cultures

Positive Lexicography

Positive Lexicography

Language is a fascinating realm in which discoveries about culture and values can be made. In every language around the planet, there are unique words that only exist to that culture. Positive Lexicography, pioneered by positive psychologist Tim Lomas, PhD. in 2016, is the new study of seemingly untranslatable words that convey the meaning of well-being across various languages and cultures. By “untranslatable,” we mean that there is not a direct equivalent in English. These words can describe experiences unique to specific cultures or be concepts so important to the people that they have coined a direct term for it (Lomas, 2016).