Feelings in three parts

On this page

• The gap
• The forms
• Examples
• Practice

The gap

One English emotion word (anxious, resentful, proud) hides three things: which need is at stake, where the feeling sits or what it points at, and how it moves. A single label can be a judgment in disguise. Ageben names the three parts in one word.

The forms

Start from a thanks or sorry word from Thanks and sorry: th + sake + tha (met) or thu (unmet) + its ending. Keep that whole word, then add a locus and a motion ending. Put it after the English clause the feeling is about, like any other drop-in. On its own, with no clause, it says how you feel right now.

The word now has two -l / -m / -r slots: the ending from Thanks and sorry stays in the middle, and the motion ending goes last.

thuwa	thu	r	ao	r
competence	unmet	for now	over the room (locus)	surging (motion)

Pick a locus from this menu. (This is in a cheat sheet at the end)

Locus	Meaning
a	mine, held inside
ae	the atmosphere of the situation
ue	I can't place where it comes from
e	aimed at someone
oe	turning to someone for comfort
uo	pushing back
o	felt on someone's behalf
u	moving off (avoiding, hiding)
ua	out of fight: giving up
ao	using yourself to placate

Motion	Meaning
-l	still, muted, numb
-m	flowing, steady
-r	surging, in waves

The motion endings are the settled-to-passing scale applied to water: still water is lasting (-l), a current is the default (-m), and a wave is right now (-r). Motion is not strength. Strong but steady anger is flowing.

Examples

We shipped the draft thuwathamar.
The review is tomorrow thuwathuraer.
He rewrote my memo thunathumuom.
My sister got laid off thunathulom.
thuwathuruel, and I can't say why.

Drop-in	What it says	Instead of	The three parts
thuwathamar	a rush of I pulled it off, kept to myself	proud	competence met; held inside; surging
thuwathuraer	can I measure up? hanging over everything, in waves, for now	anxious	competence at stake for now; over the room; surging
thunathumuom	a steady push back at losing my say, while it can still change	objecting	autonomy unmet; pushing back; flowing
thunathulom	a steady ache on her behalf: her say was taken for good	upset for her	autonomy unmet for good; on her behalf; flowing
thuwathuruel	a quiet can I handle this? from nowhere I can point to	uneasy	competence at stake for now; can't place it; still

Practice

Build the feeling word from the parts in the note.

1. My friend remembered my favorite song. (relatedness met, default ending; held inside; surging)

Show answer

My friend remembered my favorite song thawethamar.

2. The meeting ran two hours over. (autonomy unmet, default ending; pushing back; flowing)

Show answer

The meeting ran two hours over thunathumuom.

3. How you feel right now, with no clause. (purpose unmet, default ending; held inside; still)

Show answer

thurothumal.