Asian Words for Emotions That Get Lost in Translation

I love languages. I’ve always loved them since I was a kid.

There’s a quote that really sums up how language plays an important part in our lives and shapes the experiences we have:

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

— Nelson Mandela

In a world of globalisation, we default to English to be able to understand, communicate, learn, and connect. But I still believe one’s own language is the only key to their heart, their culture, and even their subconscious.

Language can tell us a lot about a culture. Each word might have its own story, rather than simply being used to describe a story or an emotion. What I love about words with no direct English translation is that they seem to go into a deeper level of nuance within one’s feelings.

As complicated as it sounds, I guess that’s the beauty of words in different languages. They not only try to encapsulate one emotion, but they also try to capture exactly what we feel as complex human beings.

It’s never as simple as just happiness, just sadness, or just anger. A lot of the time, it’s hope within despair, fear within excitement, or hatred towards a person while secretly being in love with their talents.

I believe all languages have, more or less, a number of unique emotion words with no direct equivalent in English. It means that we all have different interpretations of emotions, shaped by where we grow up, the culture we’re born into, and the community we live in.

Let’s unpack a few unique emotions that exist in Asian languages.

Xianmu (羡慕)

羡慕 is a Mandarin word that conveys a feeling of envy wrapped around admiration. It might seem to carry a negative connotation in English, but there’s actually a deeper sense of respect, appreciation, and praise within the feeling.

You can be envious of someone’s talent but also admire them at the same time.

You can be so jealous of how someone can look so beautiful and have such a likeable personality, yet deep down inside, you want to be like them.

It’s definitely a more complex feeling than just envy. Within envy, there’s also admiration, which is a very normal, common feeling we have as human beings. And 羡慕 just beautifully captures that.

Han (한)

“한” is a Korean word often described as an internalised feeling of deep sorrow, resentment, grief, regret, and anger. It’s been articulated beautifully through Eunice’s story, a Korean-Canadian, and her own experience with “한.”

Imagine your family being torn apart, and you have no power to prevent it from happening. All you can do is adapt to the loss and continue living. Yet, the pain is always there, “so intense and all-consuming some believe you can die from it.”

This word is also a perfect reflection of the history of a country that’s been through loss and division. It carries the generational pain of a nation separated because of war. It’s passed on, and it seems that with each generation, each Korean person might have their own version of “한.”

Kilig

This Filipino word is probably one of my favourite feelings in the world: the feeling of butterflies in your stomach. It is used to describe the experience when you’re falling in love, but also when you experience love second-hand, like when you watch a heartfelt, romantic scene unfold in a movie or a book: the moment of confession, yearning, teasing, and flirting.

This feeling is akin to romantic excitement or thrill. There’s so much attraction and chemistry that it shakes your nervous system a little bit. You could say that someone sweeps you off your feet, and in that moment, you are experiencing kilig.

Natsukashii (懐かしい)

This Japanese word describes a feeling of nostalgia, not necessarily sadness, but a comfortable sense of familiarity and remembrance, often associated with a place or experience from the past.

When you think about the hometown where you grew up, your childhood friends who parted ways with you as you grew older simply because of time and distance, or the school that holds a whole lot of memories from when you were a carefree teenager. All of that joy, the reminiscence of a happy time and place in the past, and the quiet contentment with how everything happened, unfolded, and ended leave you with so many great memories to remember.

I guess that’s the beauty of “懐かしい.” It’s a feeling that tells you, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

Viraha (विरह)

This word from Sanskrit literature encapsulates the intense pain of separation from a loved one, spiritual longing and devotional absence.

It’s a complex emotion that combines longing, sadness, and a sense of learning and understanding.

Distance not only creates emotional pain or sadness; it also creates yearning, emotional growth, and introspection. “विरह” is often a transformational pain that can make the bond between loved ones grow stronger, driving people to outgrow the temporary emptiness and wait patiently, as an act of love, until reunion.

Thương

A Vietnamese word that carries a much deeper emotional weight than love. It’s enduring and unconditional. There’s a quiet agony in “thương,” a selfless devotion, and a sense of emotional responsibility.

When you “thương” someone, their happiness and well-being matter more to you than your own. Their pain affects you even more deeply than your own struggles, and you genuinely want to give them the best in life, even if it means giving up your own happiness.

“Thương” is most commonly used between family members, and it’s most clearly reflected in the sacred love of a mother for her children.

When two strangers fall in love and their bond grows to the point where they begin to “thương” each other, it can feel like love has grown into something deeper. Something that carries not only affection, but also tenderness, care, understanding, and a willingness to endure or sacrifice for the other person.

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A special thank you to anyone who has added these words to this list. And there are many, many more unique, beautiful words that haven’t been covered. Yet, I believe they are very, very deeply appreciated.

If you come across them, make a note. Make a mental note. Write them down. These emotions are so beautiful, so human, whether negative or positive. They all make up an important part of who we are, our heritage, and our culture as a collective community of human beings with a wide range of emotions and experiences.

Even if they don’t have a direct English translation, in one way or another, they should all be communicated and shared between us, with their own meanings preserved, so we know the stories, the feelings, and the experiences behind them.

They all deserve to be known.