scintillator

03:49 Mar 13, 2010 

看到维基百科对该词条的解释是“A scintillator is material which exhibits the property of luminescence[1] when excited by ionizing radiation. Luminescent materials, when struck by an incoming particle, absorb its energy and scintillate, i.e. reemit the absorbed energy in the form of a small flash of light, typically in the visible range.”，也就是说“Scintillator”是一种能够被离子化辐射激发而表现出荧光属性的材料。这种材料有多种类型，如有机晶体、有机液体、颗粒、无机晶体、气体、玻璃，由此来看，“闪烁剂”、“闪烁体”尽管都没有错，但是还是要区分具体的物质的属性。

参见：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillator

17:41 Nov 16, 2008 

Obviously, the character “劑" in “閃爍劑" means agent (not unit), which may be in gaseous, liquid or solid state.

11:26 Nov 11, 2008 

Ysun, thank you for the examples. But I usually take them only for reference, because there's always room for improvement, past translations don't always guarantee to be correct. Sometimes a mistake going on long enough becomes the norm.

As far as I know, 劑 refers to liquid/agent or unit (一劑xx). If it's refered to an agent (as it's usually dissolved), then 劑 is definitely the correct choice of word. In the case of unit, it maybe can be in other forms, but if you want to describe an object (matter, partical), then 劑 just doesn't sound right.

As for your example "閃爍劑微粒", don't you think it would sound better if it's 閃爍體微粒. I'm talking about it totally from the point of the Chinese language.

Thank you for the discussion. It has been interesting. Maybe we'll bring some awareness to the use of the Chinese language. :)

20:32 Nov 10, 2008 

閃爍劑 may not necessarily be in a form of liquid or solution. It can be in solid state. The second example I provided mentioned “無機閃爍劑微粒”, which shows 閃爍劑 may also be in solid state (particle).

Please see http://www.taiwanclassic.com/teps/ec/ecjnlarticleView.aspx?j...

On the otherhand, 劑 may be in gaseous, liquid or solid state. Thank you!

17:48 Nov 10, 2008 

體 refers to object or substance, while 劑 refers to specifically a kind of solution or liquid. It may be more common to use 閃爍劑 in the field of chemistry (as your references indicated)。But 閃爍體 may be more commonly used in other fields, especially physics.

But I do agree this English word should at least include these two meanings (translations) to be used in different fields or in different forms (solid or liquid). But on the other hand, 體 is more of a general term and is neutral (as subtance or object), while 劑 means only liquid, so I do believe 閃爍體 is more appropriate as a generic translation term.

For example, you can say 液態閃爍體 as in liquid form, but you can't say 固態閃爍劑 as in solid form (because the name itself has limited its meaning to only liquid).

This is just what I think. I welcome all opinions and discussions. :)