Plato's dialogue Cratylus begins with a debate. Socrates is asked whether the sounds of words are simply arbitrary conventions, as Hermogenes suggests, or if sounds are reflective in some way of their ...

Repeating spoken words is a technique familiar to music buffs — the rhythm of the repetition feels like song. Now, scientists think they can explain why. It turns out it has to do with how our brains ...

A MAP BOUNCING around social media shows “languages where the word for ‘mother/mom’ takes an m-sound”. It puts old maps of defunct empires to shame; scores of countries are shaded red. There are two ...

Made-up words like “clisious” and “smanious” are easier to remember when they sound beautiful. Could the feel of a word shape how we learn languages, sell products and even how languages evolve?

Splish-splash, boing, bang, thud, sparkle, and pitter-patter are all fun words to say — they also happen to sound exactly like their definition. A study published recently in the Journal of ...

Words with a pleasant sound are easier to remember, a study by the University of Vienna has found. Invented words like "clisious", "smanious" and "drikious" were presented to around 100 ...

Effective communication lies at the heart of human connection. It helps us collaborate with each other, solve problems and build relationships. And communicating clearly is a major consideration for ...

It has probably happened more than once at work: You wanted to sound smart, so you used a word you thought would impress people — but instead ended up looking like you had no idea what you were ...

The English language could have more words than most comparable world languages — and some of its greatest words don't get the airtime they deserve. "Mollycoddle," "jejune," and "bumfuzzle" are some ...

The wind is up; a dry wind. Between four walls, we're only aware of its presence by the sounds it makes. Whistling, hissing, sometimes howling. The effect on the building is noticeable: creaks in the ...