Volta, a Greek word describing a leisurely stroll down the street. Jugaad, a Hindi term meaning the ability to get by. Gumusservi: Turkish for the subtle glimmer that moonlight makes on water.
Volta, a Greek word describing a leisurely stroll down the street. Jugaad, a Hindi term meaning the ability to get by. Gumusservi: Turkish for the subtle glimmer that moonlight makes on water.
Too little of the world’s astoundingly rich lexicon for feelings of beauty, positivity, and well-being exists in English alone. As such, University of East London psychology lecturer Tim Lomas has corralled some of the most striking non-English words about emotions for Westerners to appreciate. While the words describe phenomena experienced and celebrated by many cultures, no easily-expressible equivalents exist in English.
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Lomas published 216 of these so-called “untranslatable” words in the Journal of Positive Psychology last week aiming to both “help expand the emotional vocabulary of English speakers” and “provide a window onto cultural differences in constructions of well-being”; the words are also neatly laid out on his website by theme.
Here are some of the loveliest, alongside translations by Lomas into their nearest-possible English definition:
Lomas notes in the journal article that he plans to pursue further research on the potential benefits of his positive, emotional, “cross-cultural lexicography.” Offering readers these small glimpses of linguistic beauty seems a good start.
