What is Telugu for empathy????

trojan

Hey all

hoping we have some native Telugu speaker with us today......

was hoping someone might help me figure out what the best translation of the English word EMPATHY is in Telugu....?????

Have been looking around and keep coming up with these two posibilities:

sahanubhUti

and

bhAvanAdraSamu

but the meaning of empathy in english is quite specific. as, I'm sure, are these terms. when would you use them, and can someone suggest other possible words to translate the phrase with. A definition of 'empathy' in English goes something like this 'an identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives'

hoping someone can help me out.

please please.

k

praveen_yadlapalli

'sahanubuthi' will do i guess

AvidTrekker

Although sahaanubhuuti is used with multiple shades of meanings in nearly ALL the Indian languages, its samskrt meaning is exactly that: empathy.

saha = [both] together

anu = in sequence

bhuuti = happening (experience).

When you have sahaanubhuuti for someone, you are in effect saying "I know exactly how you feel"; "I empathize with your experience".

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

trojan

am aware of the meaning of sahanubhUti in sanskrit. and thus also in Telugu. But what i am really wondering is if this it the most frequently used term in Telugu, or if they have other local variants. Espescially in Hyderabadi dialect......? and if so, when would usage vary........

thanks for the help so far guys and gals.

k

nyraghu

I don't know about the best translation, but I guess the synonym I'd use in ordinary conversation is `artham chesukovatam,' meaning to understand. Beyond mere understanding, that phrase also carries a connotation of sympathy, of being in sync. My copy of Chambers defines `empathy' as "the ability to share, understand and feel another person's feelings." So perhaps the above is not too far off the mark.

The usual form of that word I know is `sanubhuti.' Glad to learn of this more sanskritized form.

Raghu.

__________________
colorless green ideas sleep furiously

trojan

My trusted and beloved English/Telugu dictionary translates empathy as sahanubhUti and sympathy as sAnubhUti.
Websters definition of Sympathy - "(often sympathy for or with someone) an understanding of and feeling for the sadness or suffering of others, often shown in expressions of sorrow or pity"

Empathy/sympthy sound simliar, even the definitions sound similar, but in English there is quite a considerable difference. Hinging largely around the notion of pity.

Where do you feel `artham chesukovatam' falls on this spectrum?

thanks again for your suggestions

rangss

Sanubhuti could be "vadukam" of Sahanubhuti. Telugu language exists in two planes: grandhikam (literal) and Vadukam(colloquial). Vadukam usually is the stress free pronounciation of the grandhikam. So Sahanubhuti could be Sanubhuti in vadukam.

It is also likely that there is no seperate equivalent word for empathy in Telugu.

__________________
...and I took the road less travelled.

Hyderabadi

Artham chesukovadam, imho could be empathy but not necessarily. It would mean more 'to understand'. Some times you could say it in a way to mean "Nobody understands me!!"

"Artham chesukoroooo!" - Bhanupriya in Telugu Movie - SwarnaKamalam.
rangss may agree.

nyraghu

`Artham chesukovatam' needn't imply pity, so in the sympathy-empathy spectrum, I'd put it nearer empathy than sympathy. But, as rangss has suggested, there may be no exact equivalent of `empathy' in Telugu.

Absolutely. And, we usually rely on the context to decide which of these meanings a given usage of `understand' carries. So, maybe trojan could use one of the above expressions, and employ the context to convey the feeling of empathy, rather than of sympathy or of mere understanding.

Are `grandhikam-vadukam' the same as `prakruti-vikruti'? I remember learning in school the forms of several words in the latter.

Raghu.

Hyderabadi

Graandhikam = Bookish
Vaadukam = Colloquial

I think prakruti-vikruti is more like opposite meanings, but my Telugu grammar is quite a bit rusty now. Prakruti is nature or natural and vikruti is the opposite of that.

Moolyam - Amoolyam = Price - Priceless.
OK, may not be a good example..
or Saanubhuti = em/sympathy vs Dvesham = hate.

Perhaps AvidTrekker or rangss can elaborate more?

nyraghu

Indeed, the prakruti form of a word is its more bookish and formal variant, while the vikruti form is its colloquial and folk variant, see, e.g., the second paragraph in Item 2 at http://tenneti-rao.sulekha.com/blog/...-some-tips.htm

Examples of prakruti-vikruti, IIRC: brahmanudu-bammadu/bapanodu, lakshmi-lacchi.

So, I was wondering if the other dichotomy is any different from this.

Raghu.

trojan

Thanks to all who have given suggestions so far.

The discussion got a bit sidetracked there for a while (my knowledge of Telugu grammar is nowhere near good enough to able to comment, but enjoyed reading it though.

Anyways. got another suggestion from someone regarding empathy and I thought I would run it by you.

"The exactly meaning of 'Empathy' is 'Parakaya Pravesham'. It means 'one person's soul will be enter in another person's body, thinking and understanding particular person. Feeling and acting like the same person in entered whose body'. So Paraka Pravesham is the correct exact and suitable meaning for Empathy.

The definition seems to encompass the subtle meanings of empathy quite beautifully.

What do you guys think?

Hyderabadi

That is an interesting definition! It's a good way to explain, maybe not a true definition. Say like "Put yourself in my place."

There were stories I used to read in Chandamama and Balamitra children's magazines where a Yogi or Rushi or even a Raakshasa (demon), used to enter the body of a dead person's body or even some animal's.

So, not exactly the same meaning but a very good way to explain.

AvidTrekker

para = another's

kaayaa = body

pravesham = entry or enter

In the great debate, Aadi Shakara was asked some questions re kaamasuutra by Ubhayabhaaratii (wife of MaNDana Mishra). He could not answer, being a baala bramhachaarii. He requested for a few months time. Was granted time. He went into meditation and saw the fresh corpse of a recently dead king. Instructed his disciples to guard his own body and "how to bring him back". He left the shankara body and did para kaayaa pravesha in the dead kings body (entered the dead body).

The "dead" king woke up. His many queens found him a novice in bed. Nevertheless, he picked up the missing knowledge. He was soon immersed in the maayaa of kingship and almost forgot that he was NOT the king. His disciple came on the appointed day, sung a particular stanza which jogged his memory, and the king fell dead. Now really dead

Aadi Shankara went and answered the questions correctly. Won the debate.

There was a small payment for this act of "para kaayaa pravesha". When the aachaarya went to Srinagar, Kashmir, the doors of the devi temple refused to open on their own. An ethereal voice said that since the aachaarya had knowingly committed the sin of dalliance, he must atone for it. He fasted for seven days and nights without food and water. The temple doors opened on their own after this atonement fast.

Para kaaya pravesham is rather an EXTREME FORM of empathy. I doubt if the English dictionary defined empathy to this degree ....

Personally, I quite liked the idea...
.
.
.

Hyderabadi

As usual with such questions, very well explained AT!