Victor Hugo said: “To speak another language is to gain another soul.” That’s because the language we speak shapes the way we think. Irish is a case in point. Unfortunately, I still don’t speak it, even after over thirty years of living here. I do, however, have some insights into how the Irish language shapes the Irish psyche. In English, you say “I am sad.” In Irish, it translates into “The sadness is upon me.” The emotion is outside of the individual. It impels you but is not a part of you. This can take an interesting turn when one feels inclined to drink. There is a definite difference between “I am thirsty” and “The thirst is upon me.”
Interestingly, in Spanish you can both be sad (Soy triste) and be in a state of sadness (Estoy triste). The former is something you are born with – you are a sad person; the latter is due to events outside of you like failing an exam. Two other words that only exist in Irish and which really reflect the Irish spirit are ‘craic’ (good times in good company) and ‘meitheal’ (coming together as a team to achieve a common goal). In fact, a good ‘meitheal’ is great ‘craic’! The fact that there is no way to say “Yes “or “No” in Irish is a clue into why the Irish can seem a bit cagey. You can’t definitively say that you will be going out on Friday if you have no word for yes/no. And then there is ‘an modh coinníollach’, a whole verb tense to conjugate what might, maybe happen depending on the circumstances. It is the most unspecific of verb tenses.
Many languages have words that don’t have an English translation and I love discovering them. I am lucky to speak Spanish, and French, which makes Italian easy to understand but somehow shuts out both Greek and Portuguese, two languages that totally escape me. Here are a few of my favourite untranslatable words. Each one is a little peek into that culture’s soul.
‘Sobremesa’ is a lovely word in Spanish, which conjures up all my childhood summers. It is the time after you’ve finished a meal when you stay chatting at the table. It can last from an hour to all afternoon if the meal is lunch. Another great Spanish word is ‘estenar,’ which means to wear something new for the first time. It’s showing off in the most blatant way and goes a long way to understanding a certain arrogant confidence that some might accuse my ancestors of having. I love the verb for riding a horse ‘caballgar,’ which literally translates into “to horse” from caballo (horse). Spanish is great on verbs. ‘Madrugar’ is to get up at dawn, while ‘merendar’, is to eat ‘merienda’ (afternoon tea). Another lovely verb is ‘despedirse’, which describes saying goodbye.
French has some good words as well. ‘Amuse bouche’ is something you might find on a fancy restaurant menu, but it literally means amuse mouth. It is something bite size, that is both tasty and surprising. French can be very specific like that. Take ‘defenestrer,’ which is the verb that describes throwing someone out a window.
One of my favourite French verbs is ‘flaner’, which means to stroll with no particular purpose and no particular destination. It is more fluid and aimless than the Italian ‘passeggiata’. The Spanish ‘putivuelta’ is a stroll around the town to see what’s happening and where’s the best ‘ambiente’, ambience, ‘atmosphera’. The Irish equivalent is to take a walk to see where’s the craic? If you bump into friends along the way, you have had a ‘retrouvaille’, a word which means to meet again in French and implies that both parties are pleased about it. To be ‘depayser’ translates literally as to be de-countried. Nothing is familiar. Everything is different from your country. It’s Dorothy turning to Toto and saying, “I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” It’s not homesickness as much as an awareness of being totally not where you are used to being.
I had a look at words that only exist in English and discovered a few of my favourites. ‘Serendipity’ is a wonderful word, which means a happy accident. We should all have a bit of serendipity in our lives. Another word which I use a lot and which I did not realise was exclusive to English is ‘flabbergasted’. It means overwhelming surprise- a sort of “I didn’t see that coming” moment. Lastly is ‘bungalow’, a solid simple word that is truly suited to its meaning.
