Communication

Press release (news release): purpose, format, history and uses News release A press release is a written or recorded communication sent to news media to announce newsworthy information. This article explains its structure, distribution methods, history, an…

Newspeak: fictional language of control from George Orwell's 1984 Newspeak Newspeak is the fictional controlled language in George Orwell's 1984, designed to curtail thought by eliminating and simplifying vocabulary. Its concepts influence debates on lang…

Nicaraguan Sign Language — origins, structure, and significance Nicaraguan Sign Language Nicaraguan Sign Language arose among deaf children in Nicaragua in the 1970s–80s. It is a living sign language that illustrates how human languages emerge and develop structure.

Nigerian Pidgin (Naija): Overview, Features, History and Use Nigerian Pidgin Summary of Nigerian Pidgin (Naija): its origins, linguistic features, social role as a lingua franca in Nigeria, written forms, examples and distinctions from Nigerian Standard Eng…

Nilo‑Saharan languages: distribution, features, and classification Nilo-Saharan languages An overview of the Nilo‑Saharan language family: geography, internal diversity, typical linguistic traits, history of classification, sociolinguistic importance and notable facts.

Niuean language: overview, features, history and current status Niuean language Niuean is a Polynesian language spoken by around 8,000 people, mainly in New Zealand and Niue. This article summarizes its distribution, linguistic features, orthography, history,…

No (English word) No An encyclopedic overview of the English word "no": its grammatical roles, pronunciation, history, typical uses and distinctions from related negatives like "not" and "never".

Nomenclature: systems and conventions for naming Nomenclature Overview of nomenclature: what naming systems are, their components, history, practical uses, and how standards and distinctions shape scientific and common naming practices.

Nonverbal communication: signals beyond words Nonverbal communication Overview of nonverbal communication: channels, functions, research history, practical uses and cross-cultural issues. Covers gestures, facial expression, proxemics, paralanguage an…

Norman language (Norman French) Norman language A Western Romance language of Normandy and the Channel Islands, closely related to French with Norse influence. Shaped English after 1066; now regional, with distinct continental a…

Northern Ndebele language Northern Ndebele (siNdebele) is a Nguni Bantu language of Zimbabwe and neighbouring regions, closely related to Zulu and shaped by migration and local contact.

Norwegian language: overview, varieties and usage Norwegian language Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken in Norway with two official written standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, and a wide spectrum of spoken dialects across the country.

Nu (Greek letter) Nu (letter) Nu (Ν, ν) is the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the 'n' sound; it has the numeric value 50 and appears widely as a symbol in mathematics, physics, and statistics.

Nynorsk: Norway’s alternative written standard Nynorsk Nynorsk is one of Norway’s two official written standards. Created by Ivar Aasen from rural dialects in the 19th century, it remains a living written norm used in education, media…

Ö (O with diaeresis or umlaut) Ö Letter Ö (ö) is O with two dots used in several alphabets to mark front rounded vowels; this article covers pronunciation, history, orthography, computing, and distinctions.

O (Cyrillic letter) O (Cyrillic) Cyrillic letter O (О, о): a round vowel letter derived from Greek omicron, representing /o/ in many languages and appearing in several modified forms for other vowel values.

Obfuscation: definitions, methods, history, and impacts Obfuscation Obfuscation is the practice of making language, documents, or code intentionally hard to understand. It appears in rhetoric, legal and medical language, and in software to hinder a…

Odia language Odia is an Indo‑Aryan language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Odisha. It has its own script, a long literary history, official status in India, and several regional dialects.

OK — meaning, origins, uses, and variations OK OK (also okay, O.K.) is a common English word expressing assent, approval, or adequacy. Its origin is debated; forms and uses range from casual agreement to UI buttons and the stat…

Old Church Slavonic: Early Slavic Literary and Liturgical Language Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic, developed in the 9th century by Saints Cyril and Methodius, became the first Slavic literary language and laid foundations for Slavic liturgy, alphabets and la…

Old Norse: language of the Viking Age Old Norse language Old Norse was the North Germanic language spoken across medieval Scandinavia and Norse settlements; it survives in medieval sagas and as the ancestor of Icelandic, Faroese, the mod…

Old Prussian language Extinct Western Baltic language once spoken by the Old Prussians in the area of modern Kaliningrad and northeast Poland; known from fragmentary texts and subject to limited revival…

Omega (Cyrillic) A historical Cyrillic letter derived from Greek Omega, used chiefly in Church Slavonic, with distinct form and numeral value; now obsolete in most modern Slavic orthographies.

Onomatopoeia (words that imitate or suggest sounds) Onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia: words that echo, imitate, or suggest sounds. Found in language, poetry, comics, and advertising; also related to ideophones and sound symbolism across languages.

Opt-out: consumer choices for stopping unwanted marketing and tracking Opt-out Opt-out are methods that let individuals refuse unwanted marketing, communications, or tracking—common in telemarketing, email, cookies and targeted ads; mechanisms, legal context,…

Odia Wikipedia (Oriya Wikipedia) Oriya Wikipedia The Odia (Oriya) Wikipedia is the Odia-language edition of Wikipedia. Launched in 2002, it provides articles in the Odia script and serves as a public, community-built encyclopedia…

Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing OFDM is a multicarrier modulation technique that transmits many orthogonal subcarriers in parallel to improve spectral efficiency and resilience to multipath, widely used in modern…

Orthographic depth: how writing maps to speech Orthographic depth Orthographic depth measures how consistently a writing system maps written symbols to spoken sounds, ranging from shallow (transparent) systems to deep (opaque) systems and affecti…

Orthography: conventions and history of writing a language Orthography Orthography is the set of conventional rules for writing a language — spelling, punctuation, capitalization, diacritics and related conventions that govern how words and texts are…

OSI model: Seven-layer framework for network communication OSI model A conceptual framework that organizes network functions into seven abstraction layers, used for education, protocol design, and troubleshooting; distinct from the TCP/IP model.

Ouija board: history, use, and scientific explanation Ouija board A flat board used as a 'talking board' in games and spiritualist practice. This article explains its design, history, cultural impact, and the scientific explanation (ideomotor eff…

Oxymoron: Contradictory Expressions in Language and Rhetoric Oxymoron An oxymoron pairs contradictory terms to produce emphasis, irony, or vivid imagery. This article explains definition, examples, historical roots, rhetorical uses, and distinctions…

Ø (o with stroke) — Scandinavian letter Ø Ø (ø) is a distinct vowel letter used in Danish, Norwegian and Faroese alphabets. It represents front rounded vowels, has specific typographic forms, and is commonly transliterated…

Packet (bundle and data unit) Packet A packet is a small wrapped bundle, a consumer sachet or a discrete unit of data in communications. The term covers physical parcels, historical mail services, and the data structu…

Packet switching: principles, history, and applications Packet switching Packet switching is a method of sending digital data in small units called packets. This article explains how packets are formed, routed, and used, and contrasts packet switching w…

Pahari–Pothwari: an Indo‑Aryan speech variety of the Pothohar and Kashmir regions Pahari-Pothwari Pahari‑Pothwari (also Pothwari, Mirpuri, Panjistani) is an Indo‑Aryan speech variety of Pakistan and India, closely related to Punjabi and spoken across the Pothohar Plateau and pa…

Pakistani English The variety of English spoken and written in Pakistan, shaped by South Asian languages and British influence; used in government, education, media and literature.

Panel — meanings, types, and uses (boards, control units, discussion groups, data) Panel Overview of the word "panel": flat surfaces and boards, control and instrument panels, discussion panels, solar and architectural panels, and panel data in research. Definitions, e…

Pangasinan language (Salitan Pangasinan) Pangasinan language An Austronesian language of the Philippines spoken primarily in Pangasinan province; overview of classification, features, history, use, and distinctions.

Payphone A payphone is a public-access telephone that requires payment to place calls. Once ubiquitous in public spaces, payphones declined with mobile phones but still serve emergencies, a…

Pe (Cyrillic letter) Pe (Cyrillic) Pe (П, п) is a Cyrillic consonant representing the voiceless bilabial plosive /p/. It derives from Greek Pi and corresponds to Latin P in transliteration and many writing systems.

Pennsylvania German (Pennsylvania Dutch) language Pennsylvania German language A West Germanic dialect spoken in North American Amish and Mennonite communities; its roots lie in 17th–18th century German dialects and it remains a living regional vernacular.

Period (punctuation) The period (full stop) is the punctuation mark that ends sentences, marks abbreviations and decimals, and appears in computing and typography with varying conventions.

Persian couriers: mounted relay messengers of the Achaemenid realm Persian couriers Mounted relay messengers maintained across old Persia to carry royal despatches along the Royal Road; an organized relay-station system noted by ancient writers and influential on…

Persian language (Farsi, Dari, Tajiki): overview, history, dialects and uses Persian language Persian (Farsi/Dari/Tajiki) is a Western Iranian language with a long literary tradition. This article explains its varieties, writing systems, history, regional distribution, and…

Persuasion: methods, history, uses, and ethical considerations Persuasion Overview of persuasion: definition, key elements, techniques, history, uses in politics/marketing/health, and ethical concerns including dissuasion and distinctions from coercion a…

Phase-Shift Keying (PSK): digital modulation by altering carrier phase Phase-shift keying Phase-shift keying (PSK) is a family of digital modulation methods that encode data by changing a carrier wave's phase. Variants balance spectral efficiency, noise tolerance, and i…

Phoenician language Ancient Semitic language of the Canaanite group used along the eastern Mediterranean and in western colonies; notable for its consonantal alphabet and influence on later scripts.