What I find fascinating is that in English, Ducth and a few other languages most elements have names that end in -ium. For me that sounds like Latin. Italian comes from Latin and most elements suddenly end in -o. Take Iron (Fe), which has two valencies 2+ and 3+. The old style dutch names for Fe(II) compounds were called Ferro, say Fe(SO4) was Ferro Sulphate and Fe(III) compounds were called Ferri so Fe2(SO4)3 was Ferri Sulphate. -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] Namens gerry77 at mail.com Verzonden: maandag, juli 2010 21:53 Aan: hecnet at Update.UU.SE Onderwerp: Re: [HECnet] Area 44 - update On Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:39:14 +0200, you wrote: Note the english names for 33 and 34. In dutch the elements are called koolstof and zuurstof and these names are obviously too long. Any suggestions for names of elements that are 6 characters or less, in other languages? See my current list on home.zonnet.nl/hvlems There's one in french: Azote for nitrogen (stikstof). In Italian: Elio (He), Litio (Li), Boro (B), Azoto (N), Fluoro (F), Neon (Ne), Sodio (Na), Zolfo (S), Cloro (Cl), Argon (Ar), Calcio (Ca), Cromo (Cr), Ferro (Fe), Nichel (Ni), Rame (Cu), Zinco (Zn), Gallio (Ga), Bromo (Br), Ittrio (Y), Niobio (Nb), Rodio (Rh), Cadmio (Cd), Indio (In), Stagno (Sn), Iodio (I), Xeno (Xe), Cesio (Cs), Bario (Ba), Afnio (Hf), Renio (Re), Osmio (Os), Iridio (Ir), Oro (Au), Tallio (Tl), Piombo (Pb), Astato (At), Radon (Rn), Radio (Ra), Cerio (Ce), Terbio (Tb), Olmio (Ho), Erbio (Er), Tulio (Tm), Torio (Th), Uranio (U), Curio (Cm), Fermio (Fm). Reference: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavola_periodica Note that: 1. Neon (Ne) is also the commonly used name for fluorescent lamps 2. Ferro (Fe) might be used as a synonym for any generic metallic substance 3. Calcio (Ca) means also soccer and kick 4. Stagno (Sn) means also pond and watertight (or airtight) 5. Radio (Ra) means also radio receiver and broadcasting company HTH, :-) G. Geen virus gevonden in het binnenkomende-bericht. Gecontroleerd door AVG - www.avg.com Versie: 9.0.830 / Virusdatabase: 271.1.1/2998 - datum van uitgifte: 07/12/10 08:36:00