Mineral name pronunciation...
Mineral Matters # 49
The English language can be a challenge at the best of times.
English grammar is complex, and there are many rules to learn and exceptions to those rules.
English spelling is notoriously irregular. There are many words that are spelled differently from the way they sound, making it easy to spell them incorrectly.
There are many different accents and dialects of English, and each one has its own unique pronunciation rules.
In the mineral world, there are a few problematic mineral names.
Ecandrewsite is pronounced “eck-andrewsite", but it is named after E. C. Andrews. That’s Ernest Clayton Andrews. Should it not be “ee-see-andrewsite”?
Anglesite is often pronounced “ang-le-site” but it is named after the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. It should be “angle-site”.
A common one that is often mispronounced is goethite. Often heard as “go-thite” or “girth-ite” but it is named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and should sound like “ger-tite”.
And then we have cerussite!
How do you pronounce it? The American way - “sir-roo-site” or the English way - “seh-russ-ite”? I’m the latter.
What other mineral names do we have problems with? Comment below.
Below: Cerussite with crocoite, Kapi Mine, Northeast Dundas, Tasmania. Width of view 5mm.
Sugilite is very commonly mispronounced in English with a soft g, like "soojeelite", but it is named after a Japanese doctor Sugi, whose name is pronounced with a hard g as in geese.
Erythrite. I pronounce it er-eth-rite. I've heard it pronounced ih-eeth-rite. Not sure which is correct. It's not like you can confuse it with all the other minerals that sound like Erythrite 😁