Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Actinides (þórbirklingar - thorberkelians)

The first element in þórbirklingar (lit. thorberkelians), þór- refers to Thorium, the most abundant of the actinides, being three times more abundant than uranium.
"Þór-" as a first element in a collective name for the actinides refers to the first naturally occuring actinides. The transuranium actinides, from Neptunium to lawrencium were all discovered in the Berkeley labs. It was to be discovered later that the primordial plutonium-isotope Pu-244 existed in nature but only to be found in amounts that barely defy detection. The long-lived isotopes of the lightest transplutonium elements didn't manage to survive the onslaught of 5 gigayears of geological time and were all synthesized at Berkeley. The college was named in honor of the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley (Icel. Gyrgir Birkiló), who's surname is derived from a place-name  meaning "birch-clearing".  This toponym can easily be translated into Icelandic: Birkiló (-ló as in Osló), from which birkil- can be used in constructions like birkilefni.
(compare Berkeley / berkel-ium) or nýbirkilefni, nýbirkli (neoberkelium, californium), maríubirkli ("Mary's berkelium", curium). See the article on the radioactive elements under Berkelium: http://lotukerfi.blogspot.be/2012/08/polonium-mariubly-pulinamalmur-ok-that.html
From Birkil- the collective noun birklingar can be derived, representing the transplutonium elements.  The prefix þór- as a first element followed by -birklingar symbolizes the combination of the natural and synthesized elements that make up the actinide series: þórbirklingar, which would sound like "Thorberkelians" in English).  The name looks like a typically Old Icelandic collective family name, as if it is derived from "Bjarki Þór". 
It is important to note is that even if the existing names of the two key-elements were used: þórín instead of my þórblý and berkelín instead of my birkilefni, birkli, the construction þórbirklingar (thorberkelians) would still be valid: There's no reason why þór- as a derivation of þórín would be unacceptable as a positioning marker for elements near thorium, while berkel- in berkelín undergoes an i-shift and becomes birklingar when the collective surname ending -ingar is added.
Note also the position of Thorium (dark red) as the second element of the first 7 actinides (rosy-red), while berkelium (dark green), the element that was explicitely named after the place where the heavier actinides (pale green) were synthesized, is the second element of the second half of the group, right after the central actinide, curium. Both thorium and berkelium have, because of this position, tetravalent oxidation states.

It's a nice feeling to find out that this particular group of elements, the most members of which were discovered only as late as the so-called "nuclear era", can actually be designated by a purely Icelandic name constructed similarily to an Old Norse collective family name (e.g. Þorbirningar (descendants of Þorbjörn)). In Icelandic, nothing is untranslatable!

The term "transactinide" translates as handan þórbirklinganna (beyond the thorberkelians) or handan lafransblýs (lit. "beyond lawrence-lead", translawrencium). 
 
Þórbirklingar eru þyngri bræður eða systur leyndarmálma eða lotujarðmálma:
þórál eða hnossarblý (Ac), þórefni eða norðblý (Th) og bikþórefni, or biknorðblý (Th-230, Ionium), freyjublý (Pa), úteyjablý, fenrisblý, þórþungsteinn eða bikmálmur (U), eldþjófsblý, þeifsblý eða ægisefni (Np), heljarblý, kjarnagull, útskersblý, flokinmálmur eða sjögervismálmur (Pu), nýheimsblý (Am), maríubirkli, miðbirkli (Cm), birkli eða birkilefni (Bk), nýbirkli, nýbirkilefni eða hraðalsgull (Cf), eyjarbirkilefni eða styttri eybirkli, albirti eða hólmblý (Es), birklund, einreksblý (Fm), tílisblý (Md), nýbýlisblý birklingakelki eða elfráðsbirkli (No) og loksins lafransblý, lúskabirkli (lutetian berkelium) eða lokaþórbirklingur.
 
(1) For fundur in the meaning of "fifteen men" see: http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Sk%C3%A1ldskaparm%C3%A1l ( under 82. hópaheiti)


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