Communication

Indo-European languages: origin, structure, branches, and global influence Indo-European languages A concise overview of the Indo-European language family: its origins in Proto-Indo-European, characteristic features, major branches, historical spread, and contemporary importance…

Indo‑Iranian languages Indo-Iranian languages Group of related Indo‑European languages including Indo‑Aryan and Iranian branches; historically from Central Asia and now spoken across South Asia, Iran, and parts of Central Asia…

Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia): origins, features, and usage Indonesian language Bahasa Indonesia is the standardized form of Malay and the official language of Indonesia. Coverage includes its history, grammar traits, vocabulary influences, scripts, social rol…

Inflection: How languages mark grammatical change Inflection Inflection is the modification of words to express grammatical features — tense, number, case, gender, person and more. This article explains types, examples, typology and how infl…

Information — concept, measurement, and uses Information Overview of information: definitions, measurement (bits), history, common uses, and distinctions such as data vs knowledge and semantic vs syntactic aspects.

Innuendo: indirect suggestion and its uses in language and rhetoric Innuendo An innuendo is an indirect or implied remark that suggests something without stating it plainly; commonly used in humor, persuasion, accusation, and can carry sexual, political, or…

Instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) is real-time text-based communication over a network, supporting presence, typing indicators, media sharing and group chat across desktop and mobile clients.

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Integrated Services Digital Network ISDN is a set of communication standards for digital telephone networks that carry voice, data and other services over the same lines using separate digital channels.

Interjection (grammar): brief exclamations, reactions, and discourse signals Interjection An interjection is a short word or utterance that conveys emotion, reaction, hesitation, greeting, or attention. This article summarizes forms, functions, punctuation, types, and c…

Interlinear text: definition, forms, history and uses Interlinear text Interlinear text places explanatory lines under or between main lines to show transliteration, literal or free translations, grammatical glosses and other annotations for language…

Interlingua: an international auxiliary language Interlingua Interlingua is an international auxiliary language developed in the 20th century to maximize immediate intelligibility among speakers of Western European languages through simplifi…

Interlingua grammar: structure, features, history, and usage Interlingua grammar A concise guide to Interlingua grammar covering its core features, origin with IALA, typical syntax and morphology, sample sentences, uses, and distinctions from other auxiliary la…

Interlingue (Occidental): a brief encyclopedia entry Interlingue Interlingue, originally Occidental, is a naturalistic constructed international auxiliary language created by Edgar de Wahl in 1922; known for its regular derivation rule and Roman…

International auxiliary language: purpose, history, and examples International auxiliary language An international auxiliary language (IAL) is designed to help people with different native tongues communicate. This article outlines its purpose, characteristics, history, uses, e…

ICAO airport code (International Civil Aviation Organization location indicator) International Civil Aviation Organization airport code Four-letter location indicators issued by ICAO to uniquely identify airports and aerodromes worldwide. Used in flight plans, ATC, weather reports and navigation systems; different…

International Direct Dialing (IDD) International Direct Dialing International Direct Dialing lets a telephone user place international calls without operator assistance by dialing an international access prefix, a country calling code, then the…

International Phonetic Alphabet A standardized system of symbols for representing speech sounds from any language, used by linguists, language teachers, and others to record precise pronunciation.

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) International Standard Serial Number An eight-digit identifier for serial publications (print and electronic) that enables consistent cataloging, distribution, and metadata exchange under ISO 3297.

Interpreter (spoken-language professional) Interpreter A professional who renders spoken or signed messages from a source language into a target language in real time. Covers modes, skills, history, applications, and how interpreting d…

Interrobang A nonstandard punctuation mark (‽) that combines the question mark and exclamation mark to express surprised or emphatic questions; rare in formal writing and encoded at Unicode U+…

Interrogation: purposes, methods, legality and historical context Interrogation Interrogation is formal or informal questioning to obtain information. This article explains common methods and phases, legal and ethical limits, reliability concerns, institutiona…

Interslavic — a Pan‑Slavic auxiliary language Interslavic language Interslavic is a constructed zonal language created so speakers of different Slavic languages can understand each other with little or no prior study, using shared vocabulary and s…

Interview: Purpose, Types, Process, History and Uses Interview A concise overview of interviews: what they are, common forms and stages, historical development, practical uses in employment, research, journalism, policing, intelligence and eth…

Intonation (linguistics): pitch contours, functions, and cross-linguistic patterns Intonation (linguistics) Intonation is the use of pitch variation across phrases and sentences to mark sentence type, focus, attitude and discourse. This article surveys contours, functions, notation, typo…

Inuinnaqtun Inuinnaqtun is an Inuit language of western Nunavut and parts of the Northwest Territories in Canada, written in Latin script and spoken by several hundred people. It has official…

Inuktitut: the Inuit language of the eastern Arctic Inuktitut Inuktitut is an Inuit language spoken across the eastern Arctic. This article explains its distribution, structure, writing systems, history, cultural role, and relationship to oth…

Iñupiaq (Inupiat) language: overview, dialects, history and revitalization Inupiat language Iñupiaq (Inupiat) is an Inuit language of northern Alaska with several dialects. This article explains its classification, speech communities, structure, history of decline, and mo…

Inversion (linguistics) Inversion is the alteration of the normal word order in a clause, often swapping verb and subject. This article outlines types, cross-linguistic patterns, examples, and functions i…

Invoice (commercial billing document) Invoice An invoice is a commercial document issued by a seller to request payment for goods or services. This article explains typical parts, common types, electronic invoicing, accounting…

Iota (Greek letter) Iota Iota is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the /i/ vowel and the numeral 10; it also appears in mathematics, logic, programming and English idioms.

IP Phone (Internet Protocol Phone) IP Phone A telephone that transmits voice over IP networks (VoIP). Explains operation, components, protocols, common features, history, uses and how it differs from analog phones.

Irish English (Hiberno-English): features, history and varieties Irish English Irish English (Hiberno-English) is the set of English dialects spoken in Ireland, shaped by Irish (Gaeilge), historical contact, and regional variation across the island.

Irish (Gaeilge): overview, history, dialects, and contemporary use Irish language Irish (Gaeilge) is a Goidelic Celtic language of Ireland with a long literary tradition, regional dialects, distinctive grammar, and ongoing revival and official status in the Repu…

Irula language A Dravidian language of southern India spoken by the Irula people, closely related to Tamil and Malayalam, with distinct grammar, oral traditions, and a vulnerable sociolinguistic…

Isan language Isan is a group of closely related Tai dialects spoken in northeastern Thailand and nearby areas; closely related to Lao, used mainly in informal contexts and written most often wi…

ISO 639-1: Two-letter codes for languages ISO 639-1 ISO 639-1 defines standardized two-letter (alpha-2) language codes used widely in computing, web standards, localization and cataloguing. It covers common languages; others use thr…

ISO 639-2: Three-letter codes for languages ISO 639-2 ISO 639-2 defines three-letter codes that identify languages for bibliographic, cataloging and technical purposes; it expands on two-letter ISO 639-1 codes and relates to ISO 639-3…

ISO 639-3: Three-letter Codes for Identifying Languages ISO 639-3 ISO 639-3 is an international standard that assigns three-letter identifiers to individual languages, extending earlier ISO 639 standards to cover a much larger set of living, exti…

ISO basic Latin alphabet The ISO basic Latin alphabet is the unaccented set of 26 uppercase and 26 lowercase letters A–Z standardized for international interchange and computing.

Italian language: origin, structure, usage and cultural influence Italian language Overview of the Italian language: history, grammar features, regional varieties, global distribution, cultural influence in music and cuisine, and notable linguistic distinctions.

Italian language in Croatia: presence, history, and cultural role Italian language in Croatia An overview of the Italian language as a recognized minority language in Croatia — its distribution, historical roots, legal status, education and cultural presence, especially in…

Jafri dialect — a Saraiki variety of Musakhel, Balochistan Jafri dialect Jafri is a regional Saraiki dialect spoken chiefly in Musakhel District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan continuum and shows notable contact influences and repo…

Jamaican English: varieties, features, and social context Jamaican English Overview of Jamaican English: its relationship to Jamaican Patois, characteristic sounds and grammar, historical development, social varieties, examples, and notable distinctions.

Japanese dialects: groups, features, history and sociolinguistic role Japanese dialects Overview of the regional varieties of Japanese, their major groupings, linguistic features, history of standardization, and distinction from the Ryukyuan languages.

Japanese language (Nihongo) Japanese language Overview of the Japanese language: classification, writing systems, grammar features, historical influences, uses, and notable distinctions for learners and researchers.

Japanese Sign Language (JSL) — overview, features, history and use Japanese Sign Language Japanese Sign Language (JSL) is the primary natural sign language of Japan, with its own grammar, regional varieties, cultural role, and distinct identity from signed or manually c…

Javanese language (Basa Jawa): overview, script, dialects and use Javanese language Javanese (Basa Jawa) is an Austronesian regional language of Java with tens of millions of speakers, rich literary traditions, distinct speech levels, multiple scripts, and diaspor…

Je (Cyrillic letter Ј) Je (Cyrillic) Je (Cyrillic Ј, ј) is a letter representing the palatal approximant [j] in several Cyrillic alphabets. It resembles Latin J and is used in South Slavic and some Turkic languages.