EMOTIONS
IN ICELANDIC
There are two terms in
Icelandic, Tilfinning and Kennd, which partially
translate the
English word, "emotion."
Another term, viðkræmur, appeared
in sentences but were not
explored.
Tilfinning can
be specified as góð tilfinning (good
emotion), sterk tilfinning (strong emotion) and ánægouleg
tilfinning
(pleasant emotion). Icelandic sentences
(with both back translations and word-by-word glosses) using these are:
Ég
| hef | á |
tilfinningunni | að |
þeð | fari | að svyóa.
I
| have | on | the
feeling | that | it | will | snow.
"I
feel that it's going to snow."
Ég
| hef | á |
tilfinningunni | að |
þrí | hafir | rélt |
fyrir | þér.
I
| have | on | the
feeling | that | you | have | right | for |
you.
"I
feel that you're right," which can also be said as:
Mér
| finnst | þrí | hafa | rélt |
fyrir | þer.
I | feel |
you | have | right | for | you.
Kennd is
described as an "archaic concept," used less than
tilfinning, translating into English as both "to know" and "to
feel." One sentence frame using Kennd
is: Að kenna til _______, where possible completions of the
frame
include:
Að
| kenna | til : ×einhvers ... ×reiði ... ×kviða.
I | felt | : ×something
... ×anger ... ×anxiety.
"I
felt something ... anger ... anxiety."
In
this sentence frame, finna [another grammatical form of tilfinning]
can be substituted for kenna without affecting the English
gloss. All of the specific emotion-terms
subsequently explored can be used in this sentence.
Idiomatic English
sentences regarding emotion, when translated into Icelandic (and
back-translated into English):
"He
expressed his emotions easily."
Hann
| átti | auðvelt | með | að | týa |
tilfinningar | sínnar.
He |
|
| | |
|
emotions | his.
Back-translated
into English, there is no change.
"He
is showing a lot of emotion," or "He was very
emotional."
Han
| er | mýóg |
tilfinningaðmur.
He | was | very | emotional.
Back-translated into English, there is no change.
"Don't
be emotional."
Euni
| vera | sroma | viðkræmur.
| be | | emotional.
Back-translated
into English, there is no change.
"He
was emotionless."
Hann
| var | tinfinningalauss.
He | was | without emotion.
Back-translated
into English, there is no change.
"It
was an emotional moment."
Það
| var | tilfinningaþrungið | augnazlik.
It | was | emotion-filled
| moment.
Back-translated into English, there is no change.
"I
felt conflicting emotions."
Ég
| fann | tilfinningar | togast | á.
I | felt | emotions
|
| .
Back-translated into English, there is no change.
Five emotion-words in
Icelandic (all of which are categorized as belonging in the domain
described by tilfinning are:
| Reiði |
=
|
anger |
| Ást |
= |
love |
| Reiður |
= |
hate |
| Ótti |
= |
fear |
| Ánægja |
= |
pleasure |
ANGER
and REIÐI
Gauti
Sigþórsson amended Wierzbicka's
definition of the English
word,
"anger," using her semantic primitives, to:
x thinks something
like this
this person (y) does
something bad/does not do something
I don't want this
I would want to do
something bad to this person
because of this, x
feels something bad toward y
because of this, x
wants to do something
Gauti
and I discussed preliminary sentence-frames in English which were
designed to test various possible parameters of "reiði" in
Icelandic:
"I
feel angry when _____________."
Ég
| verð | reiðdur | þegar | hann | móðgar | mig.
I | get | angry | when | he | insults | me.
Back-translated
into English, there is no change.
"...
a dog bites me" was also considered a possible entry
into this frame, but was not translated into Icelandic.
"Anger
is a very childish emotion" was rejected as not being
expressive of Icelandic parameters of anger.
"I am
so angry, I could ________________."
Ég
| er | svo | reiðuræ | ég | gæti ... ×fýlt hann ... ×dreþið hann ... ×grátið.
I | am | so | angry | I |
could... ×fight him ... ×kill
him ... ×cry.
"...
kill myself" and "go punch somebody" were
rejected as not being expressive of Icelandic parameters of anger.
"I am
angry at ___________________."
Ég
| er | reiður | við ... ×hundinn | minn ... ×þjóðverjana.
I | am | angry |
with... ×dog
| mine ... ×the
stranger.
"...
the Germans," "my sister," and
(parenthetically), "the fates" were included as plausible in this
sentence
frame. "My car," "the
weather," and "my rosebush" were rejected because the target of
anger in Icelandic is animate. "A
stranger" was rejected because the target of reiði must be
specific.
He
got so angry, he went beserk.
Hann
| gekk | berserksgang |
af | reið.
He | became | beserk
| with | anger.
Back-translated
into English, there is no change.
During
our discussion of the lexicalization of anger in Icelandic,
other sentences emerged:
"He
controlled his anger."
Hann
| hafði | stjórn | á | reiði | sinni.
He | had |
control | of | anger | his.
"I
got angry because he kicked my dog."
Ég
| varð | reiður | af | þri | að | hann |
sparkadði | í | hundinn |
minn.
I | was | angry | at | him | as | he
|
kicked |
| dog |
my.
"Anger
drove him forth."
Reiðin
| rule | hann | áfrom.
Anger | drove | him |
forth/forward.
"Her
infidelity aroused his anger."
Ótryggð | hennar |
valeti |
reiði | hans.
Infidelity |
her |
aroused/awoke | anger | his.
"He
lost his mind in anger."
Hann
| vað | vitstola | af
| reiði.
He | became | sense-stolen |
with | anger.
"She
got terribly angry."
Hún
| reiddist | ógurlega.
She | got
angry | terribly.
"The
anger of the gods fell on him."
Reiði
| guðanna
| steyptist |
yfir | hann.
Anger | the gods (genitive) |
fell/showered | over | him.
LOVE
AND ÁST
"Love" in
Icelandic is described by Gauti Sigþórsson as being much
more limited in scope
than the English word, specifically that the loved one must be animate
and
capable of reciprocating. The
possibility of loving one's dog was a marginal case, reflecting what
Gauti
termed the devaluation of the term "ást" under American
influence.
Preliminary sentence
frames:
"I love
_____________."
Ég | elska ... ×fonuna | mína ... ×þjoð
| mína ... ×börnin
| mín.
I | love ... ×wife | my ... ×nation
| my ... ×children
| my.
"...
my cousin," "this land," "my
country," "my mother," my dead grandfather," and "my wife" were considered appropriate for this
sentence-frame. "flowers," "this movie,"
"my car," "cake," "to ski," and "going for
long walks" were rejected.
The
sentence-frame "Because I love x, I ____________ [cry, give
them food, hug/kiss x, pine away, miss them, keep them/it safe, have
sexual
intercourse (want to 'make love'), etc.]" was accepted as plausible
without being translated.
The
sentence frame, "I know that I am in love when
_____________" was translated as,
Ég
| veit | að | ég | er | ástfanginn | þegar |
ég | lít | í | augu | hennar.
I | know | |
I | am | in love
|
when | I |
look |into| eyes | her.
"I
know that I am in love when I look into her eyes," but
other possible completions of the frame were not explored.
The
sentence-frame, "I love it when _________________ [the sun is
shining, my boss praises me, etc.]" was rejected as being a
non-Icelandic
expression of love.
Other
Icelandic sentences were:
Ástin
| genði | hann | glaðan.
Love | made | him | glad.
"Love
made him glad."
Ég
| er | ásk|fanginn.
I | am | love|captured/prisoned.
"I am
in love."
Áskin
| er | eins | og | simel|dus.
Love | is | like |
| dry grass|fire.
"Love
is like a brush-fire."
Áskin
| fost | hvorki
| keypt | né | seld.
Love | can be | neither |
bought | nor | sold.
Ég | hef |
fundið | áskina.
I | have | found |
(the) love.
Kveilyum
| ásk|areld.
Let us light
| love|fire of (genitive).
"Let
us light the fire of love."
Ég
| elska | þig.
I | love |
you.
Ég | elska |
smábörn.
I | love | babies.
Ég | vil
| elskast | met | henni.
I | want to | makelove | with |
her.
Ég | elda | fyrir | hana |
þri | ég |
elska | hana.
I | cook | for |
her | because | I |
love | her.
HATE
AND REIÐUR
Preliminary
sentence-frames included:
"I
hate ______________________"
Ég | hatta ___ ... ×hetti ... ×hrítkád ...
I | hate
×cats
... ×cabbage ...
"Adolf
Hitler," "Russia," and "cold
weather" were considered as reasonable substitutions in this
sentence-frame.
Although it is an
acceptable grammatical form, my informant did not translate "my
brother" for this sentence-frame because he does not hate his
brother. "Ghosts" was
problematic in this frame.
"Because s/he
___________________, I hate him/her."
Ég | hata | hann | af
þrí |
hann | hrýtur.
I | hate | him |
because | he | snores.
"He
hated him
for ________." This context of this
sentence-frame (ie. the
possible answers
provided) implied time.
Hán
| hataði | hann | næsta :
×áriðid ... ×mánuðin.
He | hated | him | the next : ×year
... ×month.
"Month"
was considered about the minimum possible time for
hatred.
"He
hated him
so much that he ________."
Hann | hataði | hann | svo |
mikið | að | hann : ×dreþið | hann ...
He | hated |
him | so |
much | that | he
: ×killed | him ...
×brenndi
| húsi |
hann ... ×lamið
| hann |
i | klessu
× | | him
... ×beat
| him | to | pulp
"Hatred
is
___________"
Hatur |
er | af | hinu : ×illa
... ×réttlætanlegt
... ×synd
Hatred | is | "
×evil ... ×justifiable ... ×a sin
The
sentence-frame, "Because of his hatred, he
___________________" was considered reasonable in Icelandic when
completed
with the clause, "stalked the
killer for the rest of his life," but not with the clause "got
drunk."
Other
sentences, which originated with the Icelandic, included:
Hatrið
| rale | hann |
áfram.
(the)
hate/hatred | drove | him | forth.
Hann | er | gagnetiluán | af |
hatri.
He | is | consumed
| by | hate.
Ég | hata | þig.
I | hate | you.
Hann | hatar | pönleara.
He | hates | punks.
Hú |
er | hötuð | af | lýðnum.
She | is | hated | by | the people. [eg., Margaret Thatcher]
Hatrið | er | dyúpstrett
| milli
| þerrh.
The hate | is | deeply founded | between | them.
Ér | hata | túlipana.
I | hate | tulips.
FEAR
AND ÓTTI [and HRÆÐSLA]
"The
_________ was afraid."
Maðurium | var |
hræðður : hunndin
| | : dog
"Man," "woman," horse," bird," and
"cat" were all considered appropriate for this sentence-frame. I did not ask about inanimate objects, nor
about plants.
"He
is afraid
of ____________________"
Hann | er | hræðð : ×tranga ...
He | is | afraid of : ×ghosts
...
"the
dark," "bad fortune," "dogs,"
"Russians," "a crop failure," "lightning,"
"death," "hell," and "murderers," were all considered
appropriate for this sentence-frame. I
did not ask about inanimate objects nor plants.
Hann
| dó | meshum þri | af
|
hræðslu.
He | died | almost
| of | fear.
"Wanted
to disappear" was considered an inappropriate
consequence to fear, although "wanted to run away," "trembled in
his boots," "fought" and "cried" were considered
reasonable. The sentence-frame was not
elicited.
Það
| er | hardumernnlegt | að | yfirvirna | ótta | sinn.
It | is | manly
| to | overcome | fear
| one's.
"It
is manly to overcome one's fear."
Ottinn
| genð | mig | sterlean.
Fear | made | me |
strong.
Ég | ótterst | bita.
or Hann | er | bilhroddur.
I | fear |
cars. or He
| is | car-scared (masculine).
Hér
| rennur | kalt |
ratu | milli | shinns | og |
hírulds.
I | trickles | cold | water |
between | subdermis | and | epidermis.
"[My
fear was like] cold water trickling between the layers of my
skin."
Lamað
| af | ótta.
Paralyzed
with fear.
Þrí
| er | meiri
| hroðshiprileinn.
You | are |
little-devil (affectionate term) | fear-devil.
Þri | ert | slineja.
You | are | a
wimp.
Hann | er | gudhræðður.
He | is | god-fearing.
Hann | er |
draughræðður.
He | is | ghost-fearing.
Ég | óttast |
myrkrið.
He | never |
Hann | er | myrk|fæhinn.
He | is | dark|fearing.
PLEASURE AND ÁNÆGJA
<>[or,
it might be preferable to use a word from the kennd category
of emotions, for comparison]
Wierzbicka
does not give a semantic-primitive definition for
pleasure. Possible parameters for
"pleasure" include source, ?goal, sensation, duration, potential
sinfulness, etc.
Potential
sentence-frames include:
It is
a pleasure to ___________________ [see you, eat cheesecake,
listen to Beethoven, sit in the sun, etc.]
Preliminary
sentences exploring these and other possibilities include
(translated into Icelandic and back-translated into English):
Other sentences and
sentence-frames expressing the parameters and demonstrating the nature
of the
Icelandic word, ánægja [or, _____],
include:
Mér | er | sönn | ánægja | að | hynnast
| þér.
I/Me | is |
true | pleasure | to | make your acquaintance | you.
Þetta | veru |
ánægjulegar | fréltir.
Those | were
| pleasant |
news.
Íþróttir | veita
| mér | ánægju.
Sports | give | me | pleasure.
Ég | er |
ánægðus | mið | lifið.
I | am | pleasued | with |
life.
Ánægjan
| fyllti | mig.
Pleasure |
filled | me.
það | var |
ótríleg |
ánægja.
It | was | incredible |
pleasure.
það | var | engin |
ánægja.
It | was | no
| pleasure.
|
