Recommended Hungarian names and orthography of chronostratigraphic units

Abstract

The geological time scale, officially compiled and maintained by the International Commission on Stratigraphy and published as the International Chronostratigraphic Chart, constitutes a fundamental standard used in the geological sciences, especially in stratigraphy. We present a translated Hungarian version of the chart and propose a unified usage and orthography of stratigraphic names. Here, the Hungarian terms are primarily derived from their English equivalents, following a loosely defined principle of „consistent inconsistency with exceptions”. This practice acknowledges that in the 21st century the dominant language of scientific literature is English, therefore terminology in other languages is also heavily influenced by prevailing English usage. Minor changes are recommended compared to names previously in use in the Hungarian stratigraphic vocabulary. During the nearly 20 years since the publication of the last similar Hungarian guide, several new names have been introduced to the time scale for stratigraphic units without a widely used Hungarian name. Adherence to the recommendations made here would promote unified and proper use of stratigraphic terms in the Hungarian geological literature.