Hello peeps! @ailindigo here :)
We're on week 11 of Untranslatable Words! Wow! For this occasion we're talking about a term from the akan languages, of the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family.* A very interesting one that I think it's nice to remember at this stage of the year.
This week's word is the phrase: sankofa.
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sankofa
I think I choose this word because this year I took a big a step on this matter, plus I've always been an advocate for reflection. As I'm telling people all the time, we gotta dive deep into our mistakes and flaws in order to learn from them and evolve, and that it is important to feel sadness rather than just avoid it.
sankofa translates to "Go back and get it" (san - to return; ko - to go; fa - to fetch, to seek and take) and also refers to the Bono Adinkra symbol represented either with a stylized heart shape or by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth. *
The Adinkra symbols are from Ghana and represent concepts or aforisms, expressing proverbs and philosofical ideas; and this one symbolizes taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress through the benevolent use of knowledge. *
This sankofa bird is one of the most widely dispersed adinkra symbols, appearing in modern jewelry, tattoos, and clothing. It has also been adopted as an important symbol in an African-American and African Diaspora context to represent the need to reflect on the past to build a successful future. *
Sankofa is often associated with the proverb “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi," which translates as "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten." * Sankofa is a symbol that has been worldwide used by artists, institutions and TV shows, something that shows and enhances its funtion of fostering mutual respect and unity in tradition.
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There's no doubt this symbols is very important for the African people, full of history and even emotional baggage I would say. It was beautiful to find so much content like photos of people carrying this symbol and even to notice how many times we've seen the stylized heart shape around us. All of this highlights the sense unity and how important this concept is for its people.
The fact of this concept being so important to them shows how reflective they are and how much they care for building a correct path to success. As a fan of self-reflection and self-criticism and beyond how cute this idea is I also think it's a must: if we don't understand and reckon our mistakes or decision, logically we won't be able to move on.
Even though it might sound ovbious, not everybody is prone to self-reflection, it's almost kind of an art I think lol, but these last few days of 2020 are a good time to self-reflect at least on what we did or did not do this year, right? Everytime I find something that shows that idea I can't help but sharing it and be glad it's there. I believe in a world where we're not afraid of diving into our past darkness.
What do you think? Do you sankofa? Do you think self-reflection is useful? Are there gates with the stylized heart shape where you live? Please tell me what you think!
Thank you very much for passing by! And if you have an Untranslatable Word you'd like to suggest, please don't hesitate to do so! :)
Previous Untranslatable Words:
#1: Torschlusspanik
#2: Mono no aware
#3: Rasāsvāda
#4: Cavoli riscaldati
#5: Nefelibata
#6: Sturmfrei
#7: Jootha
#8: bilita mpash
#9: resfeber
#10: Vāde mēcum
This content is part of a new series to get more people interested on languages and how they, perception and culture are related!
Exclusively for the Hive Cross Culture Community, the community for language exchange or cross-cultural purposes.
If you'd like to be part of the discussion don't hesitate to hop into the Hive Language and Culture Exchange Discord server! As well as subscribing to the Hive Cross Culture Community so you don't miss any new word comming ;) We'll be sharing a new Untranslatable Word each week!
