Why are the names of lava Hawaiian, but names of pyroclastic material French, Italian, and Indonesian?

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[3-28-08]

Why are the names of lava Hawaiian, but names of pyroclastic material French, Italian, and Indonesian?
In geology, things tend to get named by the area where they are first recognized and described, or where something is so common or so well known that it is a good reference location. It is a way of saying, this stuff is like what happened at the Stromboli volcano, or this is like pahoehoe from hawaii, and the name sticks and everybody uses it because we all understand what it means.
Reply:"Lava" is an Italian word, coming from latin "labes" (falling, sliding).


As for science in general, names of phenomenas came from the place they were first or mostly studied, and since we are all (North and southern Americans and Europeans) a "western society", we inherit most terms from European studies; and in Europe the more relevant volcanic activities are in the Mediterranean area.
Reply:Hi, I wish you had written the question more clearly, but as you know Hawaii, Italy, Indonesia are locations that volcanic erruption happens. The word Lava is Italian, but perhaps the names of lawa derived from Hawaiian because volcanic activities happens more often in that area.
Reply:Explosive volcanism is found in the Indonesian archipelago, in Italy at places like Etna and Stromboli, and in parts of the French Caribbean - so the names for these kinds of volcanic activity tend to be in those languages. In Hawaii, the volcanos are of the effusive type, that is they have flowing lava, and so the textures for these kinds are in Hawaiian.