‘The following item shows what English would look like if itwere purged of its non-Germanic words, and used German-style compounds instead of borrowings to express new concepts. This recently appeared in the Conlang mail eri Poul Andersons say "Uncles Beolng” Atomie Theory, printed rom the wed ton appearing in hisclecton All One Univers For most of ts being, mankind did not know what things are made of, but could only guess, With the growth of ‘worldken, we began to earn, and today we have a bcholding of stuff and work that watching bears out, both in the ‘workstead and in daily life ‘The underlying kinds of stuff are the “firstscfls", which ink togetherin sundry ways to giverise tothe rest. Formerly we knew of ninety-two firtstufl, from waterscff the lightest and barest, to ymirstuff, the heaviest, Now we have made more, such as aegirtuff and helstuff ‘The firststufls have their being as motes called "unclefis These are mighily smal; one seedweight of waterstuff holds a tale of them like unco owo followed by twenty-two maughts. Most unclefis fink gether to make what are called *bulkbits Thus the waterstu bulkbit bestands of two waterstuf unclefts, the sourstuffbulkbit of two sourstuff unclefis, and so on, (Some kinds, such as sunstuff, keep alone; others, such as iron, clingtogether in ices when inthe fast standings and there are yet more yokeways.) When unlike clefis linkin a bulkbit, they make *bindings*. Thus, wate isa binding of two waterstufF unclefs with one sourstuff unceft, while a bulkbit of one of the forestuffs making up flesh may have a thousand thousand or more unclefts ofthese two frststufs together with coalstuff and chokestft At first iewas 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 isa heavy *kernel* with a forward bernstonish lading, and araund it one or more light ‘motes with backward ladings. The least uncleft is that of ordinary waterstuf, Its kernel is a lone Forwardladen mote called a frstit*. Outside it isa backwardladen more called a*bernstonebit*, The firstbit has a heaviness about 1840- fold thacof the bernstonebit. Early worldken folk thought bernstonebits swing around the kernel ike the earth around the sun, but now we understand they are more like waves or clouds, Inall other unclefts are found other motes as well, about as heavy as the firstbit but with no king, known as *neitherbitst. We know a kind of waterstuff with one neitherbit in the kernel along with the irstbit; another kind has two neitherbits, Both kinds are seldom. ‘The next greatest frststff sunstuff, which has two firstits and ewo bernstonebits. The everyday sort also has two neitherbitsin the kernel. If there are moreor less, the uncleft will soon break asunder, More about this ater. ‘The thied firststutt is stonescuff, with chee fistbits, three bernstonebits, and its own share of neitherbits. And so ie goes, ‘on through such everyday stus as coalstuf (sx firstbits)oriron (26) co ones more lately found. Yirstuff (92) was the Jastuntil men began to make some higher still Ieis the bernstonebits tha link, and so thei tale fastsets howa frsscuff behaves and what kindsof bulkbits it can help make, The worldken of this behaving in all its manifold ways iscalled *minglingken*. Minglingers have found chat as the uncleiish tale ofthe fiststuffs (that is, che tale of irststuffs in their kernels) waxes, after a while they begin to show ovnships not unlike those of others that went before them. So, for a showdeal, stonestuff (3), glasswortstuff (11), potashstuff (19), redstuff (37), and bluegraystuff (55) can each ink with only one uncleft of waterstuf, while coalstafF ©, flintscu (14), germanstuff (22) 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 the firsstufs‘When an uncleft or a bulkbit wins one or mote 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 flit it. ‘When bernstonebits flit by themselves, it may be asa bolt of lightning, a spark off some faststanding chunk, or the ‘everyday flow of bernstoneness through wires ‘Coming back tothe uncleft self, the heavier icis, the more neitherbits as well as tstbics in its kernel. Indeed, soon che tale of neitherbits is the greater. Unclefts with the same taleof frstbits but unlike tes of neitherbits are called *samesteads. Thus, everyday sourstuff has eight neitherbits with its eighe frstbits, but there are also kinds with five sx, seven, nine, ten, and eleven neithaits. A samestead is known by the tale of both kernel mote, so that we have sourstuf 13,sourstafE14, and so on, with sourstufF16 being by far the most ound. Having the sime number of bernstonebits, the samesteads fa frsescuff behave almost alike mingling. They do show some unlikenesses, outstandingly among the heavier ones, and these canbe worked to sunder simesteads from each other. Most samesteads of every firststuf are unabiding, Their kernels break up, each at its own speed. This speed is written as the *halFlife*, which is how long ittakes half of any deal ofthe samestead thus o shift itself. The doing is known as *lightrotting”. It may happen fast or slowly, and in any of sundry ways, offhanging on the makaup of the kernel. A kernel may spit out two frstbits with «wo neitherbits, that is, a sunstufF kernel, chus leaping two steads back in the roundaround board and four weights back in heaviness. I may give off a bernstonebit rom a neitherbit, which thereby becomes a fistbit and chruststhe uncleft one stead up in the board while keeping the same weight. It may give off a *forwardbie’, which isa mote with the same weight asa bernstonebit but forward lading, and thereby spring one stead «down in the board while keeping the same weight. Often, too, a mote is given off with neither lading nor heaviness, called the *weencitherbit’. 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 lookedon as a mote the *lightbit, We have already sid by the ‘way that a mote of stuff can behave not only2sa chunk, but as awave, Down among the uncles, things do not happen in steady flowings, but in leaps between bestandings that are forbidden. The knovledge-hunt of this is elled *lump beholding’ Nor are stuff and work unakin, Rather, they are groundwise thesame, and one can be shifted into the other. The kinship ‘between them is that work is like unto weight manifolded by the foursideof the haste of light. By shooting motes into kernds, worldken folk have shifted samesteads of one firststuF into samesteads of another. Thus did they make ymirstuff into aegirstuff and helstuff, and they haveafterward gone beyond these. The heavier firsstus are all highly lighttottsh and therefore are not found in the greenworld Some ofthe higher samesteads re “splitly*. That is, when aneitherbit strikes the kemel of one, as for a showdeal ymirstufE235, it bursts int leser kernels and free neitherbits; the latter can then split more ymirstufF235. When this happens, weight shifs into work. [tis not much ofthe whole, but nevertheless i is awesome, ‘With enough strength, lighoveight unclefis can be made to togethermelt In the sun, through a row of strikings and lightrorsings, four unclefis of waterstuf inthis wise become one of sunstuff. Again some weight is los¢ as work, and again this is greatly big when setbeside che work gotten from a minglingish doing such as fre. “Today we wield both kind of undeftish doings in weapons, and kernelsh spicing gives us heat and bernstoneness. We hope todo likewise with cogethermelting, which would yield an unhemmed welspring of work for mankindish goodgain, Soothly we live in mighty years!