Modern English French Latin words Germanic grammar

French and Latin supplied over half of English words

About 56%

French and Latin supplied about 56 per cent of Modern English words. Yet English kept Germanic grammar and sound patterns, along with most of its basic everyday words. A language’s words can therefore come largely from one source while its structure and common vocabulary come from another.

France split its lawmaking body in two to slow sudden change

After the French Revolution, France replaced one lawmaking chamber with two. It also made elections less direct and limited voting based on property. These changes were meant to make sudden political shifts harder after years of upheaval.

Dead stars could become GPS satellites for spacecraft

Some rapidly spinning dead stars emit X-ray pulses with remarkably predictable timing. A spacecraft could compare pulses from several of these stars to calculate its location, much like GPS uses signals from satellites. NASA has already demonstrated the principle experimentally. Unlike Earth-based GPS, the method could work across the Solar System.

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Modern English French Latin words Germanic grammar

French and Latin supplied over half of English words

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