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Are there commonalities across the world's languages between the sounds in particular words and the meanings of those words? The traditional thinking in linguistics says no. But new research surveying the meaning and sounds of words across 6,000 languages from the Americas, Asia, Europe and Australasia finds otherwise. Morten Christiansen of Cornell University talks to Adam Rutherford about the research and his findings. First broadcast on Â鶹Éç Inside Science, 10 November 2016.