A new study suggests that the phonemic composition of words influences as how beautiful we perceive them to be, and how well ...

A study suggests some pattens in profanity are universal. Almost all languages feature foul words, and almost all of those words work in similar ways, functioning to show off our strongest feelings ...

There's always that one friend who pulls out random big words in the middle of a casual sentence. To them, it feels natural, even if it leaves others standing around with a puzzled look. It's almost ...

Linguists have noticed that many swear words share the same sharp, punchy sounds—hard consonants like “k,” “t,” and “g” that burst out of the mouth rather than flow. When a study examined those sound ...

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 ...

English is a quirky, often confusing language that's been shaped and influenced by many others. As such, it has a massive variety of words—but here are some we think rise above the crowd and deserve ...

After years of research, neuroscientists have discovered a new pathway in the human brain that processes the sounds of language. The findings, reported August 18 in the journal Cell, suggest that ...

We recognize words as pictures As your eyes scan these words, your brain seems to derive their meaning instantaneously. How are we able to recognize and interpret marks on a page so rapidly? A small ...

We’ve all experienced how certain sounds can grate on our nerves, such as the noise made by dragging your fingernails across a blackboard (Getty/iStock) During the pandemic, many of us have felt our ...