When I mentioned that Korean words ending in k suggest abruptness, you may have thought, ‘Wait a minute, how about English words like flick, pick and smack – don’t they describe abrupt movements too?’ They do, and it’s unlikely to be a mere coincidence. Words ending in p (pop, hop, flip, thump) and t (hit, punt, butt as a verb) are equally suggestive of movements with a sudden beginning or ending, and roll is an excellent word to describe just that movement. Sejung the Great, who is said to have personally created the unique Korean alphabet, Hangeul, in the fifteenth century. Against every one of these examples – a sceptic might argue – can be set a counterexample, revealing the seeming correlation as a mere fluke. But here’s the thing: there aren’t enough counterexamples to do that. Linguists have compared thousands of English words and established that they are more sound-symbolic than chance would have it.