#timlomas

The Atlantic Ocean, Praia Camburizinho, São Sebastião (SP) (October, 2016)

I am a lover of language and of foreign accents and I recently discovered a fascination for the relationship between the language we use and our thought processes. My search led to a gem that is the Positive Lexicography project by Tim Lomas. The project has the ambitious goal of “filling the gaps in our vocabularies and helping us give names to newly felt emotions, or to those that are familiar but difficult to articulate” and by extension also to “help the field of psychology, which is often criticised for focussing too much on Western experiences and ideas, develop a more cross-cultural view of well-being”. 

I chose one word for each letter of the alphabet so far proposed by the lexicon and I’m adopting them in my own vocabulary in the never ending effort, in the words of Donna Haraway, to “destabilise worlds of thinking with other worlds of thinking”.  One strategy I thought of, for slowly familiarising with words belonging to cultures foreign to me, is to ask - whenever I get a chance - about the use of these words to people I know already or whom I’ll meet in the future. 

AUFHEBEN (German, v.): sublimation; to raise up, to remove/destroy, yet also paradoxically to preserve/keep

BAYANIHAN (Tagalog, n.): co-operative endeavour in the service of a shared goal; a spirit of communal unity

COMMUOVERE (Italian, v.): to be moved, touched or affected (e.g., by a story).

DUGNAD (Norwegian, n.): a collectively pursued/undertaken task; voluntary community work

ENRAONAR (Catalan, v.): to discuss in a civilised, reasoned manner

FRISSON (French, n.): a sudden feeling of thrill, combining fear and excitement

GANBARU (Japanese, v.): lit. 'to stand firm'; to do one’s best

HEDERSMANN (Norwegian) (noun): An honest man with great integrity

IMANDARI (Arabic, n.): ‘righteousness,’ cultivating good words and deeds.

JAKSAA (Finnish, v.): to have energy, enthusiasm, and spirit (e.g., for a task).

KRENG-JAI (Thai, n.): ‘deferential heart,’ the wish to not trouble someone by burdening them

LUTALICA (English, new coinage, n.): the part of your identity that doesn't fit into categories

MOKITA (Kivila, n.): a truth that everyone knows but no-one talks about

NAM JAI (Thai, n.): lit. 'water from the heart', selfless generosity and kindness

OPIA (English, new coinage, n.): the ambiguous intensity of eye-contact

PIHENTAGYÚ (Hungarian): ‘with a relaxed brain,’ being quick-witted and sharp

QUERENCIA (Spanish, n.): a place where one feels secure, from which one draws strength

RADARPAR (Norwegian) (n.): Two people that work very well together

SISU (Finnish, n.): extraordinary determination in the face of adversity

TARAB (Arabic, n.): musically-induced ecstasy or enchantment

UITWAAIEN (Dutch, v.): lit. 'to walk in the wind'; to go out into the countryside (e.g., clear one's head)

VIVENCIAS (Spanish, n.): living fully, experiencing life deeply and intensely in the here and now

WÚ WÉI (無為) (Chinese): to ‘do nothing,’ acting in accordance with the Tao, being natural and effortless

XENIA  (Greek, n.): 'guest-friendship', the importance of offering hospitality and respect to strangers

YIN YANG (陰陽) (Chinese): holistic duality, dialectical (co-dependent) opposites

Sometimes, people cannot describe some event into words. They have tendency to choose a word that is rooted in their collective unconsciousness. For example, when Sundanese describes an event which makes her/him feeling awe, but in the same time, makes her/him remembering old moments, she/he will choose “wa’as” for describing that moment, which is hard to translate that word into an English word. Yes, English is also imperfect. So, the way people choosing their ancient words is also acceptable. And, why don’t take the ancient words to our academic sphere? And, why don’t learn to absorb those ancient words to some lexicography?

Tim Lomas, one of researchers who wrote about cross cultural positive psychology lexicography. He has a research interest in this field because he understands that english, as a common language, is not perfect. So, researchers need to borrow some words from other languages which are more suitable in describing some momentous event.

Below is His notes about Frisson.

“Frisson. What a strange word. It evokes that peculiar intermingling of excitement and fear that can attend momentous events. The spark of electricity when you lock eyes with someone who is yet unknown to you, but who might just be ‘the one.’  The queasy sensation of anxious adrenaline whena big news story breaks. The fearful joy as you plunge downhill on a vertiginous rollercoaster. The word ‘thrill’ perhaps comes close. But not quite. As such, realising that all near-equivalents in English are imperfect, we gladly alight upon the French loanword. And as we do, our existence feels just alittle richer and more nuanced.”