Communication

Euphemism: polite, indirect, and substitute expressions Euphemism Euphemism is the practice of replacing words or phrases considered harsh, offensive, secret, or sensitive with milder or less direct expressions; used in everyday speech, law, reli…

Exclamation mark Punctuation mark used to express strong feeling, emphasis or commands; also appears in programming as a logical operator and in mathematics as the factorial symbol.

Explanation: meaning, types, history and role in inquiry Explanation An explanation clarifies why something happened or how it works. This article outlines types of explanations, their functions in science and everyday life, historical shifts, crite…

Exposure: meanings, contexts, and practical implications Exposure Overview of 'exposure' across photography, health, finance, environment and media; key concepts, measurement approaches, and distinctions such as exposure versus dose.

Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol XMPP is an open, XML-based protocol for instant messaging, presence, and real-time communication. It supports decentralized servers, extensible features, and many clients and servi…

Extinct language: definition, causes, history and revival Extinct language An extinct language is one that no longer has native or fluent users. This article explains the definition, causes of extinction, historical examples, and distinctions from dead an…

Eye contact Eye contact is the act of two people looking at each other's eyes simultaneously; it conveys attention, emotion and social signals and varies widely by culture, context and individ…

F (letter) F F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet, commonly representing the voiceless labiodental fricative /f/. This article explains its origin, shapes, pronunciation, and common uses…

Facial composite: purpose, methods, history and limitations Facial composite A facial composite is an image reconstructed from witness descriptions to aid identification. This article explains methods, history, uses in investigations, accuracy limits, and m…

Faggot (slang): meaning, history, usage, and social impact Faggot (slang) A concise, neutral overview of the slur "faggot"—its meanings, origins, uses, effects, and debates over reclamation and regulation in social and media contexts.

False alarm An alert that notifies of danger when none exists. False alarms arise from technical faults, human error, or deliberate hoaxes and can waste resources; prevention uses verification…

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) FAQ A FAQ is a curated list of common questions and concise answers about a topic. This article explains what FAQs are, how they are organized, their history, uses, and best practices.

Faroese language: history, characteristics, and contemporary use Faroese language Faroese is a North Germanic language spoken in the Faroe Islands by about 70,000 people. It descends from Old Norse and has a distinct orthography, rich oral tradition, and officia…

Fax (Facsimile): Transmission of scanned documents over telephone and digital networks Fax Fax (facsimile) is the transmission of scanned printed material over telephone or digital networks to produce a paper or electronic copy. This article covers operation, standards,…

Federal Communications Commission U.S. independent agency that regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable, created by the Communications Act of 1934.

Feedback (systems, biology, and communication) Feedback An overview of feedback as loops that return outputs to inputs. Covers types, components, historical development, practical examples in engineering and biology, and differences fro…

Figure of Speech: Definition, Types, History, and Uses Figure of speech An overview of figures of speech (tropes and schemes), how they differ from literal language, common types such as metaphor and irony, historical background, examples and practical…

Fijian language Fijian is an Austronesian language of Fiji used by roughly 350,000 speakers; it has several dialects, a standardized Bauan variety, a Latin-based orthography, and official status a…

Filipino language: overview, history, characteristics, and uses Filipino language Filipino is the Philippines’ national language, a standardized form of Tagalog used in government, education and media. It evolved from Tagalog and has been shaped by other Philipp…

Fingerspelling (manual alphabets) Fingerspelling Fingerspelling is the representation of letters and sometimes numerals with handshapes. It supplements sign languages for names, technical terms and words without established signs…

Finnish language: overview, structure, history, and usage Finnish language A concise encyclopedia entry on Finnish: its classification, structural traits, historical development, status, dialects and cultural importance in Finland and beyond.

Fire alarm systems: purpose, components, types, and operation Fire alarm Overview of fire alarm systems: how they detect and warn of fire, main parts, system types, common features (voice, strobes, sprinklers), standards, causes of false alarms, and mai…

First language (mother tongue, L1) — definition, characteristics, and importance First language The first language (mother tongue, L1) is the language someone acquires earliest. It shapes speech, thought, literacy and identity; it may differ from the language a person uses mo…

First person (grammar, narrative, and viewpoint) First person Overview of the first-person concept: grammatical forms, narrative perspective in literature, and first-person viewpoint in film, photography and video games, including variants an…

Flemish: varieties of Dutch spoken in northern Belgium Flemish language Flemish refers to the Dutch varieties used in Flanders (northern Belgium). It covers regional dialects and the Belgian form of standard Dutch, differing mainly in pronunciation, so…

Folkspraak: a zonal constructed language for Germanic speakers Folkspraak Folkspraak is a collaborative, unfinished zonal constructed language that draws vocabulary from Germanic tongues to promote mutual intelligibility among their speakers.

Fon language: an overview of the Gbe language of Benin Fon language Fon is a Gbe language chiefly spoken in Benin by around 1.7 million people. It is tonal, uses SVO order, and plays a major role in regional culture, media, and everyday communicati…

Format war (competition between technical standards) Format war A format war is the competitive struggle between incompatible technical formats to become the dominant industry standard. Outcomes shape markets, consumer choice, and technology ad…

Forum: public gathering place and online discussion space Forum A forum is a physical or virtual place for people to meet, discuss, trade, deliberate or resolve issues. Covers structure, historical origins, online evolution, uses, moderation an…

Forum (Bangladesh magazine) Forum (Bangladesh) Forum was an English-language monthly news and current affairs magazine founded in 1969 in East Pakistan; suppressed in 1971, revived in 2006 and published until 2013.

Forward Error Correction Forward error correction (FEC) is a method of adding redundancy to transmitted data so receivers can detect and often correct errors without requesting retransmission.

Franconian dialects Franconian Dialect Group of related West Germanic dialects descending from Old Frankish, spoken across parts of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France.

French language (français) French language A Romance language that evolved from Latin in Western Europe, French is spoken worldwide as a native and second language and serves as an official language in many countries and in…

French Sign Language (Langue des Signes Française, LSF) French Sign Language An overview of French Sign Language (LSF): its characteristics, history, grammar, use in education and society, and how it differs from spoken French and other sign languages.

Frequency modulation (FM): principles, history, and applications Frequency modulation Frequency modulation (FM) conveys information by varying a carrier's instantaneous frequency. This article explains how FM works, contrasts it with AM, covers history, broadcast us…

Frequency-hopping spread spectrum A radio transmission technique that rapidly switches carrier frequencies according to a shared sequence, improving resistance to interference and enabling multiple users in the sam…

Fricative consonant A fricative consonant is produced by forcing air through a narrow oral or glottal constriction to create turbulent noise; described here are articulation, types, examples, and cros…

Frisian languages: overview, varieties, history and modern status Frisian languages The Frisian languages are a small branch of West Germanic spoken along the southern North Sea coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. This article describes their varieties…

Fuzhou dialect (Eastern Min variety) Fuzhou dialect Fuzhou dialect, or Fuzhounese, is the prestige variety of Eastern Min Chinese spoken in Mindong (eastern Fujian). It is noted for complex tone sandhi, unique phonology, local media…

Gag (device to restrict speech) Gag A gag is any device or method used to muffle or obstruct a person’s speech. This article explains types, materials, historical and cultural contexts, common uses, safety concerns a…

Galician language: history, features, and modern use Galician language Galician (Galego) is a Romance language of northwest Spain, closely related to Portuguese and co-official in Galicia; it has medieval origins, distinct dialects, and a living liter…

Gan language (Gan Chinese) Gan language Gan is a Sinitic language spoken mainly in Jiangxi and parts of southern China. It comprises several regional dialect groups and is linguistically distinct from Mandarin and other…

Gateway (telecommunications) A gateway connects two networks that use different protocols by translating between them. It can operate at multiple layers, appears in many forms (routers, VoIP gateways, resident…

Ge (Cyrillic letter Г) Ge (Cyrillic) Ge (Г, г) is the fourth Cyrillic letter, derived from Greek gamma and generally representing /g/ or /h/ sounds; it has regional variants and distinct roles in Slavic and non‑Slavic…

Ge with upturn (ґ) — Cyrillic letter used in Ukrainian and some Belarusian contexts Ge with upturn The Cyrillic letter Ґ (lowercase ґ), known as Ge with upturn, denotes the voiced velar plosive /g/ in Ukrainian and appears in select Belarusian usage; restored to Ukrainian orthog…

German language (Deutsch): overview, structure, history and regional varieties German language An accessible overview of the German language: classification, key grammatical features, historical development, major dialects and regional forms, and where it is spoken today.

German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS) German Sign Language Deutsche Gebärdensprache (DGS) is the natural sign language of many deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Germany, with its own grammar, regional varieties, and distinct roles in educ…

Germanic languages Branch of the Indo-European family that includes English, German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages; descended from Proto‑Germanic and divided into East, North and West groups.