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The word “huh” is a universal word used across different languages to indicate a lack of understanding. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics found that the word emerged independently in different languages because it fits its function perfectly.
Even if you don’t speak any foreign languages, there’s a good chance you already know at least one word you can use wherever you go: “Huh?” That’s right, the seemingly nonsensical word you use to indicate that you don’t understand something is basically the same sound made by people all over the world for the same reason. According to research conducted by a group at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, the word “huh” should be seen as a remarkable linguistic invention and the first “universal word” studied by linguists today. After analyzing the speech of speakers in languages ranging from French and Spanish to indigenous vocabulary found in Ecuador and Ghana, the researchers found that they all used a sound very similar to “huh” to indicate a lack of understanding. Lead researcher Mark Dingemanse said the explanation for such widespread use of a word can be traced to convergent evolution. In other words, it emerges independently in different languages because it fits its function perfectly. He compares it to the physical evolution of sharks and dolphins, which “have arrived at the same body plane not because they share certain genes, but because they share an environment.”
A look at the language:
Most of the world is bilingual, but most people in America and the UK only speak English.
Twins tend to create a language that only the two of them can understand; the phenomenon is known as cryptophasia.
Not surprisingly, the book that has been translated into the most languages is the Bible. Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio, originally written in Italian, is commonly considered the second most translated, with versions in over 300 languages.
