Etelfrido
09-18-2023, 07:17 PM
There have been various attemps (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_purism_in_English) at preserving the purity of the English language. Among them, Anglish is a project which proposes the use of only native English words in its vocabulary, thus stripping it out of words of foreign origin which in the case of English are mostly from Greek, Latin and French, but also from some languages of the former colonies of the British Empire and beyond.
This (https://www.omniglot.com/conscripts/anglish.htm) is how the preamble to the US Constitution could look like:
English: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Anglish: "We the Folk of the Foroned Riches, to make a more flawless oneship, build rightness, bring frith and stillness to our land, shield one another, uphold the overall welfare, and hold fast the Blessings of Freedom to ourselves and our offspring, do foresay and lay down this lawbook for the foroned riches of Americksland."
In 1989 Poul Anderson published a text (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncleftish_Beholding) on atomic theory with no loanwords and for that he used words from Old English and also coined new compound words from shorter Germanic ones. Below is his complete text.
For most of its being, mankind did not know what things are made of, but could only guess. With the growth of worldken, we began to learn, and today we have a beholding of stuff and work that watching bears out, both in the workstead and in daily life.
The underlying kinds of stuffare the firststuffs, which link together in sundry ways to giverise to the rest. Formerly we knew of ninety-two firststuffs, from waterstuff, the lightest andbarest, to ymirstuff, the heaviest. Now we have made more, such as aegirstuff and helstuff.
The firststuffs have their being as motes called unclefts. These are mighty small: oneseedweight of waterstuff holds a tale of them like unto two followed by twenty-two naughts. Most unclefts link together to make what are called bulkbits. Thus, the waterstuff bulkbit bestands oftwo waterstuff unclefts, the sourstuffbulkbit oftwo sourstuffunclefts, and so on. (Some kinds, such as sunstuff, keep alone; others, such as iron, cling together in chills when in the fast standing; and there are yet more yokeways.) When unlike unclefts link in a bulkbit, they make bindings. Thus, water is a binding of two waterstuff unclefts with one sourstuff uncleft, while a bulkbit ofone ofthe forestuffs making up flesh may have a thousand or more unclefts of these two firststuffs together with coalstuff and chokestuff.
At first it was thought that the uncleft was a hard thing that could be split no further; hence the name. Now we know it is made up of lesser motes. There is a heavy kernelwith a forward bernstonish lading, and around it one or more light motes with backward ladings. The least uncleft is that of everyday waterstuff. Its kernel is a lone forwardladen mote called a firstbit. Outside it is a backwardladen mote called a bernstonebit. The firstbit has a heaviness about 1840-fold that of the bernstonebit. Early worldken folk thought bernstonebits swing around the kernel like the Earth around the Sun, but now we understand they are more like waves or clouds.
In all other unclefts are found other motes as well, aboutas heavy as the firstbit but with no lading, known as neitherbits. We know a kind of waterstuff with one neitherbit in the kernel along with the firstbit; another kind has two neitherbits. Both kinds are seldom.
The next greater firststuffis sunstuff, which has two firstbits and two bernstonebits. The everyday sort also has two neitherbits in the kernel. If there are more or less, the uncleftwill soon break asunder. More about this later.
The third firststuff is stonestuff, with three firstbits, three bernstonebits, and its own share of neitherbits. And so it goes, on through such everyday stuffs as coalstuff(six firstbits) or iron (26), to ones more lately found. Ymirstuff (92) was the last until men began to make some higher still.
It is the bernstonebits that link, and so their tale fastsets how a firststuff behaves and what kinds of bulkbits it can help make. The worldken of this behaving, in all its manifold ways, is called minglingken. Minglingers have found that as the uncleftish tale of the firststuffs (that is, the tale of firstbits in their kernels) waxes, after a while they begin to show ownships not unlike those of others that went before them. So, for a showdeal, stonestuff (3), headachestuff (11), potashstuff (19), redstuff (37), and bluegraystuff (55) can each link with only one uncleft of waterstuff, while coalstuff (6), sandstuff (14), germanstuff (32), tin (50), and lead (82) can each link with four. This is readily seen when all are set forth in what is called the roundaround board of thefirststuffs.
When an uncleft or bulkbit wins one or more bernstonebits above its own, it takes on a backward lading. When it loses one or more, it takes on a forward lading. Such a mote is called a farer, for that the drag between unlike ladings flits it. When free bernstonebits flit by themselves, it may be as a bolt of lightning, a spark off some faststanding chunk, or the everyday flow of bernstoneness through wires.
Coming backto the uncleftitself, the heavier it is, the more neitherbits as well as firstbits in its kernel. Indeed, soon the tale ofneitherbits is the greater. Unclefts with the same tale of firstbits but unlike tales of neitherbits are called samesteads. Thus, everyday sourstuff has eight neitherbits along with its eight firstbits, but there are also kinds with five, six, seven, nine, ten, and eleven neitherbits. A samestead is known by the tale of both kernel motes, so that we have sourstuff-13, sourstuff-14, and so on, with sourstuff-16 being by far the mostfound. Having the same tale of bernstonebits, the samesteads of a firststuff behave almost alike minglingly. They do show some unlikenesses, outstandingly among the heavier ones, and these can be worked to sunder samesteads from each other.
Most samesteads of every firststuff are unabiding. Their kernels break up, each at its own speed. This speed is written as the half-life, which is how long it takes any deal of the samestead to shift itself into half as much. The doing is known as lightrotting. It may happen fast or slowly, and in any ofsundry ways, offhanging on the makeup of the kernel. A kernel may spit out two firstbits with two neitherbits — that is, a sunstuff kernel — thus leaping two steads back in the roundaround board and four weights back in heaviness. It may give off a bernstonebit from a neitherbit, which thereby becomes a firstbit, and thrusts the uncleft one stead up in the board while keeping the same weight. Often, too, a mote is given off with neither lading nor heaviness, called the weeneitherbit. In much lightrotting, a mote of light with most short wavelength comes out as well.
For although light oftenest behaves as a wave, it can be looked on as a mote — the lightbit. We have already said by the way that a mote of stuffcan behave not only as a chunk, but also as a wave. Down among the unclefts, things do not happen in steady flowings, but in leaps over midway bestandings that are forbidden. The knowledge-hunt of this is called lump beholding.
Nor are stuff and work unakin. Rather, they are groundwise the same, and one can be shifted into the other. The kinship between them is that work is like unto weight manifolded by the fourside of the haste of light.
By shooting motes into kernels, worldken folk have shifted samesteads ofone firststuff into samesteads of another. Thus did they make ymirstuff into aegirstuff and helstuff, and they have afterward gone beyond these. These heavier firststuffs are all highly lightrottish and therefore are not found in the greenworld.
Some ofthe higher samesteads are splitly. That is, when a neitherbit strikes the kernel of one — as, for a showdeal, ymirstuff-235 — it bursts it into lesser kernels and free neitherbits; the latter can then split more ymirstuff-235. When this happens, weight shifts into work. It is not much of the whole, but nevertheless it is awesome.
With enough strength, lightweight unclefts can be made to togethermelt. In the Sun, through a row ofstrikings and lightrottings, four unclefts of waterstuff in this wise become one of sunstuff. Again, some weight is lost as work, and again this is greatly big when set beside the work gotten from a minglingish doing such as fire.
Today we wield both kinds of uncleftish doings in weapons, and kernelish splitting gives us heat and bernstoneness. We hope to do likewise with togethermelting, which would yield an unhemmed wellspring of work for mankindish goodgain.
Soothly we live in mighty years!
And its translation (https://wayback.archive-it.org/219/20220524151852/https://cogsci.indiana.edu/pub/hof_speechthought.pdf) into Modern English:
For most ofits existence, humanity did not know what things are made of, but could only guess. With the advent of science, we began to learn, and today we have a theory of matter and energy verified by observation, both in the laboratory and in daily life.
The basic types of matter are the elements, which combine in various ways to give rise to the remaining types. Until recently, we knew of ninety-two elements, from hydrogen, the lightest and simplest, to uranium, the heaviest. Now we have made more, such as neptunium and plutonium.
Elements are composed of particles called atoms. These are extremely small: the number of atoms in one ounce of hydrogen is equal to 2 times 10 to the 22nd power. Most atoms can combine to make what are called molecules. Thus, the hydrogen molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms, the oxygen molecule of two oxygen atoms, and so on. (Some types, such as helium, do not combine; others, such as iron, bond to form crystals when in the solid state; and there are yet other states of matter.) When different atoms combine in a molecule, they make compounds. Thus, water is a compound of two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom, while a molecule in a biological cell may contain a thousand or more atoms of these two elements, along with carbon and nitrogen atoms.
At first it was believed that the atom (Greek for "partless") was a solid object that could not be further divided; hence the name. Now, however, we know that it is composed ofsmaller particles. There is a massive nucleus with a positive electric charge, and around it one or more light particles with negative charges. The smallest atom is that of ordinary hydrogen. Its nucleus is a single positively charged particle called a proton. Outside it is a negatively charged particle called an electron. The proton has amass about1840 times that of the electron. Early scientists thought electrons orbited the nucleus like the Earth around the Sun, but now we know they are more like waves or clouds.
In all other atoms there are also other particles, roughly as massive as the proton but with no charge, known as neutrons. We know a type of hydrogen with one neutron in its nucleus along with the proton; another type has two neutrons. Both types are rare.
The next larger element is helium, which has two protons and two electrons. Ordinary helium also has two neutrons in the nucleus. If there are more or fewer, the atom will soon split. More about this later.
The third element is lithium, with three protons, three electrons, and its own share of neutrons. And so it goes, on through such everyday materials as carbon (six protons) or iron (26), to ones discovered more recently. Uranium (92) was the last, until people began to produce elements even beyond it.
It is the electrons that bind, and so their number determines how an element behaves and what kinds of molecules it can help make. The science of this phenomenon, in all its diversity, is called chemistry. Chemists have discovered that as the atomic number of the elements (that is, the number of protons in their nuclei) increases, after awhile the elements begin to manifest properties similar to earlier ones. Thus, for example, lithium (3), sodium (11), potassium (19), rubidium (37), and cesium (55) can each bond with only a single atom of hydrogen, while carbon (6), silicon (14), germanium (32), tin (50), and lead (82) can each bond with four. This is readily seen when all are displayed in what is called the periodic table of the elements.
When an atom or molecule gains one or more extra electrons, it acquires a negative charge. When it loses one or more, it acquires a positive charge. Such a particle is called an ion (Greek for "traveler"), since the attraction between opposite charges moves it around. When free electrons move, it may give rise to a bolt of lightning, a spark from some solid substance, or the ordinary flow of electricity through wires.
Returning to the atom itself, the more massive it is, the more neutrons as well as protons in its nucleus. Indeed, soon the number of neutrons is larger. Atoms having the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes. Thus, ordinary oxygen has eight neutrons along with its eight protons, but there are also varieties with five, six, seven, nine, ten, and eleven neutrons. An isotope is identified by the total number of both nuclear particles, sothat we have oxygen-13, oxygen-14, and so on, with oxygen-16 being by far the most common. Having the same number of electrons, the isotopes ofan element behave almost the same chemically. They do reveal some different properties, especially among the more massive ones, and these can be used to separate isotopes from each other.
Most isotopes ofevery element are unstable. Their nuclei split, each at its own rate. This rate is measured by the halflife, which is the length oftime it takes any quantity of the isotope to convert itself into half as much. This process is known as radioactive decay. It may happen quickly or slowly, and in any one of several different ways, depending on the composition of the nucleus. A nucleus may eject two protons with two neutrons — that is, a helium nucleus — thus jumping back two places in the periodic table and four units in mass. It may emit an electron from one ofits neutrons, which thereby becomes a proton, thus shifting the atom one step up in the periodic table while keeping its mass constant. Often, a chargeless, massless particle, called the neutrino, is emitted. In much radioactive decay, a particle of light of very short wavelength emerges as well.
Although light most often behaves like a wave, it can be regarded as a particle — the photon. We have already said in passing that a material particle can behave not only like an object, but also like a wave. In the atomic realm, things do not happen continuously, but in jumps, skipping over intermediate states that are forbidden. Research on this subject is called quantum theory.
Nor are matter and energy unrelated. Rather, they are fundamentally the same, and one can be converted into the other. Their relationship is that energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared.
By shooting particles into nuclei, scientists have converted isotopes of one element into isotopes of another. Thus they have made neptunium and plutonium from uranium, and they have even gone beyond these. These more massive elements are all highly radioactive and therefore are not found in nature.
Some of the higher isotopes are fissile. That is, when a neutron hits the nucleus of one — uranium-235, for example — it breaks it into smaller nuclei and free neutrons; the latter can then split more uranium-235. When this happens, mass is converted into energy. It is not a large percentage of the mass, but nevertheless it is impressive.
With enough energy, lightweight atoms can be made to fuse. In the Sun, through a series of collisions and radioactive decays, four atoms of hydrogen become a single atom of helium. Again, some mass is lost as energy, and this energy is enormous when compared to the energy obtained from a chemical process such as combustion.
Today we use both kinds of atomic processesin weapons, and nuclear fission provides heat and electricity. We hope to do likewise with fusion, which would yield an unlimited source of energy for human profit.
Truly we live in great times!
The use of Old and Middle English letters (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_alphabet#Archaic_letters) has also been proposed. My username has been an attempt at making people more aware of their existence. It'd make English more phonetic without having to adopt artificial measures with no roots to English's history.
Such ideas would certainly make English more alien to Romance language speakers and vice-versa.
This (https://www.omniglot.com/conscripts/anglish.htm) is how the preamble to the US Constitution could look like:
English: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Anglish: "We the Folk of the Foroned Riches, to make a more flawless oneship, build rightness, bring frith and stillness to our land, shield one another, uphold the overall welfare, and hold fast the Blessings of Freedom to ourselves and our offspring, do foresay and lay down this lawbook for the foroned riches of Americksland."
In 1989 Poul Anderson published a text (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncleftish_Beholding) on atomic theory with no loanwords and for that he used words from Old English and also coined new compound words from shorter Germanic ones. Below is his complete text.
For most of its being, mankind did not know what things are made of, but could only guess. With the growth of worldken, we began to learn, and today we have a beholding of stuff and work that watching bears out, both in the workstead and in daily life.
The underlying kinds of stuffare the firststuffs, which link together in sundry ways to giverise to the rest. Formerly we knew of ninety-two firststuffs, from waterstuff, the lightest andbarest, to ymirstuff, the heaviest. Now we have made more, such as aegirstuff and helstuff.
The firststuffs have their being as motes called unclefts. These are mighty small: oneseedweight of waterstuff holds a tale of them like unto two followed by twenty-two naughts. Most unclefts link together to make what are called bulkbits. Thus, the waterstuff bulkbit bestands oftwo waterstuff unclefts, the sourstuffbulkbit oftwo sourstuffunclefts, and so on. (Some kinds, such as sunstuff, keep alone; others, such as iron, cling together in chills when in the fast standing; and there are yet more yokeways.) When unlike unclefts link in a bulkbit, they make bindings. Thus, water is a binding of two waterstuff unclefts with one sourstuff uncleft, while a bulkbit ofone ofthe forestuffs making up flesh may have a thousand or more unclefts of these two firststuffs together with coalstuff and chokestuff.
At first it was thought that the uncleft was a hard thing that could be split no further; hence the name. Now we know it is made up of lesser motes. There is a heavy kernelwith a forward bernstonish lading, and around it one or more light motes with backward ladings. The least uncleft is that of everyday waterstuff. Its kernel is a lone forwardladen mote called a firstbit. Outside it is a backwardladen mote called a bernstonebit. The firstbit has a heaviness about 1840-fold that of the bernstonebit. Early worldken folk thought bernstonebits swing around the kernel like the Earth around the Sun, but now we understand they are more like waves or clouds.
In all other unclefts are found other motes as well, aboutas heavy as the firstbit but with no lading, known as neitherbits. We know a kind of waterstuff with one neitherbit in the kernel along with the firstbit; another kind has two neitherbits. Both kinds are seldom.
The next greater firststuffis sunstuff, which has two firstbits and two bernstonebits. The everyday sort also has two neitherbits in the kernel. If there are more or less, the uncleftwill soon break asunder. More about this later.
The third firststuff is stonestuff, with three firstbits, three bernstonebits, and its own share of neitherbits. And so it goes, on through such everyday stuffs as coalstuff(six firstbits) or iron (26), to ones more lately found. Ymirstuff (92) was the last until men began to make some higher still.
It is the bernstonebits that link, and so their tale fastsets how a firststuff behaves and what kinds of bulkbits it can help make. The worldken of this behaving, in all its manifold ways, is called minglingken. Minglingers have found that as the uncleftish tale of the firststuffs (that is, the tale of firstbits in their kernels) waxes, after a while they begin to show ownships not unlike those of others that went before them. So, for a showdeal, stonestuff (3), headachestuff (11), potashstuff (19), redstuff (37), and bluegraystuff (55) can each link with only one uncleft of waterstuff, while coalstuff (6), sandstuff (14), germanstuff (32), tin (50), and lead (82) can each link with four. This is readily seen when all are set forth in what is called the roundaround board of thefirststuffs.
When an uncleft or bulkbit wins one or more bernstonebits above its own, it takes on a backward lading. When it loses one or more, it takes on a forward lading. Such a mote is called a farer, for that the drag between unlike ladings flits it. When free bernstonebits flit by themselves, it may be as a bolt of lightning, a spark off some faststanding chunk, or the everyday flow of bernstoneness through wires.
Coming backto the uncleftitself, the heavier it is, the more neitherbits as well as firstbits in its kernel. Indeed, soon the tale ofneitherbits is the greater. Unclefts with the same tale of firstbits but unlike tales of neitherbits are called samesteads. Thus, everyday sourstuff has eight neitherbits along with its eight firstbits, but there are also kinds with five, six, seven, nine, ten, and eleven neitherbits. A samestead is known by the tale of both kernel motes, so that we have sourstuff-13, sourstuff-14, and so on, with sourstuff-16 being by far the mostfound. Having the same tale of bernstonebits, the samesteads of a firststuff behave almost alike minglingly. They do show some unlikenesses, outstandingly among the heavier ones, and these can be worked to sunder samesteads from each other.
Most samesteads of every firststuff are unabiding. Their kernels break up, each at its own speed. This speed is written as the half-life, which is how long it takes any deal of the samestead to shift itself into half as much. The doing is known as lightrotting. It may happen fast or slowly, and in any ofsundry ways, offhanging on the makeup of the kernel. A kernel may spit out two firstbits with two neitherbits — that is, a sunstuff kernel — thus leaping two steads back in the roundaround board and four weights back in heaviness. It may give off a bernstonebit from a neitherbit, which thereby becomes a firstbit, and thrusts the uncleft one stead up in the board while keeping the same weight. Often, too, a mote is given off with neither lading nor heaviness, called the weeneitherbit. In much lightrotting, a mote of light with most short wavelength comes out as well.
For although light oftenest behaves as a wave, it can be looked on as a mote — the lightbit. We have already said by the way that a mote of stuffcan behave not only as a chunk, but also as a wave. Down among the unclefts, things do not happen in steady flowings, but in leaps over midway bestandings that are forbidden. The knowledge-hunt of this is called lump beholding.
Nor are stuff and work unakin. Rather, they are groundwise the same, and one can be shifted into the other. The kinship between them is that work is like unto weight manifolded by the fourside of the haste of light.
By shooting motes into kernels, worldken folk have shifted samesteads ofone firststuff into samesteads of another. Thus did they make ymirstuff into aegirstuff and helstuff, and they have afterward gone beyond these. These heavier firststuffs are all highly lightrottish and therefore are not found in the greenworld.
Some ofthe higher samesteads are splitly. That is, when a neitherbit strikes the kernel of one — as, for a showdeal, ymirstuff-235 — it bursts it into lesser kernels and free neitherbits; the latter can then split more ymirstuff-235. When this happens, weight shifts into work. It is not much of the whole, but nevertheless it is awesome.
With enough strength, lightweight unclefts can be made to togethermelt. In the Sun, through a row ofstrikings and lightrottings, four unclefts of waterstuff in this wise become one of sunstuff. Again, some weight is lost as work, and again this is greatly big when set beside the work gotten from a minglingish doing such as fire.
Today we wield both kinds of uncleftish doings in weapons, and kernelish splitting gives us heat and bernstoneness. We hope to do likewise with togethermelting, which would yield an unhemmed wellspring of work for mankindish goodgain.
Soothly we live in mighty years!
And its translation (https://wayback.archive-it.org/219/20220524151852/https://cogsci.indiana.edu/pub/hof_speechthought.pdf) into Modern English:
For most ofits existence, humanity did not know what things are made of, but could only guess. With the advent of science, we began to learn, and today we have a theory of matter and energy verified by observation, both in the laboratory and in daily life.
The basic types of matter are the elements, which combine in various ways to give rise to the remaining types. Until recently, we knew of ninety-two elements, from hydrogen, the lightest and simplest, to uranium, the heaviest. Now we have made more, such as neptunium and plutonium.
Elements are composed of particles called atoms. These are extremely small: the number of atoms in one ounce of hydrogen is equal to 2 times 10 to the 22nd power. Most atoms can combine to make what are called molecules. Thus, the hydrogen molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms, the oxygen molecule of two oxygen atoms, and so on. (Some types, such as helium, do not combine; others, such as iron, bond to form crystals when in the solid state; and there are yet other states of matter.) When different atoms combine in a molecule, they make compounds. Thus, water is a compound of two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom, while a molecule in a biological cell may contain a thousand or more atoms of these two elements, along with carbon and nitrogen atoms.
At first it was believed that the atom (Greek for "partless") was a solid object that could not be further divided; hence the name. Now, however, we know that it is composed ofsmaller particles. There is a massive nucleus with a positive electric charge, and around it one or more light particles with negative charges. The smallest atom is that of ordinary hydrogen. Its nucleus is a single positively charged particle called a proton. Outside it is a negatively charged particle called an electron. The proton has amass about1840 times that of the electron. Early scientists thought electrons orbited the nucleus like the Earth around the Sun, but now we know they are more like waves or clouds.
In all other atoms there are also other particles, roughly as massive as the proton but with no charge, known as neutrons. We know a type of hydrogen with one neutron in its nucleus along with the proton; another type has two neutrons. Both types are rare.
The next larger element is helium, which has two protons and two electrons. Ordinary helium also has two neutrons in the nucleus. If there are more or fewer, the atom will soon split. More about this later.
The third element is lithium, with three protons, three electrons, and its own share of neutrons. And so it goes, on through such everyday materials as carbon (six protons) or iron (26), to ones discovered more recently. Uranium (92) was the last, until people began to produce elements even beyond it.
It is the electrons that bind, and so their number determines how an element behaves and what kinds of molecules it can help make. The science of this phenomenon, in all its diversity, is called chemistry. Chemists have discovered that as the atomic number of the elements (that is, the number of protons in their nuclei) increases, after awhile the elements begin to manifest properties similar to earlier ones. Thus, for example, lithium (3), sodium (11), potassium (19), rubidium (37), and cesium (55) can each bond with only a single atom of hydrogen, while carbon (6), silicon (14), germanium (32), tin (50), and lead (82) can each bond with four. This is readily seen when all are displayed in what is called the periodic table of the elements.
When an atom or molecule gains one or more extra electrons, it acquires a negative charge. When it loses one or more, it acquires a positive charge. Such a particle is called an ion (Greek for "traveler"), since the attraction between opposite charges moves it around. When free electrons move, it may give rise to a bolt of lightning, a spark from some solid substance, or the ordinary flow of electricity through wires.
Returning to the atom itself, the more massive it is, the more neutrons as well as protons in its nucleus. Indeed, soon the number of neutrons is larger. Atoms having the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes. Thus, ordinary oxygen has eight neutrons along with its eight protons, but there are also varieties with five, six, seven, nine, ten, and eleven neutrons. An isotope is identified by the total number of both nuclear particles, sothat we have oxygen-13, oxygen-14, and so on, with oxygen-16 being by far the most common. Having the same number of electrons, the isotopes ofan element behave almost the same chemically. They do reveal some different properties, especially among the more massive ones, and these can be used to separate isotopes from each other.
Most isotopes ofevery element are unstable. Their nuclei split, each at its own rate. This rate is measured by the halflife, which is the length oftime it takes any quantity of the isotope to convert itself into half as much. This process is known as radioactive decay. It may happen quickly or slowly, and in any one of several different ways, depending on the composition of the nucleus. A nucleus may eject two protons with two neutrons — that is, a helium nucleus — thus jumping back two places in the periodic table and four units in mass. It may emit an electron from one ofits neutrons, which thereby becomes a proton, thus shifting the atom one step up in the periodic table while keeping its mass constant. Often, a chargeless, massless particle, called the neutrino, is emitted. In much radioactive decay, a particle of light of very short wavelength emerges as well.
Although light most often behaves like a wave, it can be regarded as a particle — the photon. We have already said in passing that a material particle can behave not only like an object, but also like a wave. In the atomic realm, things do not happen continuously, but in jumps, skipping over intermediate states that are forbidden. Research on this subject is called quantum theory.
Nor are matter and energy unrelated. Rather, they are fundamentally the same, and one can be converted into the other. Their relationship is that energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared.
By shooting particles into nuclei, scientists have converted isotopes of one element into isotopes of another. Thus they have made neptunium and plutonium from uranium, and they have even gone beyond these. These more massive elements are all highly radioactive and therefore are not found in nature.
Some of the higher isotopes are fissile. That is, when a neutron hits the nucleus of one — uranium-235, for example — it breaks it into smaller nuclei and free neutrons; the latter can then split more uranium-235. When this happens, mass is converted into energy. It is not a large percentage of the mass, but nevertheless it is impressive.
With enough energy, lightweight atoms can be made to fuse. In the Sun, through a series of collisions and radioactive decays, four atoms of hydrogen become a single atom of helium. Again, some mass is lost as energy, and this energy is enormous when compared to the energy obtained from a chemical process such as combustion.
Today we use both kinds of atomic processesin weapons, and nuclear fission provides heat and electricity. We hope to do likewise with fusion, which would yield an unlimited source of energy for human profit.
Truly we live in great times!
The use of Old and Middle English letters (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_alphabet#Archaic_letters) has also been proposed. My username has been an attempt at making people more aware of their existence. It'd make English more phonetic without having to adopt artificial measures with no roots to English's history.
Such ideas would certainly make English more alien to Romance language speakers and vice-versa.