Most Chinese names for the elements were standardized in the 19th century by missionary-translator John Fryer (
傅兰雅 Fù Lányǎ) and Xu Shou (
徐寿 Xú Shòu), who coined characters like
钠 (nà, sodium),
钾 (jiǎ, potassium), and
氯 (lǜ, chlorine) — combining a radical (
金 metal,
气 gas,
石 stone) with a phonetic that mimics the Latin or English name.
