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Esperanto names for medications

erinja-tól, 2012. március 23.

Hozzászólások: 16

Nyelv: English

erinja (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 1:28:05

I was recently caught short when I was talking to another Esperantist and I wanted to mention a common over-the-counter drug - generic name acetaminophen in the US (common brand name Tylenol), paracetamol in the UK and Australia (common brand name Panadol). Those generic terms are both shortened versions of the drug's chemical name, para-acetylaminophenol.

So what do we call this in Esperanto? I am leaning towards "paracetamolo" because it seems more widespread internationally, across more languages and cultures, than (for example) "acetaminofeno". Wikipedia lists only the US, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Iran as "acetaminophen" countries.

Does anyone have any proposed names for any other common medications? We have aspirino for aspirin, but that's the only one I know. Ibuprofen seems to be a relatively international name, so "ibuprofeno" seems reasonable.

patrik (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 3:28:37

The WHO gives every medicine its International Nonproprietary Name, so we might as well adopt that. "Paracetamol" is a INN, while "acetaminophen" is not, therefore it's recommendable that we use "paracetamolo". okulumo.gif

P.S. I looked at the WHO "Stem Book", and I wonder how would the Academy [if they will take this matter] transliterate those stems. Would "guan-" become "gvan-"? "-cisteine" to "-cistino"? "-caine" to "-kejno"? "-dopa" to "-dopa(o)"? "-quin(e)" to "-kvino"? "-xonax" to "-ksonakso"? "-aj-" to "-aĵ-"?

darkweasel (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 5:57:46

Maybe PMEG: Kemiaj afiksoj helps somewhat.

sudanglo (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 11:00:46

Although NPIV doesn't register paracetamolo, I think it's the obvious choice.

Google Translate gives a similar form in most European languages.

I've opened Google Translate, told it to use paracetamolo for the Esperanto form, and then closed it, three times in all. But it still hasn't learnt it.

How many times does one have to do that for it to remember?

patrik (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 13:42:02

@darkweasel: Having looked at the official Stem Book of the WHO (revised, 2009), I can say that the normal chemical prefixes do not always apply to INNs. It's somewhat a different system from that of the IUPAC or of conventional chemistry.

patrik:The WHO gives every medicine its International Nonproprietary Name, so we might as well adopt that. "Paracetamol" is a INN, while "acetaminophen" is not, therefore it's recommendable that we use "paracetamolo". okulumo.gif

P.S. I looked at the WHO "Stem Book", and I wonder how would the Academy [if they will take this matter] transliterate those stems. Would "guan-" become "gvan-"? "-cisteine" to "-cistino"? "-caine" to "-kejno"? "-dopa" to "-dopa(o)"? "-quin(e)" to "-kvino"? "-xonax" to "-ksonakso"? "-aj-" to "-aĵ-"?
P.P.S. Since it's a international nomenclature system, well, Rule 15 applies in this case. Or doesn't it? (This is essentially an invitation to dispute.)

sudanglo (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 20:25:04

For the common medicines, Google Translate should show us how they are handled in the main European languages and where there is a more or less international form it will be obvious how to 'Esperantigi ĝin'.

It'll be just a rule 15 job.

If there is a case in conflict with an official WHO International Nonproprietary Name, I would go for a rule 15 job, since that is what Esperantists are most likely to say.

I would be useful to publish a list of the popular names of certain common medicines in say English, French, German, Spanish and Russian and then recommend an Esperanto form.

Evildela (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 22:24:09

1) Can we build these words from currently existing Esperanto roots?
2) Has anyone consulted an Esperanto Medical Dictionary, such as ANGLA-ESPERANTA MEDICINA TERMINARO?

Finfine:
I don't think applying rule 15 to all the medicines is a good idea, we will create massive discord, basically I think we should have a Esperanto system for medicines as well.

patrik (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 23:11:39

sudanglo:If there is a case in conflict with an official WHO International Nonproprietary Name, I would go for a rule 15 job, since that is what Esperantists are most likely to say.

I would be useful to publish a list of the popular names of certain common medicines in say English, French, German, Spanish and Russian and then recommend an Esperanto form.
The WHO issues INNs in Latin, English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese; so it's all the same, with only spelling variations.

@Evildela: For the first question, it's "no". INNs are made of a combination of radicals and stems [prefix/radical + infix + suffix/stem], and some of these are derived from common chemical names and terms, but most of these are not similar to Esperanto roots at all. And for the second question, again it's a "no".

As for your conclusion, I don't think it will cause any major confusion. All WHO countries recognize and use the INN system, so applying Rule 15 is relatively painless. The non-INNs, though, are, like "acetaminophen"; but they're too few and should not be used.

And I forgot to say that "ibuprofen" is also an INN. rido.gif

RiotNrrd (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 23. 23:51:35

sudanglo:I've opened Google Translate, told it to use paracetamolo for the Esperanto form, and then closed it, three times in all. But it still hasn't learnt it.
How many different IP addresses did you use? Because my guess* is that each correction only counts once per IP address, no matter how many times you submit it. Otherwise you run into our hypothetical anti-Esperanto "corrector" trying his best to screw with us, and Google Translate just lapping up each evil correction as a new "vote" for chaos. If you restrict the number of distinct corrections by IP address, though, you do a lot to cut down on that sort of nonsense.

Each time your computer connects to your ISP, you get assigned an IP address, and that's your address for the session (some ISPs will give you the same address for months on end, but then suddenly give you a new one one day, for some arcane reason, and then THAT's your new address). So, if you submit the same correction over and over, but from the same computer, my guess* is that it counts, at best, as ONE submission - until your IP address changes, of course.

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* It is just a guess, though. I have no actual insight into their methods.

sudanglo (Profil megtekintése) 2012. március 24. 10:13:18

Google Translate should have a 'spertulo' button, for teaching purposes.

Anyway, could a number of people have a go at GT with 'paracetamolo' to see how many people it takes to teach the programme to get it right.

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