On The Naming of Feelings
The Case of Euphoria
The well known and hungered-for feeling we call “euphoria” gets its name from two ancient Greece voices, eû and phérein. The first one points to a positive valence, the second one has semantics of ‘bearing’ and ‘carrying’. Two very simple voices in nexus describing a feeling universally known to be good, without ambiguity.
The one doing all the work here, however, is the voice of phérein. Do you see it? It is not eû but phérein which gives the word the nature of ‘feeling’. As a voice, eû alone invites to be connected to another aspect of Reality, to be given a "whatness". The voice of phérein lends situation to eû’s wellness, inviting us to bear it, to wear it. The nexus becomes feeling, “bearing well”.
Consider these feelings:
- Euphoria / Disphoria
- Phosphene
- Apophenia
- Epiphany
Constructions with phérein~phoria appear to point to feelings in-the-flesh, with embodied-and-bodily appearance; in contrast to phaínō~phenia constructions, which point to feelings in-presence (physical, mental), with appearance external/internal.
✎ Connection to