A 2016 survey compiled words from several languages that have no translation, including three in Portuguese — saudade, desbundar and desenrascanço.
The case of saudade is already well known, but what if we said that there are two more words in Portuguese that are untranslatable? It was to gather these and other similar words that Tim Lomas, from Harvard University, ventured into a search for terms from several languages that have no translation.
Speaking to , Lomas says he was first inspired after hearing a talk about the Finnish concept of contentwhich is a kind of “extraordinary determination in the face of adversity”.
According to native Finnish speakers, the words “courage”, “perseverance” or “resilience” do not come close to describing the inner strength encapsulated in their term.
Lomas’ search for other similar words led to the publication of a journal in the Journal of Positive Psychology in 2016 that compiles words from several languages that convey untranslatable feelings. To find the words, Lomas searched academic literature and interviewed people from the country of origin of the words he intended to decipher.
Among the words in Portuguese, “longing” is described as a “melancholy longing or nostalgia for a person, place, or thing that is distant, either spatially or in time—a vague, dreamy melancholy for phenomena that may not even exist.”
In the list of most positive feelings, “dsmother“, which is defined as “getting rid of inhibitions to have fun”. The third Portuguese term included is “unraveling“, which means “to skillfully extricate oneself from a problematic situation”.
“In our stream of consciousness – that wave of different sensations, feelings and emotions – there is so much to process that a lot passes us by. The feelings we learn to recognize and label are the ones we notice – but there are many more that we may not be aware of. And so I think if we receive these new words, they can help us to articulate entire areas of expertise that we only vaguely noticed”, says Tim Lomas.
Out of curiosity, here are some more untranslatable words included in Lomas’ research:
- Dadirri (Aboriginal Australian) – a profound and spiritual act of reflective and respectful listening
- Phentagyú (Hungarian) – significa literally “with a relaxed brain”, describes quick-witted people who can come up with sophisticated jokes or solutions
- Sukha (Sanskrit) – genuine and lasting happiness, regardless of circumstances
- Orenda (Huron) – the power of human will to change the world in the face of powerful forces like fate
- Tarab (Arabic) – ecstasy or enchantment induced by music
- Gigil (Tagalog) – the irresistible desire to pinch or squeeze someone that is dear to us
- Yuan bei (Chinese) – a sense of complete and perfect fulfillment
- Iktsuarpok (Inuit) – the anticipation of waiting for someone, with constant leaving the house to see if the person has already arrived
- Mbuki-mvuki (Bantu) – irresistible desire to take off your clothes while dancing
- Uitwaaien (Dutch) – revitalizing effect of taking a walk in the wind
