万万没想到：英语里表达情绪的词竟然这么少

While investigating non-English words associated with positive emotions and concepts, a British researcher recently discovered 216 foreign words for which there is no English translation.

英国研究人员最近在调查研究表示正面情感和概念的非英语语言的词汇时发现，有216个词没有对应的英语翻译。

There’s an ongoing debate among scientists about language and its connection to conscious experience. Philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett has said that language “infects and inflects our thought at every level,” arguing that a significant portion of our perception of the world is influenced by the words at our disposal.

科学家一直在争辩语言和意识体验间的关系。哲学家兼认知学家丹尼尔·达内特曾说，语言“影响并且反映我们方方面面的思想”，我们对世界的感知很大程度上受到我们措辞的影响。

Many psychologists, on the other hand, have a hard time believing that humans aren’t capable of grasping a concept or feeling an emotion just because there’s no word for it.

另一方面，许多心理学家很难相信人们会因为语言里没有对应的用语而无法掌握某个概念、不能体验某种情感。

But as University of East London psychologist Tim Lomas points out in his new study, expanded vocabularies have the potential to “enrich our experiences of well-being.”Lomas managed to uncover an astounding 216 psychologically positive “untranslatable words”—words that have no English equivalent.

但东伦敦大学心理学家蒂姆·罗马思在他一项新的研究中指出，词汇量扩展有望“增益我们的幸福体验”。罗马思已经发现了多达216个“不可译”的正面心理词汇，这些词没有对应的英语。

Lomas wanted to see how other cultures verbalize positive emotional concepts and he organized the words into three categories. Here are some examples:

罗马思想看看其他文化是如何用语言表达正面的情感的，希望这些词汇可以丰富英语语言,他把这些词汇分成三类。示例如下：

Words relating to feelings:

和情感有关的词汇：

Gula: Spanish for the desire to eat simply for the taste

Gula:西班牙语，用以表达冲着味美想吃的愿望

Schnapsidee: German for coming up with an ingenious plan when drunk

Schnapsidee：德语，表示酒醉后突然有了绝妙的计划

Volta: Greek for leisurely strolling the streets

Volta：希腊语，表示在马路上悠闲地漫步

Words relating to relationships:

和关系有关的词汇：

Nakama: Japanese for friends who one considers like family

Nakama：日语，表示视作家人的朋友

Kilig: Tagalog for the butterflies in the stomach you get when interacting with someone you find attractive

Kilig: 塔加拉族语言，表示和你觉得有魅力的人在一起交流时心潮翻腾、内心萌动的感觉

Sarang: Korean for when you wish to be with someone until death

Sarang: 韩语，表示想与人至死不分离的愿望

Words relating to character:

和性格有关的词汇：

Sitzfleisch: German for the ability to persevere through hard or boring tasks

Sitzfleisch: 德语，表示能坚持做完艰难又无趣的任务的能力

Baraka: Arabic for a gift of spiritual energy that can be passed from one person to another

Baraka: 阿拉伯语，表示天赋或精神能量可以相互传递

Desenrascanco: Portuguese for the ability to artfully disentangle oneself from a troublesome situation

Desenrascanco: 葡萄牙语，表示金蝉脱壳，能巧妙能摆脱困境