself).
The line of thought is as follows: samsæta (isotope) - einsæta (monoisotope, monotope or "hermit element" if you like) - einsætlingur ("small monotope" which most appropraitely would designate Beryllium-9, the smallest monotope on the periodic system) - einsætlingsefni (dwarf of the monotopic elements) or einsetlumálmur (the "little hermit" of the periodic system, the "little hermit metal".)
3) njálfur (nonalphium, based upon the alternative name for He-3, trialphium, ní (nine + alfa (particle) and then shaped as much as possible after the word "málmur", Personally, I find trialphium an all but perfect piece of terminology as it could as well be serve as a designation of carbon-12, which is formed in the so-called "triple-alpha-process" (þrjálfun), where He-4 nuclei are fused to carbon-12. But since the term exists, "trialphium" could be used as a kind of "terminological scaffold", if we may call it so, to construct the term "nonalphium", the nucleus consisting of two alpha-particles and one extra nucleus, which is Be-9. A construction with -alfa is relevant for beryllium because it alludes to the fact that fusing two alpha particles doesn't work, it directly decays into two alpha-particles again, it requires an extra nucleon to get to the stable monoisotopic and primordial nuclide Be-9.
4) smál: (smá + ál): Refers to beryllium's nature of being a kind of "light version" of aluminium, with whom it constitutes the metallic part in beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6). Beryllium is chemically more similar to aluminium than its close neighbors in the periodic table due to having a similar charge-to-radius ratio. The word smál also rhymes on stál (steel), which alludes to its "steel-gray" color and the fact it's being almost as hard as steel (beryllium scores 5.5 on Mohs scale, and steel 6). The neologism also alliterates also with smaragður (emerald), the green beryl-variety in which the French chemist François-Nicolas Vauquelin discovered the element in 1798.
5) regði (i-shift of -ragður, the latter part of "smaragður" (emerald), the gem in which the element was discovered by the Frenchman Nicholas-Louis Vauquelin (Nikulás Lúðvík Valkalín). see http://lotukerfi.blogspot.be/2012/06/beryllium-problem-solved.html
I know it is a bold and risky construction but there are other examples like tálknamandra for the axolotl salamander. In this particular case "mandra" was cut from "salamandra" to serve as a second element. There are many examples of this kind of word-lenght reduction in Icelandic neologistic work. I did the same with smaragður (emerald), because the element was first discovered in this very variety of beryl. Of course, I went somewhat further by additionally i-shifting the left-over ragður to regði in order to obtain an i-shifted element name like ildi (from eldur), vetni (from vatn) and lyfti (from loft, once proposed for nitrogen). Regði from smaragður, a bold construction indeed, but still, why not? After all, beryllium (regði) is a part of the aluminium-berillium silicate (álregðiskíslungur) beryl Be3Al2(SiO3)6 . It looks completely Icelandic and there are no connotations with any other word.
6) valkalín (Vauquelium): The discoverer of berylium was the French pharmacist and chemist Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin, whose surname is of Germanic origin and transformable into Icelandic. The addition -ál refers to its being more chemically similar to aluminium than its close neighbours on the periodic table due to having a similar charge-to-radius ratio.
Porté en Normandie (76, 14), c'est un nom de personne d'origine germanique, Walkelin, rattaché par M.T. Morlet au moyen-haut-allemand walkan (= fouler). see http://jeantosti.com/noms/v2.htm
It's a masculine name on -ín, comparable to Hagalín, Espólín, Frakklín.
The funny thing about this word is that the Icelandicized form of the French name contains "alkalí" that is found in jarðalkalímálmur, while the so-called "diagonal relationship" with aluminum is expressed by the latter element -ál.
Lithium and beryllium, the first elements of Group 1 and Group 2 respectively exhibit some properties which are different from those of the other members of the respective group. In these anomalous properties they resemble the second element of the following group. Thus, lithium shows similarities to magnesium and beryllium to aluminium in many of their properties. This type of diagonal similarity is commonly referred to as diagonal relationship in the periodic table.
see http://textbook.s-anand.net/ncert/class-11/chemistry/9-the-s-block-elements
7) lotungsstál (the "steel" (hard metal) on a small period (lotungur, diminutive of lota), which is beryllium. Lithium is a weak metal, while the rest of the elements on the second period are mettaloid, non-metallic or noble gas)
2) Magnesium
Many possibilities: klémálmur (kléberg is synonymous with tálgusteinn (soap-stone), which is a major magnesium mineral, esjumálmur (esja in an old word for tálgusteinn, see Íslensk orðsifjabók and coincidentially rhymes on the latter part of the name Magnesia, the Greek city magnesium minerals were named after), leifturmálmur (after leifturljós (flash light), because magnesium has the unique property to burn with a light resembling a lightening-flash. For this reason it was used for flash-lights in the early days of photography. Telki, the i-shift derivation of "talk", a major magnesium mineral. mjúkhallsmálmur (mjúkhallur is an alternative name for "talcum", because it is the softest stone, only 1 on mohs scale of hardness) and last but not least tylfi (i-shift of tólf), because magnesium is the twelfth element.
3) Calcium
1) beinefni, beinmálmur, beinstoð (bone-metal, no mistake here)
2) kelki (i-shift of the word kalk (limestone))
4) Strontium
1) skoskmálmur (scotsmetal), skotakelki (calcium of the scots) (The only METALLIC element that can be linked up with Scotland, being named after the scottish village of Strontian. If you google strontium and "Scottish element" you'll find sites that speak about strontium as "the Scottish element". Calcium's heavier brother could indeed be regarded as Scotland's representative on the periodic table, in the same way as germanium is for Germany, scandium for the whole of Scandinavia, francium for France, ruthernium for Russia, polonium for Poland, californium for California, and Niels Bohr's ultimately rejected suggestion danium for the element hafnium, which was named for Copenhagen. Judging from these examples, it is not far-fetched to assume that propositions like caledonium or scotium could have been made in the time of the element's discovery.
2) nýkelki (the "new" calcium, or the "additional bone-metal", the true earth alkaline metal found associated with calcium in the bones, which is strontium)
3) beinsilfur ("bone-silver", the osteophilic (bone-loving) element on the period of "silver", which could be yet another way to denote the alkaline earth metal. This term is, unfortunately, not much more than a mere cross-wise positioning of the element. On the 5th period, the only element for which there are names in Old Icelandic are silfur and tin, so I used silfur as a positioning tool to terminologically isolate some metallic elements on the fifth period. It could, occasionally, function as a hint for a student, which enables him to find the element on a periodic table lying before him on his desk. Many chemist, though, have a problem with "silfur" as the second element in the name, because silver is a monovalent, noble metal, while strontium is divalent, very unnoble an reactive. In that respect the first option skoskmálmur is more neutral.
5) Barium
þungjörðungur: An extension of þungjörð (ritmálssafn orðabókar háskólans), the translation of "heavy earth", which is an old term to designate natural barium oxide (BaO).
6) Radium
see: http://lotukerfi.blogspot.be/2012/08/polonium-mariubly-pulinamalmur-ok-that.html
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