# Handicap(ped), disabled



## ThomasK

I wonder how you refer to handicaps. in some languages/cultures one avoids referring to the handicap itself, by changing the key word.

In recent decades (forgetting about the old ones like "ongelukkig" (unhappy), etc.) we had *in Dut*ch:
- gehandicapt >>> met een handicap (with a handicap)
- mindervalide >>> andersvalide (healthy or strong in some other way)
- handicap >>> NOW *beperking *(impairment, limitation??), which is as such not specific (seems fairly general) but then "met een beperking" makes it quite clear that the person has a physical/... handicap)

I believe *German *has not felt the need, if I can put it that way, to change the word "*Behinderte*" (disabled, I believe)... 

I'll be adding a topic on the background issues elsewhere very soon...


----------



## Yendred

_handicap _is the accepted term in French, but for some years now, a new "socially correct" expression has been used to refer to disabled people:
_*personne(s) en situation de handicap*_
The idea is not to point out disabled people themselves, but to say that it's their (working/private/public) environment which is not adapted and place them in a situation of disability.

I'll be glad to know if a similar expression is used in other languages.



ThomasK said:


> - mindervalide >>> andersvalide (healthy or strong in some other way)



_andersvalide_ makes me smile, something like _"alter-abled"_, as there are _alter-globalists  _
I have read English sentences speaking of _specially abled _or _differently abled _people.

I think French expressions like _spécialement valide_ or _différemment valide _will never become the custom.



ThomasK said:


> - handicap >>> NOW *beperking *(impairment, limitation??),



This one makes me think of French formerly used terms like _invalide, déficient, _which are no longer considered politically correct.


----------



## ThomasK

That is about what we had in Dutch once: from gehandicapt (disabled) to "met een handicap'. I can quite agree, but now we have moved a lot further, but I do not know whether it was necessary…


----------



## Sardokan1.0

In Italy in the last 30 years the word changed from less to more politically correct terms.

Until the 90s it was normal in Italian language to say *"handicappato"* (handicapped), then with the advent of politically correctness the word turned to *"portatore di handicap"* (handicap bearer), then in the early 2000s became *"disabile"* (disabled), while in these last 10-12 years totally dominated by politically correctness the word changed again to *"diversamente abile"* (differently able).

While Sardinian language remained immune from politically correctness and we use an array of politically incorrect adjectives.


_*Castigadu *_= literally _punished = _aka. hit by divine punishment
_*Guastu*_ = broken, malfunctioning
_*Peccosu *_= faulty, defective


----------



## apmoy70

Greek:

Handicapped, disabled: *«Ανάπηρος, -ρη, -ρο»* [aˈna.pi.ɾɔs] (masc.), [aˈna.pi.ɾi] (fem.), [aˈna.pi.ɾɔ] (neut.) < Classical adj. *«ἀνάπηρος, -ρος, -ρον» ănắpērŏs* (masc. & fem.), *ănắpērŏn* (neut.) --> _maimed, mutilated_ < Classical prefix & preposition *«ἀνἀ» ănắ* + Classical adj. *«πηρός» pērós*, Attic *«πῆρος» pêrŏs* --> _infirm, invalid, of the eyes blind, of the limbs lame_ (of unknown etymology with no correpondence to other IE languages).

In the last decade or so, a new politically correct term has been introduced, *«ΑΜΕΑ»* (pron. [aˈme.a]) which is the acronym of the expression _individual with special needs_ in Greek.


----------



## Perseas

apmoy70 said:


> In the last decade or so, a new politically correct term has been introduced, *«ΑΜΕΑ»* (pron. [aˈme.a]) which is the acronym of the expression _individual with special needs_ in Greek.


I'd say in the last 30 years or so, not so widespread though as nowadays.
Another politically correct term I know is "AMEI" (individuals with special abilities).


----------



## Circunflejo

In Spanish, _minusválido _and _discapacitado _are the main _traditional _ones and_ personas con discapacidad_ and _personas con diversidad funcional_ the main modern ones.


----------



## ThomasK

"Diversidad functional": that is quite a eufemism, isn't it? 

/Anapiros/ seems like a dysphemism, depending on how "ana" must be understood: is it something like "not-lame", or "back-from-mulilated"? (Just guessing, the ana link did work)...


----------



## apmoy70

^^*«ἀνά» link fixed*


----------



## Awwal12

Russian uses mainly "инвалид" (invalíd, m. only; an obvious loanword), although collective "people with limited capabilities" ("люди с ограниченными возможностями") also is used occasionally in formal contexts (I cannot help but find it pretty funny; surely everybody aside of Jesus Christ are people with VERY limited capabilities). The older word of Old Russian origin, "калека" (kaléka), is now mostly pejorative.


----------



## ThomasK

apmoy70 said:


> ^^*«ἀνά» link fixed*
> @apmoy70 : thanks, a lot, but I cannot guess the meaning of the original word yet. Can you help? Thanks again...





Awwal12 said:


> Russian uses mainly "инвалид" (invalíd, m. only; an obvious loanword), although collective "people with limited capabilities" ("люди с ограниченными возможностями") also is used occasionally in formal contexts (I cannot help but find it pretty funny; surely everybody aside of Jesus Christ are people with VERY limited capabilities). The older word of Old Russian origin, "калека" (kaléka), is now mostly pejorative.


 Yes, loanwords can be of help because they obscure the meaning, I guess. 
/kaleka/ seems to be "crippled" (Google), but please tell me more about the kind of word: plain adj. or participle, etc.. Oh yes, that was very common in the Middle Ages and even later. Now noone would dare to use "kreupele" anymore. Your problem with "limited capabilities" is the same as mine with "beperkingen" (limitations): it is not specific at all... But nowadays the addition "with LC" makes it very clear that we are referring to people with a handicap.


----------



## Perseas

ThomasK said:


> @apmoy70 : thanks, a lot, but I cannot guess the meaning of the original word yet. Can you help?


My assumption is that it's the meaning No 2: _intensifier (thoroughly)_.
ἀνα- - Wiktionary


----------



## ThomasK

But then that reminds me of "crippled". Doesn't it sound very pejorative ?


----------



## Perseas

ThomasK said:


> But then that reminds me of "crippled". Doesn't it sounds very pejorative ?


Basically not, in my opinion, but it can often have a pejorative connotation depending on context. This is why we also have the calque "AMEA" from English "person with special needs", as mentioned before.


----------



## Awwal12

ThomasK said:


> /kaleka/ seems to be "crippled" (Google), but please tell me more about the kind of word: plain adj. or participle, etc.


/kal'éka/, if you insist on phonemic representation (which the slashes suggest). Anyway, it's the purest noun you can get. Its etymology isn't quite clear, although usually it's derived from Turkic "qalıq".


----------



## Circunflejo

ThomasK said:


> "Diversidad functional": that is quite a eufemism, isn't it?


It's intended to be a different point of view (an inclusive one) about the subject. Although is mostly used for handicapped people, it should be used for anyone (in theory). People that promote it says that we are all handicapped when we are born and most of us become handicapped too when we are old (and some of us will be temporarily handicapped in between) so we all have _diversidad funcional_ during our lifes...


----------



## Awwal12

Circunflejo said:


> Although is mostly used for handicapped people, it should be used for anyone (in theory).


That would make it quite useless for describing people with disabilities. You could equally well call them just "people" then (so you would have to guess what is meant by "people" every time). "These are places for the people. Not for people, but for the people, mind you." Political correctness at its best.


----------



## Nizo

In the United States, the word _disabled_ has generally taken the place of _handicapped_ in official language and often in common speech. It can be used for physical or mental disabilities. For example, "disabled parking" or "parking for people with disabilities," as it's called by the government, may be referred to by many as "handicapped parking." However, the term most of us use for the individual is _disabled_. My 85-year-old dad would call a physically disabled person a _cripple_. I cringe when he does that—it's no longer acceptable language.

Another common term nowadays is _special needs_, which includes not only those with physical limitations but also those with mental limitations. This term is often used in educational settings: a special needs student or a special needs teacher. My dad, who is from a different time, would use the word _retarded_ for someone with mental disabilities. That word is no longer acceptable and is considered offensive by most people today.

It is common to talk about a deaf or hard-of-hearing person as _hearing impaired_ and a blind or partially blind person as _visually impaired_.

_Invalid_ (as a noun) was used in the United States in the past, but is rarely heard today.


----------



## Awwal12

Nizo said:


> Another common term nowadays is _special needs_, which includes not only those with physical limitations but also those with mental limitations


Curiously, Russian калека (~cripple) used to mean only the first group, but инвалид is used for both.


----------



## ThomasK

"Special needs" is interesting. When comparing it with our "beperkingen" ('limitations, or constraints???), I'd feel that "special needs" is way clearer, though perhaps that is exactly what those coining the new terms just want to avoid (see thread elsewhere)...


----------



## Vukabular

Serbian word is "bogalj" derived from bog (god) + alj.


----------



## ThomasK

Could you explain the "logic" in it? Is that about the same as "holy" or "divine"? Is it still the common term?


----------



## Vukabular

The term is not common but is still in use among ordinary people. It probably has to do with the Serbian pre-Christian supreme deity Dabog or Dajbog whose name literally means the god who gives and is presented as handicapped - lame.  He was, among other things, the patron saint of blacksmiths, and because of the way bronze was made in the early Bronze Age by adding arsenic to copper, and the regular introduction of small amounts of arsenic vapor into the body causes various damages, among other things, limping.


----------



## ThomasK

Quite new to me! Thanks!


----------



## Vukabular

Perhaps what I wrote explains the reason for the limping of the Greek deity Hephaestus, who was also the patron saint of blacksmiths.


----------

