The positive lexicography project by Dr. Tim Lomas

31 Jan 2016 | #BelieveInGoodness

• Research: http://www.drtimlomas.com/#!lexicography/cm4mi
• Positive Lexicography by Themes: http://www.drtimlomas.com/#!analytic-lexicography/pliik

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FEELINGS: POSITIVE

Revelry

• Borrel (Dutch): informal party or revelry.
• Desbundar (Portuguese): shedding one’s inhibitions in having fun.
• Dilshaadgii (دلشادگی) (Urdu): gladness, good cheer.
• Feestvarken (Norwegian): party pig, i.e., someone in whose honour a party is thrown.
• Feierabend (German): festive mood at the end of a working day.
• Kayf (کیف) (Urdu): merriment, revelry.
• Mbuki-mvuki (Bantu): to shed clothes to dance uninhibited.
• Parea (Παρέα) (Greek): informal party, revelry.
• Ramé (Balinese): something at once chaotic and joyful.
• Sahar (سهر) (Arabic): informal party, revelry.
• Schnapsidee (German): an ingenious plan hatched while drunk.
• Sobremesa (Spanish): when the food has finished but the conversation is still flowing.
• Utepils (Norwegian): drinking beer outside on a hot day.
• Xurramii (خرمی) (Urdu): merriment, revelry.

Cosiness

• Cwtch (Welsh): to hug, a safe welcoming place.
• Geborgenheit (German):feeling protected and safe from harm.
• Gezellig (Dutch): cosiness.
• Gemütlich (German): cosiness, homeliness.
• Heimlich (German): cosiness, homeliness, uncanny.
• Hygge (Danish): cosiness.
• Koselig (Norwegian): cosiness.
• Mysa (Swedish): cosiness.
• Trygghet (Swedish): security, safety, confidence, certainty, trust.

Savouring

• Deliciate (English): luxuriating in pleasure.
• Flâner (French): leisurely strolling the streets.
• Gökotta (Swedish): waking up early to hear the first birds sing.
• Gula (Spanish): the desire to eat simply for the taste.
• Lekker (Dutch): relaxed, comfortable, pleasurable, sexy.
• Njuta (Swedish): profound appreciation.
• Sabsung (Thai): being revitalised through something that livens up one’s life.
• Shemomedjamo (Georgian): eating past the point of satiety due to sheer enjoyment.
• Shinrin-yoku (森林浴) (Japanese): ‘bathing’ in the forsest (literally and/or metaphorically).
• Suwaad (سُواد) (Urdu): pleasure.
• Trpti (Sanskrit): satisfaction of sensual pleasures.
• Uitwaaien (Dutch): walking in the wind for fun.
• Ullassa (उल्लास) (Sanskrit): feelings of pleasantness associated with natural beauty.
• Volta (βόλτα) (Greek): leisurely strolling the streets.

Joy/bliss

• Anand (آنَنْد) (Urdu): bliss, lasting contentment.
• Ananda (आनन्द) (Sanskrit): bliss, lasting contentment.
• Eudaimonia (ευδαιμονία) (Greek): fulfilment, flourishing, infused with the grace of the divine.
• Farhat (فَرْحَت) (Urdu): joy, delight.
• Harsha (हर्श) (Sanskrit): joy, delight or excitement associated with some external event.
• Herrliches Gefühle (German): glorious feelings.
• Masarrat (مَسَرَّت) (Urdu): joy, delight.
• Me yia (με γεια) (Greek): a blessing of joy for others.
• Sarshaarii (سرشاری) (Urdu): bliss, lasting contentment.
• Shaadmaanii (شادْمانی) (Urdu): delight, pleasure.
• Santosha (संतोष) (Sanskrit): contentment arising from personal interaction.
• Sazaadat (سعادت) (Urdu): prosperity, felicity.
• Simcha (Hebrew): bliss, contentment.
• Suaimhneas croi (Gaelic): happiness on finishing a task.
• Tarab (قاموس) (Arabic): musically-induced ecstasy or enchantment.
• Xushii (خُوشی) (Urdu): felicity, prosperity.

Peace/calm

• Seijaku (静寂) (Japanese): serenity in the midst of activity or chaos.
• Siga siga (Σιγά σιγά) (Greek): Slowly, slowly (being unhurried).

Nirvana

• Nirvāna (निर्वाण) (Sanskrit): ‘ultimate’ happiness, total liberation from suffering.
• Tilfreds (Danish): contentment, at peace.
• Sukha (सुख) (Sanskrit): stable and lasting happiness (not dependent upon conditions).
• Xìngfú (幸福) (Chinese): stable and lasting happiness (not dependent upon conditions).

FEELINGS: COMPLEX

Hope

• Belum (Indonesian): not yet, perhaps, hopeful wish.
• Han (한) (Korean): sorrow, regret, patiently waiting for amelioration.
• Iktsuarpok (Inuit): anticipation one feels when waiting for someone, and keeps checking if they’re arriving.
• Magari (Italian): maybe, hopeful wish, wistful regret, in my dreams, if only.
• Vorfreude (German: intense, joyful anticipation derived from imagining future pleasures.

Longing

• Fernweh (German): the ‘call of faraway places,’ homesickness for the unknown.
• Hiraeth (Welsh): longing for one’s homeland, with nostalgia and wistfulness.
• Natsukashii (懐かしい) (Japanese): sad nostalgic longing for the past, plus happiness (for fond memories).
• Saudade (Portuguese): melancholic longing, nostalgia, dreaming wistfulness.
• Sehnsucht (German): life longings, intense desire for alternative paths and states.
• Toska (tоска) (Russian): longing for one’s homeland, with nostalgia and wistfulness.
• Vacilando (Spanish): wandering without concern for the destination.

Freedom

• Prostor (простор) (Russian): spaciousness and freedom.
• Waldeinsamkeit (German): mysterious feeling of solitude when alone in the woods.
• Wanderlust (German): desire/prediliction for travel and adventure.

Aesthetics

• Aware (哀れ) (Japanese): the bittersweetness of a brief, fading moment of transcendent beauty.
• Gumusservi (Turkish): the glimmering that moonlight makes on water.
• Koromebi (木漏れ日) (Japanese): sunlight filtering through leaves.
• Listopad (листопад) (Russian): falling leaves.
• Mangata (Swedish): the glimmering that moonlight makes on water.
• Mono no aware (物の哀れ): the pathos of understanding the transiency of the world and its beauty.
• Psithúrism (ψιθύρισµ) (Greek): sound of wind rustling through trees.
• Ukiyo (浮世絵): ‘floating world,’ living within transcient moments of fleeting beauty.
• Wabi (侘) (Japanese): imperfect beauty.
• Wabi-sabi (侘寂) (Japanese: imperfect and aged beauty, ‘dark, desolate sublimity’.

RELATIONSHIPS: INTIMACY

Friendship

• Ah-un (阿吽) (Japanese): unspoken communication between close friends.
• Apapachar (Nahuatl): to stroke the spirit, i.e., demonstrations of supportive affection.
• Cariño (Spanish): a friend who is the object of care, love and affection.
• Confianza (Spanish): intense friendships, characterised by deep platonic love.
• Nakama (仲間) (Japanese): deep platonic love for a friend.
• Philotimo (φιλότιμο) (Greek): ‘friend-honour,’ respecting and honouring friends.

Affection

• Cafune (Portuguese): tenderly running one’s fingers through a loved one’s hair.
• Gigil (Tagalog): the irresistible urge to pinch someone because they are loved or cherished.
• Kanyininpa (Pintupi): intimate and active relationship between carer and caree.
• Queesting (Dutch): to allow a lover access to one’s bed for chitchat.
• Retrouvailles (French): the joy people feel after meeting loved ones again after a long time apart.

Desire

• Kilig (Tagalog): feeling of butterflies arising from interacting with someone one loves or finds attractive.
• Mamihlapinatapei (Yagán): a look between people that expresses unspoken but mutual desire.
• Oogstrelend (Norwegian): caressing the eye, i.e., attractive or appealing.

Love

• Forelsket (Norwegian): the act/feeling of falling in love.
• Ishq (عشق) (Arabic): true, all-consuming love.
• Koi no yukan (恋の予感) (Japanese): the feeling on meeting someone that falling in love will be inevitable.
• Naz (ناز) (Urdu): assurance/pride in knowing that the other’s love is unconditional and unshakable.
• Onsra (Boro): ‘to love for the last time,’ the feeling that love won’t last.
• Razljubít (разлюбить) (Russian): no longer loving someone.
• Sarang (사랑) (Korean): lifelong love, the wish to be with someone until death.
• Ya’burnee (يقبرني) (Arabic): lifelone love, ‘you bury me,’ i.e., one would rather die than lose the other.
• Yuán fèn (緣分) (Chinese): a ‘binding force’ that impels a relationship ordained by destiny.

RELATIONSHIPS: PRO-SOCIALITY

Kindness

• Ahimsa (अहिंसा) (Sanskrit): non-harm, love.
• Gemilut hasadim (Yiddish): loving-kindness.
• Maitrī (मैत्री) (Sanskrit) loving-kindness.
• Pittiarniq (Inuit): loving-kindness.
• Ubuntu (Nguni Bantu): being kind to others on account of one’s common humanity.

Compassion

• Fargin (Yiddish): to glow with pride and happiness at the successes of others.
• Fremdschämen (German): vicarious embarassment.
• Gunnen (Dutch): to allow someone (else) to have a positive experience (usually in place of oneself).
• Karuna (करुणा) (Sanskrit): empathy, compassion, identifying with the other’s suffering.
• Koev halev (Hebrew): empathy, compassion, identifying with the other’s suffering.
• Kreng-jai (Thai): ‘deferential heart,’ the wish to not trouble someone by burdening them.
• K’velen (Hebrew): to glow with pride and happiness at the successes of others.
• Myötähäpeä (Finnish): vicarious embarrassment.
• Muditā (मुदिता) (Sanskrit): sympathetic joy.
• Pena ajena (Spanish): vicarious embarrassment.

Morality

• Apramāda (अप्रमाद) (Sanskrit): moral watchfulness, awareness of the ethical implications of one’s actions.
• Imandari (الإستقامة) (Pashto): ‘righteousness,’ cultivating good words and deeds.
• Karma (कर्म) (Sanskrit): causality with respect to ethical behaviour.
• Tarbiya (تعليم) (Pashto): on-going moral/ethical and spiritual development.

Hospitality

• Betmoun (بتمون) (Arabic): building up good social karma.
• Guān xì (關係) (Chinese): building up good social karma.
• Hachnasat orchim (Yiddish): ‘welcoming the stranger,’ offering hospitality and respect to strangers.
• Melmastia (مېلمستیا) (Pashto): hospitality, moral obligation to offer sanctuary and respect to all visitors.
• Ta’ârof (تعارف) (Farsi): politeness, social intelligence (e.g., in relation to receiving/offering hospitality/gifts).
• Tzedaka (Yiddish): generosity, required righteous giving.
• Xenia (ξενία) (Greek): importance of offering hospitality and respect to strangers.

Communication

• Commuovere (Italian): ‘heartwarming,’ a story that has moved one to affectionate tears.
• Dadirri (Australian Aboriginal): a deep, spiritual act of reflective and respectful listening.
• Enraonar (Catalan): to discuss in a civilised, reasoned manner.
• S’entendre (French): to hear each other,understanding between people.
• Hirgun (Hebrew): the act of saying nice things to another simply to make them feel good.
• Nunchi (눈치) (Korean): ‘eye-measure,’ the ability to ‘read’ emotions and situations and to respond skilfully.
• Talanoa (Fijian Hindi): the way apparently purposeless idle talk functions as a ‘social adhesive’.
• Xīn kǔ (辛苦) (Chinese): appreciation and recognition for others and their efforts.

Communality

• Asabiyyah (عصبية) (Arabic): togetherness, community spirit.
• Dugnad (Norwegian): collectively pursuing/undertaking a task.
• Janteloven (Dutch): a set of rules which discourages individualism in communities.
• Piliriqatigiinniq (Inuit): togetherness, community spirit.
• Rojong (Indonesian): collectively pursuing/undertaking a task.
• Simpatía (Spanish): accord and harmony within relationships and/or society.
• Talko (Swedish): collectively pursuing/undertaking a task.
• Talkoot (Finnish): collectively pursuing/undertaking a task.
• Tjotjog (Javanese): ‘to fit’, accord and harmony within relationships and/or society.
• Tuko pamoja (Swahili): community togetherness, ‘we are together’.

CHARACTER: RESOURCES

Grit

• Að nenna (Icelandic): ability or willingness to persevere through tasks that are hard or boring.
• Ganbaru (頑張る) (Japanese): to do one’s best.
• Querencia (Spanish): a place where one feels secure, from which one draws strength.
• Sisu (Finnish): extraordinary determination in the face of adversity.
• Sitzfleisch (German): ‘sit meat,’ ability or willingness to persevere through tasks that are hard or boring.
• Sumud (صمود) (Arabic): steadfastness, a determined struggle to persist.

Spirit

• Baraka (بركة) (Arabic): a gift of spiritual energy or ‘sanctifying power’.
• kefi (κέφι) (Greek): joy, passion, enthusiasm, high spirits, frenzy.
• Jaksaa (Finnish): being energised, enthused and spirited.
• Orenda (Huron): the power of the human will to change the world in the face of powerful forces.
• Orka (Swedish): being energised, enthused and spirited.

Skill

• Arrangiarsi (Italian): the ability to ‘make do’ or ‘get by’.
• Desenrascanço (Portuguese): to artfully disentangle oneself from a troublesome situation.
• Fingerspitzengefühl (German): ‘fingertip feeling,’ the ability to think clearly about multiple phenomena.
• Jugaad (जुगाड) (Hindi): the ability to ‘make do’ or ‘get by’.
• Kombinować (Polish): working out an unusual solution to a problem, acquiring skills in the process.
• Meraki (μεράκι) (Greek): ardour (in relation to one’s own actions and creations).
• Pihentagyú (Hungarian): ‘with a relaxed brain,’ being quick-witted and sharp.
• Saper vivere (Italian): the ability to handle people and situations with charm, diplomacy and verve.
• Sprezzatura (Italian): nonchalance, art and effort are concealed beneath a studied carelessness.
• Yuán bèi (圓備) (Chinese): a sense of complete and perfect accomplishment.

Decency

• Brav (German): children who are pleasant, earnest, and well-behaved.
• Engelengeduld (Norwegian): the patience of an angel.
• Fēngyùn (風韻) (Chinese): personal charm and graceful bearing.
• Ilunga (Tshiluba): being ready to forgive a first time, tolerate a second time, but never a third time.
• Kào pǔ (靠譜) (Chinese): someone who is reliable, responsible, and to do things without causing problems.
• Lagom (Swedish): moderation, of doing anything to just the right degree.
• Majime (真面目) (Japanese): someone reliable, responsible, able to do things without causing problems.
• Sunao (素直) (Japanese): meek, docile and submissive (in a positive, deferential way).
• Szimpatikus (Hungarian): a decent human being.

Flourishing

• Bon vivant (French): someone who enjoys and appreciates the good life.
• Erlebnis (German): living fully, experiencing life deeply and intensely in the here and now.
• Genki (元気) (Japanese): being healthy, energetic, and full of life.
• Ikigai (生き甲斐) (Japanese): a ‘reason for being,’ the sense that its worthwhile to continue living.
• Joie de vivre (French): zest for life, the knack of knowing how to live.
• Menschlichkeit (Yiddish): being a good human being in its fullest sense.
• Míng mù (瞑目) (Chinese): to ‘die without regret,’ having lived a good life.
• Namus (Turkish): honour, chastity, decency, and virtue.
• Vivencias (Spanish): living fully, experiencing life deeply and intensely in the here and now.
• Yutta-hey (Cherokee): ‘it is a good day to die,’ leaving life at its zenith, departing in glory.

CHARACTER: SPIRITUALITY

Soul

• Anātman (अनात्मन्) (Sanskrit): lack of permanent self/soul. Ātman (आत्मन्) (Sanskrit): breath or spirit.
• Duša (душа) (Russian): one’s inner heart and soul.
• Fitra (فطرة) (Arabic): an innate purity and closeness to God.

Path

• Budō (武道) (Japanese): martial arts.
• Ch’án (禪) (Chinese): meditation.
• Dhárma (धर्म) (Sanskrit): laws of the universe, guidelines for action.
• Dhyāna (ध्यान) (Sanskrit): meditation.
• Mantra (मन्त्र) (Sanskrit), mind tool, a word, phrase or sound focused on in meditation.
• Mārga (मार्ग) (Sanskrit): a spiritual path or way.
• Muraqaba (مراقبة) (Arabic): Sufi meditation, ‘to watch over’ or ‘to take care of’.

Understanding

• Anitya (अनित्य) (Sanskrit): impermanence.
• Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) (Sanskrit): all-powerful and pervasive power that continually creates the universe.
• Duḥkha (दुःख) (Sanskrit): suffering or dissatisfaction.
• Friluftsliv (Norwegian): living in tune with nature.
• Lakṣaṇas (लक्षण) (Sanskrit): ‘marks of conditioned existence’.
• Prajña (प्रज्ञ) (Sanskrit): wisdom and experiential insight.
• Sūnyatā (शून्यता) (Sanskrit): emptiness (phenomena come into being dependent upon conditions).
• Tao (道) (Chinese): all-powerful and pervasive power, path or way.
• Wú wéi (無為) (Chinese): to ‘do nothing,’ acting in accordance with the Tao, being natural and effortless.
• Yin yang (陰陽) (Chinese): holistic duality, dialectical (co-dependent) opposites.

Transformation

• Bodhi (बोधि) (Sanskrit): enlightenment, awakening.
• Fanaa (فناء) (Arabic): ‘annihilation’ of the ego, leading to enlightenment and union with God.
• Kenshō (見性) (Japanese): temporary ‘glimpse’ of awakening and enlightenment.
• Satori (悟り) (Japanese): enduring awakening and enlightenment.
• Tathāgatagarbha (गर्भतथागत) (Sanskrit): Buddha nature.
• Tazkiah (تزكية) (Arabic): purification of the self, purity and submission to Allah.