The Semantic Vitality of Madness

We all know languages are not static and uniform things, and many of us are in the habit of using etymology to track the migration and semantic drift of a word for translation, philosophy, or pure curiosity.

The majority of words have a fairly stable set of semantic associations with its equivalents in other languages. A prime example would be the word for 'mother' in the Indo-European languages, which remains phonetically, semantically, metaphorically, and culturally recognisable in practically every instance. 'Mater', 'madre', 'mère', 'mutter', and 'мать' are remarkably similar, phonetically and semantically, considering several thousand years of history lies between them.

One branch of semantics that does not follow this rule is that of insanity. One reason offered for the diversity of ways in which people name insanity is a meta-psychological one; madness is strange, fringe, intangible, mysterious, and generally of low intelligibility. Low intelligibility phenomena touch our horizon, where the senses fail and imagination reigns. Empirical experience, those which can be investigated in a practical manner, is blurred in such abstract categories and is, in fact, forced to invent a category. In such a situation, there are as many versions of the truth as there are opinions, and the variance of words for this dynamic is an artefact of the confusion surrounding the nature of the thing named.

To illustrate this I provide a list of madness-equivalent words in languages from around the world—extracted from an LLM, naturally; the only type of thing a language model is good for—along with a literal English translation and the loose semantic image (meaning the way it is said and understood). There is an essay somewhere in my reaction to the list which I, unfortunately, do not have the time to write at the moment. In the meantime, let it be a vehicle for your linguistic curiosity, and if nothing else, ask yourself "what must the category of madness actually point to, if it can be conceived of in such diverse ways?" I am aware that flattening it to 'mental illness' seems appealing, but these words have been used since long before medicine even existed in most cases, and what's more, they are sometimes used to describe people who are not mentally ill.

I'm tired of saying it myself, but the overlap between medically recognised madness and cultural, or any other type of madness is limited; another reason I find it very interesting.

Language Family Language Word for Mad Literal English Meaning Semantic Image
RomanceFrenchfou/folleair-filled bag (from "bellows")mind empty or inflated
RomanceSpanishlocoout of place/dislocatedmind displaced from sense
RomanceSpanishchifladoun-fastened/loosenedloose screws
RomanceItalianpazzobroken/shatteredmind fractured
RomanceItalianmattobeaten down/stunnedbeaten senseless
RomancePortugueseloucosame as locounrestrained mind
RomanceRomaniannebunnot-good/not-orderlydisordered mind
RomanceCatalanboigfurious/uncontrolledinner motion boiling
RomanceGaliciantolomad/sillyconfused mind
RomanceOccitanfòl/ fòlaair-filled/hollowempty-headed
RomanceSardinianpazubroken/shatteredcracked psyche
RomanceFriulianmatbeaten/stunnedblunted reason
RomanceCorsicanpazzubroken/shatteredintellect cracked
RomanceLadinmatbeaten/stunnedmind dulled
RomanceWalloonsot/foustupid/empty-headedfoolish air-head
RomanceAragonesechorraodd/queer/unusualoff-pattern
RomanceAsturianllesuloosened/untiedmental knots undone
RomanceRhaeto-Romanicladerunrestrained/unhingeddoor off hinges
RomanceVenetianmatobeaten/stunnedreduced sense
RomanceSicilianpazzubroken/shatteredfractured sanity
RomanceNeapolitanpazzobroken/shatteredcracked headspace
RomanceManx Norman Frenchfoll/folair-filled bagmental emptiness
RomanceJudeo-Spanish (Ladino)lokuout of placereason displaced
SemiticArabic (MSA)majnūnjinn-possessedmind invaded by spirits
SemiticEgyptian Arabicmagnoon/janainjinn-possessed (colloquial)spirit-driven frenzy
SemiticLevantine Arabicmajnoonjinn-possessedmind overtaken
SemiticMaghrebi Arabicmejnounpossessed by jinnhaunted head
SemiticHebrewmeshuggaʿdriven/pushedforced off-track
SemiticYiddishmeshuggemade-wanderstrayed psyche
SemiticMaltesemiġnunjinn-possessedspirit intrusion
SemiticAramaic/Syriacshəṭāone who strayswandering mind
SemiticGe'ezṭäbbäbämixed/scrambledmental threads tangled
SemiticAmharicጠበበ (ṭäbäbä)mixed up/confusedscrambled mind
SemiticTigrinyaጸንጻና (tsən-tsana)mixed/distortedtangled thinking
SemiticTigretənaʿaturned/aslantmind off-axis
SemiticAkkadianḫepûmade crazy/confoundedchaos imposed
SemiticUgaritic*šgnderanged/possessedspirit-disturbance
SemiticHararisänäbämixed/derangedtwisted threads of thought
SemiticArabic Gulf dialectmajnoun/jinanpossession-wrathecstatic unrest
GermanicEnglishmadangry/frenziedfury disrupting reason
GermanicGermanverrücktshifted/displacedreason moved out of place
GermanicSwedishgalenyelling/shriekingvoice breaks sanity
GermanicDanishvanvittigwithout-wit/no-wisdomloss of judgement
GermanicDutchgekweird/oddstrange mind
GermanicNorwegiangalfurious/madinner storm
GermanicFrisiangekodd/strangemental deviation
GermanicIcelandicgeðveikurmind-sickmental illness
SlavicRussianбезумный (bezumny)without-mindmind removed
SlavicPolishszalonyunrestrained/ragingexcess intensity
SlavicCzechšílenýdriven to frenzydriven beyond measure
SlavicSlovakšialenýdriven to madnessinternal propulsion
SlavicSerbianлуд (lud)wild/uncontrolleduntamed psyche
SlavicCroatianludunrestrainedwildness of mind
SlavicBulgarianлуд (lud)crazy/wildmental overgrowth
SlavicUkrainianбожевільний (bozhevіlnyi)god-struck/touched by goddazzled by divine force
GreekGreekτρελός (trelós)twisted/turnedreason bent
BalticLithuanianbeprotiswithout-understandingabsence of reason
BalticLatviantraksangry/frenziedstate of fury
CelticIrishcréachtachin pain/woundedwounded psyche
CelticScottish Gaeliccnapachknotted/gnarledtangled thoughts
CelticWelshffôlfoolish/deludedmisguided reason
CelticBretonsodstupid/foolishblunted intellect
Finno-UgricFinnishhulluconfused/disturbeddisturbed mind
Finno-UgricEstonianhullfoolish/insanelost bearings
Finno-UgricHungarianőrültguard-gone/watcher-lostinner sentinel missing
Indo-AryanHindiपागल (pagal)crazy/foolishderailed mind
Indo-AryanBengaliপাগল (pagol)deranged/frenziedmind spirals
Indo-AryanUrduدیوانہ (deewana)possessed/inspired by lovepassion overrides sanity
TurkicTurkishçılgınover-flowing/excessmad intensity
DravidianTamilபைத்தியம் (paithiyam)impaired memory/confusionidentity shaken
UralicMariкĕрӳ (keryu)strange/unusualdifferent pattern
KoreanKorean미친 (michin)gone-crazy/maddenedmind gone beyond
JapaneseJapanese狂った (kurutta)deranged/insanetwisted inner axis
AustronesianIndonesiangilaexcessive/derangedintensity without limit
BantuSwahilimwenda wazimuone-who-walks-with-crazinesswandering-with-madness