Untraslatable words

Sometimes it's easier to say it in another language. There is a website out there dedicated to posting each day a different word, that cannot be translated in English (or has no direct equivalent). Springing from that, it is very interesting to point out that : "the relationship between words and their meaning is a fascinating one, and linguists have spent countless years deconstructing it, taking it apart letter by letter, and trying to figure out why there are so many feelings and ideas that we cannot even put words to, and that our languages cannot identify." [1] Some words can't be translated into other languages without a lot of explanation. Ella Frances Sanders illustrated 11 such terms that won't render in English as one-word equivalents.

Komorebi : This is the word the Japanese have for when sunlight filters through the trees - the interplay between the light and the leaves.

Sobremesa : Spaniards tend to be a sociable bunch, and this word describes the period of time after a meal when you have food-induced conversations with the people you have shared the meal with.

Mångata : In swedish, the word for the glimmering, roadlike reflection that the moon creates on water.

The following are a instances where other languages have found the right word and English simply falls speechless. [2]

Toska (Russian) : Vladmir Nabokov describes it best: “No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody or something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”

Cafuné (Brazilian Portuguese) : The act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair.

Saudade (Portuguese) : One of the most beautiful of all words, translatable or not, this word “refers to the feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost.” Fado music, a type of mournful singing, relates to saudade.

[1] Ref. http://blog.maptia.com/posts/untranslatable-words-from-other-cultures

[2] Ref. http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/

[Ref] http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-more-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/

[Ref] http://betterthanenglish.com/