The Myth of Untranslatable Words

Have you ever seen those viral lists of “untranslatable words”? Words like saudade, wabi-sabi, or schadenfreude that supposedly capture emotions English can’t? In this video, we explore the myth behind that idea by looking at how languages package meaning differently, why culture shapes vocabulary, and how translators find creative ways to carry sense across languages. From Japanese book hoarding to German irony and Portuguese nostalgia, this episode uncovers what “untranslatable” really means and what it reveals about how humans see the world through language.

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► References

Jakobson, R. (1959). On Linguistic Aspects of Translation. In R. A. Brower (Ed.), On Translation. Harvard University Press.

Nida, E. A. (1964). Toward a Science of Translating. E. J. Brill.

Seleskovitch, D., & Lederer, M. (1984). Interpréter pour traduire. Didier Érudition.

Lomas, T. (2018). Experiential cartography, and the significance of “untranslatable” words. Theory & Psychology, 28(4), 476–495.

Arivazhagan, N., Bapna, A., Firat, O., Johnson, M., & Macherey, W. (2019). The Missing Ingredient in NMT: Explicit Phrase Translation.

Sapir, E., & Whorf, B. L. (1940). The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language. In L. Spier (Ed.), Language, Culture and Personality.
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