Moveable Language

Languages are always changing and evolving. Faced with ecological collapse, there are growing calls for a new shared language to reckon with the times we are living in. Enter The Ecotopian Lexicon, a collection of words, some invented, some borrowed from other languages, with the aim of better describing this watershed moment in the history of our planet. Here, we have selected a few of our favourite ones.

The Ecotopian Lexicon, compiled by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Brent Ryan Bellamy.

  • Sehnsucht

    from German, the feeling you have when you realise a familiar or conventional way of solving a problem or performing a task is now obsolete.

  • Ghurba

    from Arabic, remembering the song of birds that are no longer there due to climate change that made it inhospitable.

  • Qi

    from Chinese, sustained harmony and balance as the flow of qi at the anthropic level continues to align with the flow of qi at the ecological level (qi is often simply translated as energy in Western language).

  • Apocalypso

    although the situation may look really bad, don’t give up because while some things are coming to an end, others are being born.

  • Gyebale

    Todo comienza con una idea. Tal vez quieras comenzar un negocio o convertir un pasatiempo en algo más. O bien, es posible que tengas un proyecto from Luganda, an informal greeting used to acknowledge the presence of others by first expressing appreciation for the contributions they make toward the everyday work of living well together. creativo para compartir con el mundo. Sea lo que sea, la manera en la que cuentes tu historia en línea puede marcar la diferencia.

  • Ildsjel

    from Norwegian, a noun referring to someone with a passionate commitment to a cause, somebody working against the odds, a visionary driven by possibilities and potentials for transformation.

  • In lak’ech - a la k’in

    from Ancient Maya, a greeting which can be rendered into English as “I’m another you” to which a respondent would answer: “You’re another me,” the purpose of which may be to instil a greater sense of interdependence.

  • Sila

    Inukut, refers to the many interconnected concepts, depending on context: outdoors, outer, globe, Earth, atmosphere, weather, air, sky, intellect, life force, etc. Could be used to indicate interconnectedness between all phenomena, in particular how we humans must learn to live in balance with the inner and outer environments.

  • Solastalgia

    from ecopsychology, the feeling of distress caused by negatively perceived changes to the environment, draws from the Latin word solacium (comfort) and the Greek root algia (pain, suffering, sickness).

  • Terragouge

    from environmental science-fiction, a verb relating to the significant contribution made by resource extraction, industrial farming, and urbanism to the human-induced transformation of Earth’s planetary environment.

  • Godhuli

    from Bengali and Hindi, refers to the fleeting moment that immediately follows sunset. It resonates with an ethics of place and a metaphysics of possibility. The word comingles light and dust, but also colour and texture. It speaks to the rusty orange dust emanating from the earth as it responds to the hooves of cows seeking shelter.