How to pronounce the chemical elements

Below you can find a list of the most important chemical elements and their correct pronunciation. Elements which are often pronounced incorrectly are highlighted in red. I have previously written about iron and copper. Let me also remind you that in English, the letter y (which appears in elements such as Beryllium or Yttrium) is not pronounced like the German ü, see here. If different, the first line for each element corresponds to the British pronunciation, and the second line to the American pronunciation. (Sources: Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Longman Pronunciation Dictionary).

Apart from the pronunciation, confusion often arises in the cases of mercury (not quicksilver, a false friend related to the German Quecksilber), potassium (Kalium in German), sodium (Natrium in German), tungsten (or wolfram; Wolfram in German), silicon (not silicone), and phosphorus (not phosphor).

1	Hydrogen	H	ˈhaɪdrədʒən	listen
2	Helium	He	ˈhiːliəm	listen
3	Lithium	Li	ˈlɪθiəm	listen
4	Beryllium	Be	bəˈrɪliəm	listen
5	Boron	B	ˈbɔːrɒn ˈbɔːrɑːn	listen
6	Carbon	C	ˈkɑːbən ˈkɑːrbən	listen
7	Nitrogen	N	ˈnaɪtrədʒən	listen
8	Oxygen	O	ˈɒksɪdʒən ˈɑːksɪdʒən	listen
9	Fluorine	F	ˈflɔːriːn;ˈflʊəriːn ˈflɔːriːn;ˈflʊriːn	listen
10	Neon	Ne	ˈniːɒn ˈniːɑːn	listen
11	Sodium	Na	ˈsəʊdiəm ˈsoʊdiəm	listen
12	Magnesium	Mg	mæɡˈniːziəm	listen
13	Aluminium	Al	ˌæljəˈmɪniəm;ˌæləˈmɪniəm ˌæljəˈmɪniəm;ˌæləˈmɪniəm	listen
14	Silicon	Si	ˈsɪlɪkən	listen
15	Phosphorus	P	ˈfɒsfərəs ˈfɑːsfərəs	listen
16	Sulfur	S	ˈsʌlfə(r) ˈsʌlfər	listen
17	Chlorine	Cl	ˈklɔːriːn	listen
18	Argon	Ar	ˈɑːɡɒn ˈklɔːriːn	listen
19	Potassium	K	pəˈtæsiəm	listen
20	Calcium	Ca	ˈkælsiəm	listen
21	Scandium	Sc	ˈskændiəm	listen
22	Titanium	Ti	tɪˈteɪniəm	listen
23	Vanadium	V	vəˈneɪdiəm	listen
24	Chromium	Cr	ˈkrəʊmiəm ˈkroʊmiəm	listen
25	Manganese	Mn	ˈmæŋɡəniːz	listen
26	Iron	Fe	ˈaɪən ˈaɪərn	listen
27	Cobalt	Co	ˈkəʊbɔːlt ˈkoʊbɔːlt	listen
28	Nickel	Ni	ˈnɪkl	listen
29	Copper	Cu	ˈkɒpə(r) ˈkɑːpər	listen
30	Zinc	Zn	zɪŋk	listen
31	Gallium	Ga	ˈɡæliəm	listen
32	Germanium	Ge	dʒɜːˈmeɪniəm dʒɜːrˈmeɪniəm	listen
33	Arsenic	As	ˈɑːsnɪk ˈɑːrsnɪk	listen
34	Selenium	Se	səˈliːniəm	listen
35	Bromine	Br	ˈbrəʊmiːn ˈbroʊmiːn	listen
36	Krypton	Kr	ˈkrɪptɒn ˈkrɪptɑːn	listen
37	Rubidium	Rb	rʊˈbɪdiəm	listen
38	Strontium	Sr	ˈstrɒntiəm;ˈstrɒnʃiəm ˈstrɑːntiəm;ˈstrɑːnʃiəm	listen
39	Yttrium	Y	ˈɪtriəm	listen
40	Zirconium	Zr	zɜːˈkəʊniəm zɜːrˈkoʊniəm	listen
41	Niobium	Nb	naɪˈəʊbiəm naɪˈoʊbiəm	listen
42	Molybdenum	Mo	məˈlɪbdənəm	listen
43	Technetium	Tc	tekˈniːʃɪəm	listen
44	Ruthenium	Ru	ruːˈθiːniəm	listen
45	Rhodium	Rh	ˈrəʊdiəm ˈroʊdiəm	listen
46	Palladium	Pd	pəˈleɪdiəm	listen
47	Silver	Ag	ˈsɪlvə(r) ˈsɪlvər	listen
48	Cadmium	Cd	ˈkædmiəm	listen
49	Indium	In	ˈɪndiəm	listen
50	Tin	Sn	tɪn	listen
51	Antimony	Sb	ˈæntɪməni ˈæntɪmoʊni	listen
52	Tellurium	Te	teˈljʊəriəm teˈlʊriəm	listen
53	Iodine	I	ˈaɪədiːn ˈaɪədaɪn	listen
54	Xenon	Xe	ˈzenɒn;ˈziːnɒn ˈzenɑːn;ˈziːnɑːn	listen
55	Caesium	Cs	ˈsiːziəm	listen
56	Barium	Ba	ˈbeəriəm ˈberiəm	listen
57	Lanthanum	La	ˈlænθənəm	listen
58	Cerium	Ce	ˈsɪəriəm ˈsɪriəm	listen
59	Praseodymium	Pr	ˌpreɪziəʊˈdɪmiəm ˌpreɪzioʊˈdɪmiəm	listen
60	Neodymium	Nd	ˌniːəʊˈdɪmiəm ˌniːoʊˈdɪmiəm	listen
61	Promethium	Pm	prəˈmiːθiəm prəˈmiːθiəm	listen
62	Samarium	Sm	səˈmeəriəm səˈmeriəm	listen
63	Europium	Eu	jʊərˈəʊpiəm jʊrˈoʊpiəm	listen
64	Gadolinium	Gd	ˌɡædəˈlɪniəm	listen
65	Terbium	Tb	ˈtɜːbiəm ˈtɜːrbiəm	listen
66	Dysprosium	Dy	dɪsˈprəʊziəm dɪsˈproʊziəm	listen
67	Holmium	Ho	ˈhəʊlmiəm ˈhoʊlmiəm	listen
68	Erbium	Er	ˈɜːbiəm ˈɜːrbiəm	listen
69	Thulium	Tm	ˈθuːliəm;ˈθjuːliəm ˈθjuːliəm	listen
70	Ytterbium	Yb	ɪˈtɜːbiəm ɪˈtɜːrbiəm	listen
71	Lutetium	Lu	luːˈtiːʃiəm;luːˈtiːsiəm luːˈtiːʃiəm	listen
72	Hafnium	Hf	ˈhæfniəm	listen
73	Tantalum	Ta	ˈtæntələm	listen
74	Tungsten	W	ˈtʌŋstən	listen
75	Rhenium	Re	ˈriːniəm	listen
76	Osmium	Os	ˈɒzmiəm ˈɑːzmiəm	listen
77	Iridium	Ir	ɪˈrɪdiəm	listen
78	Platinum	Pt	ˈplætɪnəm	listen
79	Gold	Au	ɡəʊld ɡoʊld	listen
80	Mercury	Hg	ˈmɜːkjəri ˈmɜːrkjəri	listen
81	Thallium	Tl	ˈθæliəm	listen
82	Lead	Pb	led	listen
83	Bismuth	Bi	ˈbɪzməθ	listen
84	Polonium	Po	pəˈləʊniəm pəˈloʊniəm	listen
85	Astatine	At	ˈæstətiːn	listen
86	Radon	Rn	ˈreɪdɒn ˈreɪdɑːn	listen
87	Francium	Fr	ˈfrænsiəm	listen
88	Radium	Ra	ˈreɪdiəm	listen
89	Actinium	Ac	ækˈtɪniəm	listen
90	Thorium	Th	ˈθɔːriəm	listen
91	Protactinium	Pa	ˌprəʊtækˈtɪniəm ˌproʊtækˈtɪniəm	listen
92	Uranium	U	juˈreɪniəm	listen
93	Neptunium	Np	nepˈtjuːniəm nepˈtjuːniəm;nepˈtuːniəm	listen
94	Plutonium	Pu	pluːˈtəʊniəm pluːˈtoʊniəm	listen
95	Americium	Am	ˌæməˈrɪsiəm;ˌæməˈrɪʃiəm	listen
96	Curium	Cm	ˈkjʊəriəm ˈkjʊriəm	listen
97	Berkelium	Bk	bɜːˈkiːliəm;ˈbɜːkliəm ˈbɜːrkliəm	listen
98	Californium	Cf	ˌkælɪˈfɔːniəm ˌkælɪˈfɔːrniəm	listen
99	Einsteinium	Es	aɪnˈstaɪniəm aɪnˈstaɪniəm	listen
100	Fermium	Fm	ˈfɜːmiəm ˈfɜːrmiəm	listen
101	Mendelevium	Md	ˌmendəˈliːviəm;ˌmendəˈleɪviəm	listen
102	Nobelium	No	nəʊˈbiːliəm;nəʊˈbeliəm noʊˈbiːliəm;noʊˈbeliəm	listen
103	Lawrencium	Lr	lɒˈrensiəm lɔːˈrensiəm	listen
104	Rutherfordium	Rf	ˌrʌðəˈfɔːdiəm ˌrʌðərˈfɔːrdiəm	listen
105	Dubnium	Db	ˈdʌbniəm ˈduːbniəm	listen
106	Seaborgium	Sg	siːˈbɔːɡiəm ˈsiːˈbɔːrɡiəm	listen
107	Bohrium	Bh	ˈbɔːriəm	listen
108	Hassium	Hs	ˈhæsiəm	listen
109	Meitnerium	Mt	maɪtˈnɪəriəm maɪtˈnɪriəm	listen
110	Darmstadtium	Ds	ˈdɑːmʃtætiəm ˈdɑːrmʃtætiəm	listen

How to pronounce the chemical elements

Martin