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Basilius Valentinus

Basilius Valentinus

Basilius Valentinus, also known under his Anglisized name of Basil Valentine was a 15th-century alchemist. He was the Canon of the Benedictine Priory of Sankt Peter in Erfurt, Germany. As even his name cannot be corroborated, during the 18th century suggested to be Johann Thölde, also his year of birth 1394 in Mayence is uncertain. He showed that ammonia could be obtained by the action of alkalies on sal-ammoniac, and how hydrochloric acid could be produced from acidizing brine.

Bibliography

Basilius Valentinus wrote dozens important publication on alchemy in Latin and German. They have been translated in all West European languages, including English, French, and others. ; Most famous works (in Latin)
- Currus Triumphalis Antimonii (The triumphal chariot of antimony)
- Duodecim Claves (The twelve keys) ; Many other works (in Latin and German)
- Porta sophica
- The Medicine of Metals
- Of things natural and supernatural
- Of the first tincture, root and spirit of metals
- Of the great secrecy of the world, and its medicin
- Libri quattuor de particularibus septem planetarum (Of the supremacy of the seven planets)
- Experimenta chymica
- Practica
- Compendium veritatis philosophicum (German)
- Last will and testament

External links

- [http://www.crystalinks.com/basilvalentine.html Description of Valentinus and transcription of The Twelve Keys]
- [http://www.sacred-texts.com/alc/antimony.htm Transcription of Triumphal Chariot of Antimony]
- [http://www.themamundi.de/lesebuch/valentin.htm Transcription of Of the supremacy of the seven planets (German)]
- [http://www.yankeeclassic.com/miskatonic/library/stacks/alchemy/shelves/stacks-bc.html Transcription of Last will and testament] Valentinus, Basilius

15th century

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.

Events

- 1401: Timur sacks Baghdad.
- 1402: The Ottoman and Timurid Empires fought at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timur's capture of Bayezid I. The Ottoman Empire descends into civil war until 1413.
- 1402: The conquest of the Canary Islands signals the start of the Spanish Empire.
- 1402: Sultanate of Malacca founded by Parameshwara.
- 1403: The Yongle Emperor moves the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing.
- 1405-33: Zheng He explores the Indian Ocean.
- 1410: The Battle of Grunwald was the decisive battle of the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War leading to the downfall of the Teutonic Knights.
- 1415: Henry the Navigator leads the conquest of Ceuta from the Moors marking the beginning of the Portuguese Empire.
- 1420-34: Hussite Wars in the wonderful Bohemia
- 1438: Pachacuti founds the Inca Empire.
- 1440s: The Golden Horde breaks up into the Siberia Khanate, the Khanate of Kazan, the Astrakhan Khanate, the Crimean Khanate, and the Great Horde.
- 1440-69: Under Moctezuma I, the Aztecs become the dominant power in Mesoamerica.
- 1453: The Fall of Constantinople marks the end of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1453: The Battle of Castillon is the last engagement of the Hundred Years' War.
- 1454-66: After defeating the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War, Poland annexes Royal Prussia.
- 1455-85: Wars of the Roses - English civil war leads to a stronger, centralized monarchy under the Tudors.
- 1456: The Siege of Belgrade halts the Ottoman's advance into Europe.
- 1467-1615: The Sengoku period is one of civil war in Japan.
- 1469: The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile leads to the unification of Spain.
- 1474-77: Burgundy Wars between France and the Habsburgs for control of Burgundy.
- 1478: Muscovy conquers Novgorod.
- 1480: After the Great standing on the Ugra river, Muscovy is independent of the Great Horde.
- 1481: Spanish Inquisition begins.
- 1492: Boabdil's surrender of Granada marks the end of the Reconquista and Al-Andalus.
- 1493: Christopher Columbus founds Spain's first New World colony on Hispaniola.
- 1494: Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas and agree to divide the World outside of Europe between themselves.
- 1494-1559: The Italian Wars lead to the downfall of the Italian city-states.

Significant people

- Joan of Arc, national heroine of France
- Christopher Columbus sails to the Americas for Spain
- Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon as the monarchs of a unified kingdom who funded the founding of the New World.
- Vasco da Gama reaches India for Portugal, creating the first maritime alternative for the Silk Road
- Filippo Brunelleschi invents one-point perspective, leads innovation in Italian architecture
- Leonardo da Vinci, inventor and painter
- Henry V, the English King who won the famous Battle of Agincourt in 1405.
- Richard III, last English King of the house of York
- Henry VII, English King founds the Tudor dynasty
- Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, renaissance ruler
- Zheng He, Chinese eunuch admiral and explorer
- Mehmet II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Conqueror of Costantinople
- Jan Hus, Bohemian religious thinker and reformer

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

List of 15th century inventions
- Renaissance affects philosophy, science and art.
- Age of Discovery begins.
- Rise of Modern English language from Middle English.
- Introduction of the noon bell in the Catholic world.
- Public banks
- Yongle Encyclopedia - over 22,000 volumes
- Hangul alphabet in Korea
- Scotch whisky
- Psychiatric hospitals

Decades and years

Category:15th century ko:15세기 ja:15世紀 simple:15th century th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 15

Benedictine

A Benedictine is a person who follows the Rule of St Benedict. Such a person may live the Consecrated Life (that is, as a monk or nun according to Church Law) or not (for example, as an oblate). Benedictines are usually members of the Roman Catholic Church or one of the churches of the Anglican Communion, although they are occasionally found in other Christian religious denominations as well. For the main articles on the Benedictine way of religious living, see Rule of St Benedict, Benedictine Confederation, Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine Sisters, and Oblates of Saint Benedict. Outside a monastic context, "Benedictine" may also refer to a follower of another Benedict, especially a Saint Benedict or a Pope Benedict. "Benedictine" is also used as a more general adjective; thus, the papacy of a particular Pope Benedict may be called the "Benedictine era".

External links

- [http://www.osb.org/ The Order of Saint Benedict] - Official website of the order
- [http://www.glenstal.org/ Glenstal Benedictine Abbey] - Website of Benedictine Abbey located in Limerick, Ireland Category:Christianity

Priory

A priory is an ecclesiastical circumscription run by a prior.

Monastic unit

Priories can be divided into two types, regular and alien. A regular priory is a monastery governed by a prior or prioress, usually Catholic. An alien priory is a priory which is dependent on a foreign mother house, and an alien priory cell was a residence of two or three monks dependent on a foreign mother house but sent to exploit a distant estate. Alien priory cells were suppressed in 1414. Originally, a priory is a secondary house created by an existing abbey, but this distinction fell out of use in late mediaeval times. Priories were generally organized as follows: The prior was the head of the priory, and although he oversaw most aspects of the running of the priory, many specific supervisory positions existed to help him manage the priory. The sub prior was essentially a deputy prior and the second in command. There could be various other lower, functional positions, depending on the size and activities of the priory, such as :
- the sacrist, second only to the prior and sub prior, who was in charge of everything holy, including services, books and relics
- a circuitor, the monk in charge of discipline
- a novice-master who supervised the novice monks
- the cellarer, who provided for the monks practical needs for daily life, such as supplies
- a librarian, who managed the books
- the cantor, who supervised (choir) music
- a chamberlain, in charge of clothing
- a kitchener, in charge of food
- a guest-master, in charge of seeing to the priory's guests
- an infirmerer, who took care of the sick and the elderly monks
- a treasurer, who supervised the priory's jewels, ornaments, and vestaments
- the almoner who managed alms distributed to the poor. The prior was elected by a majority vote of the monks. At election times the votes were all counted equally from the youngest novice up to the sub prior. Often the local bishop would endorse a candidate, however the election was left entirely up to the monks. Ken Follet's historical novel The Pillars of the Earth provides the reader with an accurate (albeit fictional) representation of priory life in 12th-centry England. The relationships between individual priory members, between neighboring priories, and between the priory & diocese are well documented.
- There exist also offices using the title prior at a higher level of an order's organization, such as a Prior provincilis, in a province of (only?) the order of Decalced Augustinians
- A special case is the ecumenical priory of the Taizé Community.

Other prior and priories

In some abbeys, there also was a prior, but as the deputy of the Abbot. Other congregations may have independent priories that depend in no way on an abbey, and may even have been founded independently. Furthermore, a priory (or priorate) can be part of a military order that is headed by a knight, styled prior but more often a warrior or administrator than a member, and usually not a clergyman (often the office is opened only to laymen).

Priory Estate

The Priory is also an area in Dudley, West Midlands. A Benedictine Priory was built in the town about 800 years ago but it has been in ruins since at least the 19th century. Priory Park was opened in the grounds of the ruins just before the Second World War and the Priory Housing Estate was built in the 1930's. The houses around the park in roads like Gervase Drive and Woodland Avenue, and the south side of Priory Road, were built for owner occupiers but most of the estate was built by the council to rehouse people from town centre slum clearences. The estate survives to this day and is part of the most deprived ward in Dudley - Castle and Priory, which also includes the Wren's Nest Estate and the area around the Castle Gate complex. Category:Religious buildings

Ammonia

Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH₃. At standard temperature and pressure ammonia is a gas. It is toxic and corrosive to some materials, and has a characteristic pungent odor. An ammonia molecule is not flat, but has the shape of a compressed tetrahedron known as a trigonal pyramid, as would be expected from VSEPR theory. This shape gives the molecule an overall dipole moment and makes it polar so that ammonia very readily dissolves in water. The nitrogen atom in the molecule has a lone electron pair, and ammonia acts as a base. In acidic or even neutral aqueous solutions, it can bond to a hydronium ion (H₃O⁺), releasing a water molecule (H₂O) to form the positively charged ammonium ion (NH₄⁺), which has the shape of a regular tetrahedron. The degree to which ammonia forms the ammonium ion depends on the pH of the solution. The main uses of ammonia are in the production of fertilizers, explosives and polymers. It is also an ingredient in certain household glass cleaners. Ammonia is found in small quantities in the atmosphere, being produced from the putrefaction of nitrogenous animal and vegetable matter. Ammonia and ammonium salts are also found in small quantities in rainwater, while ammonium chloride (sal-ammoniac) and ammonium sulfate are found in volcanic districts; crystals of ammonium bicarbonate have been found in Patagonian guano. Ammonium salts also are found distributed through all fertile soil and in seawater. Substances containing ammonia or that are similar to it are called ammoniacal.

History

Salts of ammonia have been known from very early times; thus the term Hammoniacus sal appears in the writings of Pliny, although it is not known whether the term is identical with the more modern sal-ammoniac. In the form of sal-ammoniac, ammonia was known to the alchemists as early as the 13th century, being mentioned by Albertus Magnus. It was also used by dyers in the Middle Ages in the form of fermented urine to alter the colour of vegetable dyes. In the 15th century, Basilius Valentinus showed that ammonia could be obtained by the action of alkalis on sal-ammoniac. At a later period, when sal-ammoniac was obtained by distilling the hoofs and horns of oxen and neutralizing the resulting carbonate with hydrochloric acid, the name Spirit of hartshorn was applied to ammonia. Gaseous ammonia was first isolated by Joseph Priestley in 1774 and was termed by him alkaline air. In 1777 Karl Wilhelm Scheele showed that it contained nitrogen, and Claude Louis Berthollet, in about 1785, ascertained its composition. The Haber process to produce ammonia from the nitrogen contained in the air was developed by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch in 1909 and patented in 1910. It was first used on an industrial scale by the Germans during World War I. The ammonia was used to produce explosives to sustain their war effort.

Production

Because of its many uses, ammonia is one of the most highly-produced inorganic chemicals. Before the start of WWI most ammonia was obtained by the dry distillation of nitrogenous vegetable and animal products; by the reduction of nitrous acid and nitrites with nascent hydrogen; and also by the decomposition of ammonium salts by alkaline hydroxides or by quicklime, the salt most generally used being the chloride (sal-ammoniac) thus ::2NH₄Cl + 2CaO → CaCl₂ + Ca(OH)₂ + 2NH₃ It has also been obtained by decomposing magnesium nitride (Mg₃N₂) with water, ::Mg₃N₂ + 6H₂O → 3Mg(OH)₂ + 2NH₃ Today the Haber process is the most important method for production of ammonia. In this process, nitrogen and hydrogen gases combine directly on an iron catalyst at a pressure of 200 bar (20 MPa, 3000 lbf/in²) and a temperature of 500 °C to produce ammonia. ::N₂ + 3H₂ → 2 NH₃ Compared to older methods, the feedstocks of the Haber process are relatively inexpensive—nitrogen makes up 78% of the atmosphere, while hydrogen can be readily produced from natural gas.

Properties

Ammonia is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent smell; it is lighter than air, its density being 0.589 times that of air. It is easily liquefied and the liquid boils at -33.7 °C, and solidifies at -75 °C to a mass of white crystals. Liquid ammonia possesses strong ionizing powers (ε = 22), and solutions of salts in liquid ammonia have been much studied. Liquid ammonia has a very high standard enthalpy change of vaporization (23.35 kJ/mol, c.f. water 40.65 kJ/mol, methane 8.19 kJ/mol, phosphine 14.6 kJ/mol) and can therefore be used in laboratories in non-insulated vessels at room temperature, even though it is well above its boiling point. It is miscible with water. All the ammonia contained in an aqueous solution of the gas may be expelled by boiling. The aqueous solution of ammonia is basic. The maximum concentration of ammonia in water (a saturated solution) has a density of 0.880 g cm^-3 and is often known as '.880 Ammonia'. It does not sustain combustion, and it does not burn readily unless mixed with oxygen, when it burns with a pale yellowish-green flame. At high temperature and in the presence of a suitable catalyst, ammonia is decomposed into its constituent elements. Chlorine catches fire when passed into ammonia, forming nitrogen and hydrochloric acid; unless the ammonia is present in excess, the highly explosive nitrogen trichloride (NCl₃) is also formed. The ammonia molecule readily undergoes nitrogen inversion at normal pressures, that is to say that the nitrogen atom passes through the plane of the three hydrogen atoms as if it were an umbrella turning inside out in a strong wind. The energy barrier to this inversion is 24.7 kJ/mol in ammonia, and the resonance frequency is 23.79 GHz, corresponding to microwave radiation of a wavelength of 1.260 cm. The absorption at this frequency was the first microwave spectrum to be observed (C. E. Cleeton & N. H. Williams, 1934).

Formation of salts

One of the most characteristic properties of ammonia is its power of combining directly with acids to form salts; thus with hydrochloric acid it forms ammonium chloride (sal-ammoniac); with nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, etc. However perfectly dry ammonia will not combine with perfectly dry hydrogen chloride, moisture being necessary to bring about the reaction. ::NH₃ + HCl → NH₄Cl The salts produced by the action of ammonia on acids are known as the ammonium salts and all contain the ammonium ion (NH₄⁺).

Acidity

Although ammonia is well-known as a base, it can also act as an extremely weak acid. It is a protic substance, and is capable of dissociation into the amide (NH₂⁻) ion, for example when solid lithium nitride is added to liquid ammonia, forming a lithium amide solution: Li₃N(s)+ 2NH₃(l) → 3Li⁺(am) + 3NH₂⁻(am). This is a Bronsted-Lowry acid-base reaction in which ammonia is acting as an acid.

Formation of other compounds

Ammonia can act as a nucleophile in substitution reactions. Amines can be formed by the reaction of ammonia with alkyl halides, although the resulting –NH₂ group is also nucleophilic and secondary and tertiary amines are often formed as by-products. Using an excess of ammonia helps minimise multiple substitution, and neutralises the hydrogen halide formed. Methylamine is prepared commercially by the reaction of ammonia with chloromethane, and the reaction of ammonia with 2-bromopropanoic acid has been used to prepare racemic alanine in 70% yield. Ethanolamine is prepared by a a ring-opening reaction with ethylene oxide: the reaction is sometimes allowed to go further to produce diethanolamine and triethanolamine. Amides can be prepared by the reaction of ammonia with a number of carboxylic acid derivatives. Acyl chlorides are the most reactive, but the ammonia must be present in at least a two-fold excess to neutralise the hydrogen chloride formed. Esters and anhydrides also react with ammonia to form amides. Ammonium salts of carboxylic acids can be dehydrated to amides so long as there are no thermally sensitive groups present: temperatures of 150–200 °C are required. The hydrogen in ammonia is capable of replacement by metals, thus magnesium burns in the gas with the formation of magnesium nitride Mg₃N₂, and when the gas is passed over heated sodium or potassium, sodamide, NaNH₂, and potassamide, KNH₂, are formed. Where necessary in substitutive nomenclature, IUPAC recommendations prefer the name azane to ammonia: hence chloramine would be named chloroazane in substitutive nomenclature, not chloroammonia.

Ammonia as a ligand

Ammonia can act as a ligand in transition metal complexes. It is a pure σ-donor, in the middle of the spectrochemical series, and shows intermediate hard-soft behaviour. For historical reasons, ammonia is named ammine in the nomenclature of coordination compounds. Some notable ammine complexes include:
- Hexamminecopper(II), [Cu(NH₃)₆]²⁺, a characteristic dark blue complex formed by adding ammonia to solution of copper(II) salts.
- Diamminesilver(I), [Ag(NH₃)₂]⁺, the active species in Tollens' reagent. Formation of this complex can also help to distinguish between precipitates of the different silver halides: AgCl is soluble in dilute (2 M) ammonia solution, AgBr is only soluble in concentrated ammonia solution while AgI is insoluble in aqueous solution of ammonia. Ammine complexes of chromium(III) were known in the late 19th century, and formed the basis of Alfred Werner's theory of coordination compounds. Werner noted that only two isomers (fac- and mer-) of the complex [CrCl₃(NH₃)₃] could be formed, and concluded that the ligands must be arranged around the metal ion at the vertices of an octahedron. This has since been confirmed by X-ray crystallography. An ammine ligand bound to a metal ion is markedly more acidic than a free ammonia molecule, although deprotonation in aqueous solution is still rare. One example is the Calomel reaction, where the resulting amidomercury(II) compound is highly insoluble. ::Hg₂Cl₂ + 2NH₃ → Hg + HgCl(NH₂) + NH₄⁺ + Cl⁻

Uses

The most important single use of ammonia is in the production of nitric acid. A mixture of one part ammonia to nine parts air is passed over a platinum gauze catalyst at 850 °C, whereupon the ammonia is oxidized to nitric oxide. ::4NH₃ + 5O₂ → 4NO + 6H₂O The catalyst is essential, as the normal oxidation (or combustion) of ammonia gives dinitrogen and water: the production of nitric oxide is an example of kinetic control. As the gas mixture cools to 200–250 °C, the nitric oxide is in turn oxidized by the excess of oxygen present in the mixture, to give nitrogen dioxide. This is reacted with water to give nitric acid for use in the production of fertilizers and explosives. In addition to serving as a fertilizer ingredient, ammonia can also be used directly as a fertilizer by forming a solution with irrigation water, without additional chemical processing. This later use allows the continuous growing of nitrogen dependent crops such as maize (corn) without crop rotation but this type of use leads to poor soil health. Ammonia has thermodynamic properties that make it very well suited as a refrigerant, since it liquefies readily under pressure, and was used in virtually all refrigeration units prior to the advent of haloalkanes such as Freon. However, ammonia is a toxic irritant and its corrosiveness to any copper alloys increases the risk that an undesirable leak may develop and cause a noxious hazard. Its use in small refrigeration units has been largely replaced by haloalkanes, which are not toxic irritants and are practically not flammable. (Note: Butane and isobutane, which have very suitable thermodynamic properties for refrigerants, are extremely flammable.) Ammonia continues to be used as a refrigerant in large industrial processes such as bulk icemaking and industrial food processing. Ammonia is also useful as a component in absorption-type refrigerators, which do not use compression and expansion cycles but can exploit heat differences. Since the implication of haloalkane being major contributors to ozone depletion, ammonia is again seeing increasing use as a refrigerant. Ammonia is a primary ingredient in old-style household cleaners. It is also sometimes added to drinking water along with chlorine to form chloramine, a disinfectant. Unlike chlorine on its own, chloramine does not combine with organic (carbon containing) materials to form carcinogenic halomethanes such as chloroform.

Liquid ammonia as a solvent

:See also: Inorganic nonaqueous solvent Liquid ammonia is the best-known and most widely studied non-aqueous ionizing solvent. Its most conspicuous property is its ability to dissolve alkali metals to form highly coloured, electrically conducting solutions containing solvated electrons. Apart from these remarkable solutions, much of the chemistry in liquid ammonia can be classified by analogy with related reactions in aqueous solutions. Comparison of the physical properties of NH₃ with those of water shows that NH₃ has the lower melting point, boiling point, density, viscosity, dielectric constant and electrical conductivity; this is due at least in part to the weaker H bonding in NH₃ and the fact that such bonding cannot form cross-linked networks since each NH₃ molecule has only 1 lone-pair of electrons compared with 2 for each H₂O molecule. The ionic self-dissociation constant of liquid NH₃ at −50 °C is approx. 10^-33 mol²·l^-2.

Solubility of salts

Liquid ammonia is an ionizing solvent, although less so than water, and dissolves a range of ionic compounds including many nitrates, nitrites, cyanides and thiocyanates. Most ammonium salts are soluble, and these salts act as acids in liquid ammonia solutions. The solubility of halide salts increases from fluoride to iodide. A saturated solution of ammonium nitrate contains 0.83 mol solute per mole of ammonia, and has a vapour pressure of less than 1 bar even at 25 °C.

Solutions of metals

:See also: Solvated electron, metallic solution Liquid ammonia will dissolve the alkali metals and other electropositive metals such as Ca, Sr, Ba Eu and Yb. At low concentrations (< 0.06 mol/L), deep blue solutions are formed: these contain metal cations and solvated electrons, free electrons which are surrounded by a cage of ammonia molecules. These solutions are very useful as strong reducing agents. At higher concentrations, the solutions are metallic in appearance and in electrical conductivity. At low temperatures, the two types of solution can coexist as immiscible phases.

Redox properties of liquid ammonia

The range of thermodynamic stability of liquid ammonia solutions is very narrow, as the potential for oxidation to dinitrogen, E° (N₂ + 6NH₄⁺ + 6e⁻ 8NH₃), is only +0.04 V. In practice, both oxidation to dinitrogen and reduction to dihydrogen are slow. This is particularly true of reducing solutions: the solutions of the alkali metals mentioned above are stable for several days, slowly decomposing to the metal amide and dihydrogen. Most studies involving liquid ammonia solutions are done in reducing conditions: although oxidation of liquid ammonia is usually slow, there is still a risk of explosion, particularly if transition metal ions are present as possible catalysts.

Detection and determination

Ammonia and ammonium salts can be readily detected, in very minute traces, by the addition of Nessler's solution, which gives a distinct yellow coloration in the presence of the least trace of ammonia or ammonium salts. Sulfur sticks are burnt to detect small leaks in industrial ammonia refrigeration systems. Larger quantities can be detected by warming the salts with a caustic alkali or with quicklime, when the characteristic smell of ammonia will be at once apparent. The amount of ammonia in ammonium salts can be estimated quantitatively by distillation of the salts with sodium or potassium hydroxide, the ammonia evolved being absorbed in a known volume of standard sulfuric acid and the excess of acid then determined volumetrically; or the ammonia may be absorbed in hydrochloric acid and the ammonium chloride so formed precipitated as ammonium hexachloroplatinate, (NH₄)₂PtCl₆.

Safety precautions

Toxicity

The toxicity of ammonia solutions does not usually cause problems for humans and other mammals, as a specific mechanism exists to prevent its build-up in the bloodstream. Ammonia is converted to carbamoyl phosphate by the enzyme carbamoyl phosphate synthase, and then enters the urea cycle to be either incorporated into amino acids or excreted in the urine. However fish and amphibians lack this mechanism, as they can usually eliminate ammonia from their bodies by direct excretion. Ammonia even at dilute concentrations is highly toxic to aquatic animals, and for this reason it is classified as dangerous for the environment.

Household use

Solutions of ammonia (5–10% by weight) are used as household cleaners, particularly for glass. These solutions are irritating to the eyes and mucous membranes (respiratory and digestive tracts), and to a lesser extent the skin. They should never be mixed with chlorine-containing products, for example household bleach, as a variety of toxic and carcinogenic compounds are formed (e.g., chloramine, hydrazine).

Laboratory use of ammonia solutions

The hazards of ammonia solutions depend on the concentration: "dilute" ammonia solutions are usually 5–10% by weight (<5.62 mol/L); "concentrated" solutions are usually prepared at >25% by weight. A 25% (by weight) solution has a density of 0.907 g/cm³, and a solution which has a lower density will be more concentrated. The European Union classification of ammonia solutions is given in the table. :S-Phrases: , , , , . The ammonia vapour from concentrated ammonia solutions is severely irritating to the eyes and the respiratory tract, and these solutions should only be handled in a fume hood. Saturated ("0.880") solutions can develop a significant pressure inside a closed bottle in warm weather, and the bottle should be opened with care: this is not usually a problem for 25% ("0.900") solutions. Ammonia solutions should not be mixed with halogens, as toxic and/or explosive products are formed. Prolonged contact of ammonia solutions with silver, mercury or iodide salts can also lead to explosive products: such mixtures are often formed in qualitative analysis, and should be acidified and diluted before disposal once the test is completed.

Laboratory use of anhydrous ammonia (gas or liquid)

Anhydrous ammonia is classified as toxic (T) and dangerous for the environment (N). The gas is flammable (autoignition temperature: 651 °C) and can form explosive mixtures with air (16–25%). The permissible exposure limit (PEL) in the United States is 50 ppm (35 mg/m³), while the IDLH concentration is estimated at 300 ppm. Repeated exposure to ammonia lowers the sensitivity to the smell of the gas: normally the odour is detectable at concentrations of less than 0.5 ppm, but desensitized individuals may not detect it even at concentrations of 100 ppm. Ammonia reacts violently with the halogens, and causes the explosive polymerization of ethylene oxide. It also forms explosive compounds with compounds of gold, silver, mercury, germanium or tellurium, and with stibine. Violent reactions have also been reported with acetaldehyde, hypochlorite solutions, potassium ferricyanide and peroxides. Anhydrous ammonia corrodes copper- and zinc-containing alloys, and so brass fittings should not be used for handling the gas. Liquid ammonia can also attack rubber and certain plastics.

Reference

# Baker, H. B. (1894). J. Chem. Soc. 65: 612.

Bibliography

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External links

- [http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cis/products/icsc/dtasht/_icsc04/icsc0414.htm International Chemical Safety Card 0414] (anhydrous ammonia)
- [http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cis/products/icsc/dtasht/_icsc02/icsc0215.htm International Chemical Safety Card 0215] (aqueous solutions)
- [http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0028.html NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards]
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- [http://www.inrs.fr Institut national de recherche et de securite] (in French)
- [http://www.ammoniaspills.org Emergency Response to Ammonia Fertilizer Releases (Spills)] for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture
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- [http://www.compchemwiki.org/index.php?title=Ammonia Computational Chemistry Wiki] Category:Nitrogen compounds Category:Hydrides Category:Bases Category:Nitrogen metabolism Category:Household chemicals Category:Refrigerants ms:Ammonia ja:アンモニア simple:Ammonia

Alkali

For the battery, see alkaline battery ---- The word alkali can mean:-
- In chemistry, an alkali is a specific type of base, formed as a carbonate, hydroxide or other ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkali earth metal element. The word alkali or the adjective alkaline are frequently used to refer to all bases, since most common bases are alkalis, although such use is really a synecdoche.
- In the western parts of the USA, natural soda or potash deposits (soda and potash themselves are both alkali salts).
- [http://www.tomlaidlaw.com/clickable/alkali.html Alkali Springs] is a place in Oregon in the USA.
- Alkali is also the NATO reporting name of the Kaliningrad K-5 air-to-air missile.

Common properties of alkalis

Alkalis are all Arrhenius bases and share many properties with other chemicals in this group (Arrhenius bases form hydroxide ions when dissolved in water). Common properties of alkaline solutions include:
- Alkalis all form aqueous solutions.
- Alkalis are bitter to taste (compared with acid solutions which are described as sour).
- Caustic (causing chemical burns).
- Slippery or soapy to the touch (due to the caustic reaction dissolving the surface of the skin and fingerprint).
- Alkalis have a pH greater than 7 and hence can be detected with litmus paper (litmus will turn blue on contact with an alkali).
- Another common test for alkalis is the use of phenolphthalein since it turns from colourless to pink when the pH moves from 8 to 10 (making it suitable for detecting all but the most dilute solutions of alkalis).

Confusion between base and alkali

The terms base and alkali are often used interchangeably, since most common bases are alkalis. It is common to speak of "measuring the alkalinity of soil" when you actually mean measuring the pH (base property). Similarly, bases which are not alkalis, like ammonia, are sometimes erroneously referred to as alkaline.

Alkali salts

Most basic salts are alkali salts. Common alkali salts include:
- sodium hydroxide (often called "caustic soda")
- potassium hydroxide (commonly called "potash")
- lye (generic term, for either of the previous two, or even for a mixture)
- calcium carbonate (sometimes called "free lime")

Alkali soil

Soil with a pH above 7.4 is normally referred to as alkaline. This soil property can occur naturally, due to the presence of alkali salts. Although some plants do prefer slightly basic soil (including cabbage family vegetables and buffalograss), most plant prefer a mildly acidic soil (pH between 6.0 and 6.8), and high pH levels can cause a problem. In alkali lakes (a type of salt lake), evaporation concentrates the naturally occurring alkali salts, often forming a crust of mildly basic salt across a large area. Examples of Alkali Lakes: Redberry Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada. Tramping Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Etymology

The word "alkali" is derived from Arabic al qalīy = "the calcined ashes", referring to the original source of alkaline substance. Ashes were used in conjunction with animal fat to produce soap, a process known as saponification. Category:Inorganic chemistry Category:Arabic words simple:Alkali

Sal ammoniac

Sal ammoniac is a rare mineral composed of ammonium chloride, NH₄Cl. It is found around volcanic fumaroles and guano deposits. It is also the archaic name for the chemical compound ammonium chloride. Category:Halide minerals

Brine

Brine is water saturated or nearly saturated with salt. It is used (now less popular than historically) to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat. Brine lakes, like the Dead Sea, develop as a result of high evaporation rates in a desert climate and lack of an outlet to the ocean. The salt in these bodies of water comes from either minerals washed out of the surrounding watershed or from a geologically old, previous connection to the ocean. Another example is the Great Salt Lake in Utah. In other locations a body of water abutting the sea may have a salinity between that of sea and fresh water. This is sometimes described as brackish. An example is the Etang de Vaccares and surrounding waters in the Camargue. Man-made brine ponds, usually located along an ocean shore, are a source of commercial table salt, which is obtained by evaporating and purifying seawater. Commercial table salt is also obtained by way of a salt mine. A town in England famous for its abundance of saturated brine is Droitwich Spa.

German language

German (German: ), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the world's major languages. It is the language with the most native speakers in the European Union. Spoken by more than 130 million people in 38 countries of the world, German is—like English—a pluricentric language with three main centers of usage: Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Geographic distribution

German is spoken primarily in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, in two-thirds of Switzerland, in two-thirds of the South Tyrol province of Italy (in German, Südtirol), in the small East Cantons of Belgium, and in some border villages of the South Jutland County (in German, Nordschleswig, in Danish, Sønderjylland) of Denmark. In Luxembourg (in German, Luxemburg), as well as in the French régions of Alsace (in German, Elsass) and parts of Lorraine (in German, Lothringen), the native populations speak several German dialects, and some people also master standard German (especially in Luxembourg), although in Alsace and Lorraine French has for the most part replaced the local German dialects in the last 40 years. Some German speaking communities still survive in parts of Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and above all Russia, Kazakhstan and Poland, although massive relocations to Germany in the late 1940s and 1990s have depopulated most of these communities. Outside of Europe and the former Soviet Union, the largest German speaking communities are to be found in the USA and in Brazil where millions of Germans migrated in the last 200 years; but the great majority of their descendants no longer speak German. Additionally, German speaking communities are to be found in the former German colony of Namibia, as well as in the other countries of German emigration such as Canada, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Venezuela (where Alemán Coloneiro developed), Thailand, and Australia. See also Plautdietsch. In the USA, the largest concentration of German speakers are in Pennsylvania (Amish, Hutterites and some Mennonites speak Pennsylvania German and Hutterite German), Texas (Texas German), North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin and Indiana also speak dialects of German. In Brazil the largest concentrations of German speakers are in Rio Grande do Sul, where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch was developed, Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Espírito Santo). Generally, German immigrant communities in the USA have lost their mother tongue more quickly than those who moved to South America, possibly due to the fact that for Germans English is easier to learn than Portuguese or Spanish. German is the main language of about 100 million people in Europe (as of 2004), or 13.3% of all Europeans, being the most spoken language in Europe excluding Russia, above French (66.5 million speakers in Europe in 2004) and English (64.2 million speakers in Europe in 2004). German is the third most taught foreign language worldwide, also in the USA (after Spanish and French); it is the second most known foreign language in the EU (after English; see [http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_237.en.pdf]) It is one of the official languages of the European Union.

History

As a consequence of the colonisation patterns the Völkerwanderung, the routes for trade and communication (chiefly the rivers), and of physical isolation (high mountains and deep forests) very different regional dialects developed. These dialects, sometimes mutually unintelligible, were used across the Holy Roman Empire. As Germany was divided into many different states, the only force working for a unification or standardisation of German during a period of several hundred years was the general preference of writers trying to write in a way that could be understood in the largest possible area. When Martin Luther translated the Bible (the New Testament in 1521 and the Old Testament in 1534) he based his translation mainly on this already developed language, which was the most widely understood language at this time. This language was based on Eastern Upper and Eastern Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German (unlike the spoken German dialects in Central and Upper Germany that already at that time began to lose the genitive case and the preterit tense). In the beginning, copies of the Bible had a long list for each region, which translated words unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics rejected Luther's translation in the beginning and tried to create their own Catholic standard (Gemeines Deutsch) — which, however, only differed from 'Protestant German' in some minor details. It took until the middle of the 18th century to create a standard that was widely accepted, thus ending the period of Early New High German. German used to be the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire. It indicated that the speaker was a merchant, an urbanite, not their nationality. Some cities, such as Prague (German: Prag) and Budapest (Buda, German: Ofen), were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain. Others, such as Bratislava (German: Pressburg), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. A few cities such as Milan (German: Mailand) remained primarily non-German. However, most cities were primarily German during this time, such as Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Zagreb (German: Agram), and Ljubljana (German: Laibach), though they were surrounded by territory that spoke other languages. Until about 1800, Standard German was almost only a written language. In this time, people in urban northern Germany, who spoke dialects very different from Standard German, learnt it almost like a foreign language and tried to pronounce it as close to the spelling as possible. Prescriptive pronunciation guides used to consider that northern German pronunciation to be the standard. However, the actual pronunciation of standard German varies from region to region. Media and written works are almost all produced in standard German (often called Hochdeutsch in German), which is understood in all areas of German languages (except by pre-school children in areas which speak only dialect, for example Switzerland — but in this age of TV, even they now usually learn to understand Standard German before school age). The first dictionary of the Brothers Grimm, the 16 parts of which were issued between 1852 and 1960, remains the most comprehensive guide to the words of the German language. In 1860, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, this was declared the standard definition of the German language. Official revisions of some of these rules were not issued until 1998, when the German spelling reform of 1996 was officially promulgated by governmental representatives of all German-speaking countries. Since the reform, German spelling has been in an eight-year transitional period where the reformed spelling is taught in most schools, while traditional and reformed spelling co-exist in the media. See German spelling reform of 1996 for an overview of the heated public debate concerning the reform. During the 1870s, the German language successfully replaced Latin as the dominant language in all major European and North American universities, thanks to the prominence of German universities at the time. Most important research in the sciences for some decades afterward was published in German, and new universities preferred German instead of Greek or Latin mottoes (for example, Stanford University).

Classification and related languages

Stanford University is divided into Upper German (blue) and Central German (green), and the Dutch/Plattdüütsch (yellow). The main isoglosses, the Benrath and Speyer lines are marked in red.]] German is a member of the western branch of the Germanic family of languages, which in turn is part of the Indo-European language family.

Neighboring languages

German forms together with Dutch, its closest relative, a coherent and well-defined language area that is separated from its neighbors by language borders. These neighbors are: in the north Frisian and Danish; in the east Polish, Sorbian, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian; in the south Slovenian, Italian, Friulian, Ladin, and Romansh; in the west French. Except for Frisian, none of these languages are West Germanic, and so they are clearly distinct from German and Dutch. While Frisian is closely related to German and Dutch, it is generally considered not to be mutually intelligible with them. The situation is more complex with respect to the distinction between German and Dutch. Until recently, there has been a dialect continuum throughout the whole German-Dutch language area, with no language borders. In such a dialect continuum, dialects are always mutually intelligible with their neighbors, but dialects that are further apart from each other are often not. The German-Dutch continuum lent itself to a classification of dialects into Low German and High German based on their participation in the High German consonant shift; Dutch is part of the Low German group. However, because of the political separation between Germany and the Netherlands, Low German dialects in the Netherlands and Low German dialects in Germany have started to diverge during the 20th century. Additionally, both in northern Germany and in the Netherlands, many dialects are close to extinction and are being replaced by the German and Dutch standard languages. In this way, a language border between Dutch and German is currently forming. While German is grammatically similar in many ways to Dutch, it is very different in speech. A speaker of one may require some practice to effectively understand a speaker of the other. Compare, for example: :De kleinste kameleon is volwassen 2 cm groot, de grootste kan wel 80 cm worden. (Dutch) :Das kleinste Chamäleon ist ausgewachsen 2 cm groß, das größte kann gut 80 cm werden. (Standard German) : (English: "The smallest chameleon is fully grown 2 cm long, the longest can easily attain 80 cm.") Dutch speakers are generally able to read German, and German speakers who can speak Low German or English are generally able to read Dutch, but have problems understanding the spoken language, although Germans who speak High German, or, even better, Low German, can cope with Dutch much better than people from Southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria who have grown up with the Alemannic or Bavarian dialects.

Official status

Standard German is the only official language in Germany, Liechtenstein, and Austria; it shares official status in Switzerland (with French, Italian and Romansh), and Luxembourg (with French and Luxembourgish). It is used as a local official language in German-speaking regions of Belgium, Italy, Denmark, and Poland. It is one of the 20 official languages of the European Union. It is also a minority language in Canada, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Poland, Romania, Togo, Cameroon, the USA, Namibia, Brazil, Paraguay, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia, Moldavia, Australia, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. German was once the lingua franca of central, eastern and northern Europe. Increasing influence from the English language has affected German recently. However, German remains one of the most popular foreign languages taught world-wide, and is more popular than French as a foreign language in Europe. 8% of citizens of the EU-15 countries say they can converse in German, in addition to the 24% who speak German as a mother tongue.[http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/lang/languages/index_en.html] This is assisted by the availability of German TV by cable or satellite, where series like Star Trek are shown dubbed into German. German is also the second language of the Internet, more than 8% of the websites are in German (English 50%, French 6%, Japanese 5%, Spanish 3% and Portuguese 2%).

Dialects

The term "German" is used for the dialects of Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland (that is, outside the French-, Italian-, and Romansch-speaking areas) and some areas in the surrounding countries, as well as for several colonies and other ethnic concentrations founded by German-speaking people (for example German in the United States). The variation among the German dialects is considerable. Only the neighbouring dialects are mutually understandable. Most dialects are not understandable for someone who knows standard German. However, all German dialects belong to the dialect continuum of the continental West Germanic languages because any pair of neighbouring dialects is perfectly mutually intelligible. The dialect continuum of the continental West Germanic languages is typically divided into Low Germanic languages and High Germanic languages. Low Germanic is defined as the varieties that were not affected by the High German consonant shift. They consist of two subgroups, Low Franconian and Plattdüütsch (Low German). Low Franconian includes Dutch and Afrikaans, spoken primarily in the Netherlands, Belgium and South Africa; Plattdüütsch includes dialects spoken primarily in the German Lowlands and in the eastern Netherlands. The Plattdüütsch varieties are considered dialects of the German language by some, but a separate language by others; the Low Franconian varieties are not considered a part of the German language (see above for a discussion of the distinction between German and Dutch). High Germanic is divided into Central German and Upper German. Central German dialects include Ripuarian, Moselle Franconian, Rhine Franconian, Hessian, Thuringian and Upper Saxon. It is spoken in the southeastern Netherlands, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg, parts of France, and in Germany approximately between the River Main and the southern edge of the Lowlands. Modern Standard German is mostly based on Central German. The Moselle Franconian varieties spoken in Luxembourg have been officially standardized and institutionalized and are therefore usually considered a separate language, Luxembourgish language. Upper German dialects include Alemannic (for instance Swiss German), Swabian, East Franconian, and Austro-Bavarian. They are spoken in parts of the Alsace, southern Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, and in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and Italy. The High German varieties spoken by Ashkenazi Jews (mostly in the former Soviet Union) have several unique features, and are usually considered as a separate language, Yiddish. The dialects of German which are or were primarily spoken in colonies founded by German speaking people resemble the dialects of the regions the founders came from (for example Pennsylvania German resembles dialects of the Palatinate, or Hutterite German resembles dialects of Carinthia). In the United States, the teaching of the German language to latter-age students has given rise to a pidgin variant which combines the German language with the grammar and spelling rules of the English language. It is often understandable by either party. The speakers of this language often refer to it as Amerikanisch or Amerikanischdeutsch, although it is known in English as American German.

Standard German

In German linguistics, only the traditional regional varieties are called dialects, not the different varieties of standard German. Standard German has originated not as a traditional dialect of a specific region, but as a written language. However, there are places where the traditional regional dialects have been replaced by standard German (especially in major cities of Germany, and to some extent in Vienna). Standard German differs regionally, especially between German-speaking countries, especially in vocabulary, but also in some instances of pronunciation and even grammar. This variation must not be confused with the variation of local dialects. Even though the regional varieties of standard German are to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. German is thus considered a pluricentric language. In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectical varieties to more standard varieties according to situation. In the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, mixtures of dialect and standard are very seldom used, and the use of standard German is almost entirely restricted to the written language. Therefore, this situation has been called a medial diglossia. Standard German is rarely spoken, for instance when speaking with people who do not understand the Swiss German dialects at all, and it is expected to be used in school.

Grammar

Main article: German grammar German is an inflected language.

Noun inflection

German nouns inflect into:
- one of four declension classes
- one of three genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Word endings indicate some grammatical genders; others are arbitrary and must be memorised.
- two numbers: singular and plural
- four cases: nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative case. Although German is usually cited as an outstanding example of a highly inflected language, it should be noted that the degree of inflection is considerably less than in Old German, or in Icelandic today. The three genders have collapsed in the plural, which now behaves, grammatically, somewhat as a fourth gender. With four cases and three genders plus plural there are 16 distinct possible combinations of case and gender/number, but presently there are only six forms of the definite article used for the 16 possibilities. Inflection for case on the noun itself is required in the singular for strong masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive and sometimes in the dative. This dative ending is considered somewhat old-fashioned in many contexts and often dropped, but it is still used in sayings and in formal speech or written language. Weak masculine nouns share an common case ending for genitive, dative and accusative in the singular. Feminines are not declined in the singular. The plural does have an inflection for the dative. In total, six inflectional endings (not counting plural markers) exist in German: -s, -es, -n, -en, -ns, -e In the German orthography, unlike any other orthography, nouns and most words with the syntactical function of nouns are capitalised, which makes it quite easy for readers to find out what function a word has within the sentence. On the other hand, things get more difficult for the writer. Like most Germanic languages, German forms left-branching noun compounds, where the first noun modifies the category given by the second, for example: Hundehütte (eng. doghouse). Unlike English, where newer compounds or combinations of longer nouns are often written in open form with separating spaces, German (like the other German languages) always uses the closed form without spaces, for example: Baumhaus (eng. tree house). Like English, German allows arbitrarily long compounds, but these are rare. (See also English compounds.) The longest official German word is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz. There is even a child's game played in kindergartens and primary schools where a child begins the spelling of a word (which is not told) by naming the first letter. The next one tells the next letter, the third one tells the third and so on. The game is over when the a child can not think of another letter to be added to the word.

Verb Inflection

Standard German verbs inflect into:
- one of two conjugation classes, weak and strong (like English). (note: in fact there is a third class, called "gemischte Verben", which can be either weak ("active meaning") or strong ("passive meaning")) There are about 200 irregular verbs.
- three persons: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
- two numbers: singular and plural
- three moods: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative
- two genera verbi: active and passive; the passive being composed and dividable into static and dynamic.
- 2 non-composed tenses (Present, Preterite) and 4 composed tenses (Perfect, Plusquamperfect, Future I, Future II)
- no distinction between aspects (in English, perfect and progressive; in Polish between completed and incompleted form; in Turkish between first-hand and second-hand information) There are also many ways to expand, an sometimes radically change, the meaning of a base verb through several prefixes. Example: haften=to stick, verhaften=to imprison The word order is much more flexible than in English. The word order can be changed for subtle changes of a sentence's meaning. In normal positive sentences the verb always has position 2, in questions it has position 1. Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, although there are significant minorities of words derived from Latin, French, and most recently English.

Writing system

German is written using the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with Umlaut, namely ä, ö and ü, as well as a special symbol for "ss", which is used only after long vowels or diphthongs (and not used at all in Switzerland), the Eszett or Scharfes-S (sharp "s") ß. Until the early 20th century, German was mostly printed in blackletter typefaces (mostly in Fraktur, but also in Schwabacher) and written in corresponding handwriting (for example Kurrent and Sütterlin). These variants of the Latin alphabet are very different from the serif or sans serif antiqua typefaces used today, and are difficult for the untrained to read. They were abolished by the Nazis (incorrectly claiming that these letters are Jewish) in 1941 but this has been retained for broader and easier usability.

Alphabet

Main article: German alphabet.

Phonology

Main article: German phonology (pronunciation, historical sound changes).

Cognates with English

There are many German words that are cognate to English words. Most of them are easily identifiable and have almost the same meaning. When these cognates have slightly different consonants, this is often due to the High German consonant shift. There are cognates whose meanings in either language have changed through the centuries. It is sometimes difficult for both English and German speakers to discern the relationship. On the other hand, once the definitions are made clear, then the logical relation becomes obvious. There are many English loanwords in German, and a somewhat smaller number of German loanwords in English. Sometimes these also involve semantic changes, for example German Dogge, 'mastiff', from English dog, or German Handy, 'mobile phone'. German and English also share many borrowings from other languages, especially from Latin, French and Greek, but also from many other languages. Most of these word have the same meaning, while a few have subtle differences in meaning. As many of these words have been borrowed by numerous languages, not only German and English, they are called internationalisms in German linguistics.

Examples of German

Names of the German language in other languages

Because of the turbulent history of both Germany and the German language, the names that other peoples have chosen to use to refer to it varies more than for most other languages. In general, the names for the German language can be arranged in five groups according to their origin: Lao is unique in that both under the influence of English "German" (through Thai "yenman") and French (the colonial language) "Allemand", it chose a name in between: ພາສາເຢຍລະມັນ (phaxa yeylaman), which could be ranked both under category 2 and category 5. Note: The Romanian language used to use in the past the Slavonic term "nemţeşte", but "germană" is now widely used. Hungarian "német" is also a Slavonic loan-word. The Arabic name for Austria, النمسا ("an-namsa"), is derived from the Slavonic term. A possible explanation for the use of "mute" to refer to German (and also to Germans) in Slavic languages is that Germans were the first people Slavic tribes encountered, with whom they could not communicate. The corresponding experience for the Germans was with the Volcae, whose name they subsequently also applied to the Slavs, see etymology of Vlach. Hebrew traditionally (nowadays this is not the case) used the Biblical term Ashkenaz (Genesis 10.3) to refer to Germany, or to certain parts of it, and the Ashkenazi Jews are those who originate from Germany and Eastern Europe and formerly spoke Yiddish as their native language, derived from Middle High German.

External links

-
- [http://www.declan-software.com/german German language learning audio software]
- [http://learno.com/german Online Learno german course] Free online German tutorial at Learno.com
- [http://www.washjeff.edu/capl/ Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon] Free online visual lexicon of the German language with authentic photos from German speaking world.
- [http://www.sprachtausch.net Sprachtausch.net] — German website to find someone to teach you, for example german in exchange with your language.
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=deu Ethnologue report for German]
- [http://www.travlang.com/languages/german/ihgg/ Internet Handbook of German Grammar]
- [http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/ German resources] at the University of Michigan
- [http://german.languages4everyone.com Learn German Online] with this internet German course for beginners
- [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,2469,00.html Deutsche Welle's Online German Courses]
- [http://www.applelanguages.com/en/learn/german.php German courses in Germany]
- [http://www.vds-ev.de Verein Deutsche Sprache] (in German)
- A beginning [http://wikibooks.org/wiki/German German Language Textbook] under development at [http://wikibooks.org/ Wikibooks]
- [http://www.diwa.info/ Digital Wenker-Atlas] Project publishing the 19th century Linguistic Atlas of the German Empire
- [http://www.geocities.com/language_directory/languages/german.htm List of online German-related resources]
- [http://eserver.org/langs/the-awful-german-language.txt That awful German language] — A humourous essay by Mark Twain
- [http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/german/index.html Why learn German? A German language profile]
- [http://www.vistawide.com/german/why_german.htm Why learn German?] — 12 reasons to learn German
- [http://www.actilingua.com/german_courses/german_language.php Short summary on German language and varieties with a map!]
- [http://www.ielanguages.com/German.html Free German Language Tutorial from ielanguages.com]
- [http://www.passwort-deutsch.de/ Passwort Deutsch] - A German course
- [http://www.deutsch-lernen.com/ Learn German Online] containing free courses
- [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=1&learn-German/ Learn and listen to useful expressions in German] Each expression is presented with an audio recording and an illustration
- [http://www.expatica.com/source/site_content_subchannel.asp?subchannel_id=37&name=Germany+Education Articles on learning German] Also has a service whereby learners of German can send questions to a German teacher

Dictionary and word translations

- [http://dict.leo.org/ The LEO Online Dictionary] German-English-German dictionary at Leo.org
- [http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ TU Chemnitz Dictionary] a 185000+ German-English Dictionary with proverbs and pronounciation
- [http://www.dict.cc/ dict.cc: User-editable German-English-German Dictionary] works similar to Wikipedia, more than 840,000 keywords (420,000 translation pairs)
- [http://odge.info/ Odge.info] uses dict.cc's data according to [http://odge.info/License/ license] page
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/German-english/ German — English Dictionary]: from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] — the Rosetta Edition.
- [http://www.canoo.net/index_en.html German Grammar, Online Dictionary for Spelling, Infection and Wordformation for the German Language]
- [http://www.geodic.de GEODic] German-English-Online-Dictionary
- [http://www.woerterbuch.info woerterbuch.info — Free English-German Online Dictionary] with over 600.000 translations
- [http://www.dwds.de The Digital Dictonary Project]in German - Dictionary, Corpus and Statistics
- http://www.dedict.de - English-German Online Dictionary
- http://www.spell-it.net - Free English-German Online Dictionary

Grammar

- [http://www.wm.edu/modlang/gasmit/grammar/grammnu.html Grammar of German]
- [http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~skidmore/grammarpage.htm German Grammar on the Web]
- [http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~oberle/courses/review.html German Review Grammar]
- [http://www.cas.muohio.edu/~greal/netzgrammatik/grammar.html German Grammar Charts]

Reference

Category:Alchemists

Alchemists Alchemists

Gremlins 2 – Die Rückkehr der kleinen Monster

Gremlins 2 – Die Rückkehr der kleinen Monster (Originaltitel Gremlins 2 – The New Batch) ist ein Film von Joe Dante aus dem Jahr 1990. Das Drehbuch stammt von Charlie Haas. Einordnen kann man ihn in das Genre der Horrorkomödien, Gewalt wird Cartoon- und Slapstickartig dargestellt und es gibt zahlreiche scherzhafte Bezüge zu anderen Filmen wie zum Beispiel Rambo, Der Zauberer von Oz, Das Phantom der Oper und dem ersten Gremlins-Film.

Weblinks

- Kategorie:Filmtitel

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