Communication

Chilean Spanish Regional variety of Spanish spoken in Chile, noted for distinctive pronunciation, local vocabulary and slang, particular grammatical patterns, and influences from indigenous langua…

Chinese characters (Hanzi, Kanji): origin, structure, and cultural role Chinese characters Logographic characters used to write Chinese and other East Asian languages; overview of history, structure (radicals and strokes), scripts, uses, and cultural importance.

Chinese language: varieties, writing, history, and use Chinese language An accessible overview of the Chinese language: its major regional varieties, writing systems and romanization, phonology (tones), historical development, and societal roles.

Chinese loanwords: origins, pronunciations, writing, and influence Chinese loanwords An overview of Chinese loanwords in neighboring languages: how they spread, adapted to other phonologies and scripts, major historical pathways, examples, and modern distinctions.

Chinook Jargon A brief encyclopedic overview of Chinook Jargon, a Pacific Northwest pidgin used historically for trade and multilingual communication, its features, history, and modern legacy.

Chokwe language Chokwe (CiChokwe) is a Bantu language of Central and Southern Africa, spoken by the Chokwe people in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia; it is a national lang…

Chosen-ciphertext attack A chosen-ciphertext attack (CCA) is a cryptanalytic model in which an attacker can obtain decryptions of chosen ciphertexts. Covers variants (CCA1/CCA2), notable examples, practica…

Chuvash language: the surviving Oghur branch of Turkic Chuvash language Chuvash is a Turkic language spoken mainly in the Chuvash Republic of Russia. It is the only surviving member of the Oghur branch, written in a Cyrillic-based alphabet and distinct…

Ciphertext: encrypted data and its role in cryptography Ciphertext Ciphertext is information transformed by encryption to hide its meaning. This article explains what ciphertext is, how it is produced and reversed, its history, uses, and important…

Ciphertext-only attack: definition, methods, history and defenses Ciphertext-only attack An overview of ciphertext-only attacks in cryptanalysis: what they are, how they work, historical examples, common techniques, and practical defenses against them.

Circumflex (ˆ): a diacritic accent used in several languages Circumflex The circumflex (ˆ) is a diacritic placed above vowels. It marks historical changes, vowel quality, length or stress and helps distinguish meanings across languages like French, Por…

Citizens band radio (CB radio): overview, operation, and uses Citizens band radio Short-range two-way radio service on 27 MHz used for personal, business and emergency communications; typically 40 shared channels, simple equipment, varied national rules and comm…

Clapper: bell striker, percussion device, film slate and stone bridge Clapper Clapper denotes several devices that create or mark sound by striking: the internal striker of a bell, handheld percussion, the film clapperboard, prehistoric stone slab bridges, a…

Clapper Post (Klapperpost) — 18th-century urban postal service in Austria Clapper Post Clapper Post was an urban municipal postal service in 18th-century Austria, named for the hand-held clapper used by mail carriers to announce deliveries; established in Vienna in 1…

Claro Claro — a Romance-language word meaning “clear” and a widely used name: a major Latin American telecom brand, a type of walnut used in woodworking, a cigar wrapper shade, a Swiss p…

Classified advertising: definition, formats, history and uses Classified advertising Short, categorical advertisements traditionally in newspapers and now widely posted online; used by individuals and small sellers to offer goods, services, jobs and property.

Cleartext: meaning, risks, and distinctions from plaintext and ciphertext Cleartext Cleartext is data in a human-readable form that is transmitted or stored without cryptographic protection. This article explains its characteristics, risks, common examples, and mi…

Click (onomatopoeia) Click "Click" is an onomatopoeic word that imitates short, sharp sounds. It names a variety of physical noises, technological actions, linguistic phenomena and metaphorical uses in many…

Code: systems for transforming and concealing information Code Overview of codes: definitions, differences from ciphers, history, types (Morse, flag, binary, ASCII), uses in communications, computing, cryptography and codebreaking.

Code name: purpose, history, practices, and notable examples Code name A code name is a substitute label used to conceal or simplify reference to an operation, person, product, or project. Used in military, intelligence, business, and technology conte…

Code-switching: definition, types, functions, and social significance Code-switching Code-switching is the practice of alternating between languages or dialects within conversation. This article explains forms, reasons, social meanings, cognitive aspects, and disti…

Collaboration: Definition, Types, Roles, and Best Practices Collaboration Collaboration is people working together toward shared goals. This article outlines definitions, common forms, roles, history, benefits, challenges, and practical guidelines for ef…

Collect call (reverse-charge telephone call) Collect call A collect call is a telephone call billed to the recipient rather than the caller. This article explains how collect calls work, their history, typical uses, decline with mobile an…

Colloquial Language: Everyday Expressions and Informal Speech Colloquialism Overview of colloquial language: common everyday words, phrases, and informal speech patterns, their social uses, regional and age variations, and guidance on appropriate contexts.

Colloquy (software) Colloquy is a free, open-source graphical IRC client originally released in 2005 for macOS and later adapted for iOS. It is written in Objective-C and distributed under the GNU GPL…

Colon (punctuation): form, function, and usage Colon (punctuation) Overview of the colon punctuation mark, its appearance, common uses in writing and typography, basic style rules, and roles in other languages and computing.

Color depth (bit depth) in digital imaging Color depth Color depth describes how many bits are used per pixel to represent color in digital images and video, affecting the number of distinct colors, file size, and visual fidelity.

Color of the Day — undercover police identification Color of the day (police) A briefing on the 'color of the day' system used by some U.S. police agencies to reduce friendly-fire incidents: how it works, history, practical limits, and examples of use and de…

Coming out (revealing sexual orientation or gender identity) Coming out The process of disclosing one’s sexual orientation or gender identity to others; a personal, social, and sometimes political act with varied risks, meanings, and cultural practices…

Commentary: forms, functions, and historical context Commentary A concise overview of commentary—spoken and written—covering formats, notable examples, historical development, uses in media, literature and art, and distinctions between types.

Common Brittonic (Old Brythonic): overview, history and legacy Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (Old Brythonic) was the ancestral Celtic language of the Britons. This article summarizes its characteristics, development into daughter languages, decline, and su…

Commonly misspelled words Overview of why certain English words are often misspelled, common examples and error types, historical reasons for irregular spelling, and practical tips to avoid mistakes.

Communication: forms, functions, history and key distinctions Communication An accessible overview of communication: definition, major channels (visual, auditory, tactile, chemical, written), functions, models, human and animal examples, historical changes…

Communication protocol A communication protocol is a formal set of rules and conventions that govern data exchange between computing devices, defining syntax, semantics, timing and error handling across…

Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems Claude Shannon's foundational study applying information theory to cryptography; introduces perfect secrecy, equivocation, unicity distance, and explains the one-time pad's informa…

Communications Act Overview of the Communications Act as a legal framework in different countries, notably the United States (1934) and the United Kingdom (2003), and its role in regulating electroni…

Communications satellite Artificial satellites that relay telecommunications signals between points on Earth, providing broadcast, voice, data and internet services from space using specific orbits and onb…

Communications-based Train Control (CBTC): Principles, Components, and Applications Communications-based train control CBTC is a modern railway signaling approach using continuous train-to-track communications to improve safety, capacity, and operational flexibility on metros and other railways.

Comparison: evaluating similarities and differences Comparison An encyclopedia entry on comparison: what it is, its forms and methods, historical use in logic and rhetoric, applications in science, decision-making, and distinctions from analog…

Comparison of American and British English Clear, concise comparison of American and British English: origins, main differences (spelling, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, punctuation), uses, and practical guidance.

Complex sentence (grammar): definition, structure, examples Complex sentence A complex sentence contains one independent clause plus one or more dependent (subordinate) clauses. This article explains types of subordinate clauses, punctuation, examples, and…

Compound (linguistics) An overview of compound words: how they form, their classifications (closed, hyphenated, open), historical development, linguistic properties, orthography and examples across langu…

Compromise: definition, forms, history, and practical considerations Compromise An objective overview of compromise: what it means, how it functions in relationships, politics and law, its benefits and limits, cultural differences, ethical issues, and practica…

Computational Linguistics Study of automated processing of human language: theory, components, history, applications (speech, translation, dialogue) and major challenges in research and deployment.

Conflation (conceptual merging and identity confusion) Conflation Conflation is the treatment or perception of two or more distinct things as if they were a single entity. It occurs across logic, language, history, data, and everyday reasoning an…

Confusion and Diffusion in Cryptography Confusion and diffusion Two complementary cipher properties introduced by Claude Shannon: confusion hides key–ciphertext relationships, diffusion spreads plaintext structure across ciphertext. Roles, mech…

Conjunction (grammar) Conjunction A conjunction is a part of speech that links words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. This article explains types (coordinating, subordinating, correlative), functions, punctuation,…

Connection (concept) Connection An explanation of connection as a physical and abstract concept: types, characteristics, history, common uses in transport, technology and relationships, and how it differs from re…