The World's Most Recognizable Word Across Languages
Originally Published 1 year ago — by IFLScience
The word "huh" is considered a universal interjection, understood across many languages worldwide, as explored by linguists from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. Their study, which won an Ig Nobel Prize, found that "huh" is used similarly in 31 languages, suggesting it evolved as a minimal, easy-to-deploy signal to indicate conversational trouble and prompt clarification. This universality is attributed to convergent evolution in language, rather than being an innate human sound.