# Naming the senses



## swintok

Hello, all.

As an English speaker, I always found it very strange that in Ukrainian "to hear" and "to smell" are given the same word:  чути /chuty/.  This means that whereas in English there are considered to be five physical senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight), in Ukrainian there are only four.

How many physical senses are there in your languages?


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## rusita preciosa

swintok said:


> This means that whereas in English there are considered to be five physical senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight), in Ukrainian there are only four.



I do not speak Ukrainian, but I very much doubt there is only 4 words for the 5 senses; I'm sure they have separate words for sense of smell and sense of hearing. 

Russian:
обоняние /obonyanie/ - smell
осязание /osyazanie/ - touch
слух /slukh/ - hearing
вкус /vkus/ - taste
зрение /zrenie/ - sight

EDIT: according to Wiki, in Ukrainian the sense of smell is *нюх* /niukh/ and hearing is *слух* /slukh/.


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## swintok

rusita preciosa said:


> EDIT: according to Wiki, in Ukrainian the sense of smell is *нюх* /niukh/ and hearing is *слух* /slukh/.



Yes, of course.  Thank you.  I hadn't considered that.  

The verb used for the action is the same, however, as I mentioned in my original post, which is what I find unusual.  There are the verb слухати (to listen) and нюхати (to sniff), but the verbs "to hear" and "to smell" are both чути.


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## bibax

Czech:

*čich* - smell
*hmat* - touch
*sluch* [slux] - hearing
*chuť* - taste
*zrak* - sight

ch is pronounced [x] (Bach-Laut in German);

the verb *číti* (< OCz. čúti, Rus. чуять) has a general meaning: _to sense, to fee_l; also _to anticipate, to feel_ (e.g. a danger); in Moravian dialects also _to hear_: čuješ? = do you hear?
> čidlo (sufix -dlo), čiv = sensor, receptor;

the verb *čichati* (či-cha-ti = to smell) is an extesion of the verb čí-ti (verbum intensivum);
> čich = smell; there is also ňuchat (Rus. нюхать, cf. Ukr. нюх) which sounds funny;


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## rusita preciosa

In Russian the verb for *to feel *(touch) and *to smell *is the same:
чувствовать запах /tchustvovat zapakh/ - lit., to feel the smell
чувствовать на ощупь /tchustvovat na oshup/ - lit., to feel on touch

Same for the verb *sentir* in French (it can mean both to feel and to smell)

In some dialects in Russian they say слышатъ запах /slyshat zapakh/ (lit., to hear the smell), but it is not standard language


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## apmoy70

In Greek:


Smell: *«Όσφρηση»* [ˈosfrisi] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension deverbal noun *«ὄσφρησις» óspʰrēsis* --> _olfactory sense or organ_ < Classical deponent v. *«ὀσφραίνομαι» ŏspʰraínŏmai* --> _to catch scent of, smell_ (PIE *h₃ed-, _to smell_ 
+ *gʷʰreH₁-, _to smell, breathe_ cf Skt. जिघ्रति (jighrati), _to perceive by smell_).


Touch: *«Αφή»* [aˈfi] (fem.) < Classical deverbal fem. noun *«ἁφὴ» hapʰḕ* --> _touching, grip_ < Classical v. *«ἅπτω» háptō* --> _to join, attach, grasp_ (PIE *h₂ep-, _to join, fit_ cf Skt. आप्नोति (āpnoti), _to obtain, grasp_; Hitt. h̬app-, _to join_; Lat. apere).


Hearing: *«Ακοή»* [akoˈi] (fem.) < Classical deverbal fem. noun *«ἀκοὴ» ăkŏḕ* and *«ἀκουὴ» ăkouḕ* --> _hearing, tiding_ < Classical v. *«ἀκούω» ăkoúō* --> _to hear, obey, be called_ (PIE *keus-/*kous-, _to hear_ which is perhaps from PIE *(s)keu-, _to notice, observe_; the initial *«ἀ-» a-* in the Greek verb is copulative cf Proto-Germanic *hauzjan > Ger. hören, Eng. hear, Dt. horen, Isl. heyra, D./Nor. Bokmål høre, Nor. Nynorsk høyra, Swe. höra).


Taste: *«Γεύση»* [ˈʝefsi] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension deverbal fem. noun *«γεύσις» geúsis* --> _tasting_ < Classical deponent v. *«γεύομαι» geúŏmai* --> _to taste_ (PIE *ǵeus-, _to taste_ cf Lat. gustāre > It./Rom. gustare, Sp. gustar, Por. gostar, Fr. goûter).   


Sight: *«Όραση»* [ˈoɾasi] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension deverbal fem. noun *«ὄρασις» órasis* < Classical v. *«ὀράω/ὀρῶ» ŏráō* (uncontracted)*/ ŏrô* (contracted) --> _to look, perceive, contemplate, see_ (PIE *uer-, _to observe, note_ cf Proto-Germanic *waraz > Eng. aware).


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## apmoy70

rusita preciosa said:


> In some dialects they say слышатъ запах /slyshat zapakh/ (lit., to hear the smell), but it is not standard language


That's identical to the Greek Cretan regiolect, where the smell is heard (the verb *«ακούω»* [aˈku.o] is used both for hearing and smelling), amazing!


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## Gavril

There is also a connection between "hearing" and "smell" in Welsh, though they are differentiated by prefixes:

_clyw_ "hearing"
_arogl_ "smell" < earlier _aroglau_ < _ar_- "upon" + _go_- "under" + _clyw_

The other senses that I know of are

_golwg_ (pronounced ['go.lug]) "sight, vision" < _go_- + -_lwg_ "see"
_teimlad_ "feeling, touch"
_blas_ "taste"


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## ger4

Adding German to the list:

smell - Geruchssinn < riechen  
touch - Tastsinn < tasten 
hearing - Gehörsinn < hören 
taste - Geschmackssinn < schmecken 
sight - Sehvermögen < sehen

_-sinn_ = 'sense'; _-vermögen =_ 'ability'; _-en_ = verbal infinitive suffix

Approximate pronunciation: _-ch-_ as in Scottish 'Loch' [x]; _-ö-_ similar to i in 'bird' [ø:]; _-sch-_ like -sh- in 'English' [ʃ]

Estonian:

smell - haistmismeel < haistma
touch - kompimismeel < kompima
hearing - kuulmismeel < kuulma
taste - maitsemeel < maitsma
sight - nägemismeel < nägema

_- meel_ = 'sense'; _- ma_ = verbal infinitive suffix

Approximate pronunciation: _-ä-_ as in English 'can' [æ]; single vowels are short, doubled vowels have a long or 'over-long' pronunciation.


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## 810senior

In Japanese, we have all the terms standing for respective sense.
It's the almost same as the way German or Estonian do.

smell - n.嗅覚kyuukaku, kyuu = to smell, kaku = sensation(below _kaku _does mean as well); v.嗅ぐ(kagu), 匂う(niou)
touch - n.触覚shokkaku, shok[original form=shoku]=to touch, v.触れる(fureru), さわる(sawaru)
hearing - n.聴覚choukaku, chou=to hear, v.聞く(kiku), 聞こえる(kikoeru)
taste - n.味覚mikaku, mi=taste, v.味わう(ajiwau)
sight - n.視覚shikaku, shi=to see, v.見る(miru), 見える(mieru)

Furthermore 見える can be used just as English verb look or sound, something like 不可能に見える(fukanou ni *mieru*/it *sounds *impossible), 大人に見える(otona ni *mieru*/it *looks *like an adult).


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## SuperXW

Here's the situation in Chinese.
Scientifically, the five senses can be clearly distinguished by 嗅觉/触觉/听觉/味觉/视觉 (same etymology with Japanese).
However, in conversations, *the noun 味 and 味道 can mean either "smell" or "taste"*.
Maybe this is because we often use the words to comment on a dish by considering both its smell and the taste. The two concept got combined.

Another thing:
*In modern spoken Chinese (Mandarin), 闻 is the verb for "smell", however, in traditional Chinese, it is the verb for "hear".*
I don't study traditional Chinese so I have no idea why and how the verb has transferred its meaning.


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## mataripis

Tagalog:smell- pang amoy, Taste- panlasa, Hear- pan dinig, Touch- damdam, Sight- paningin, ESP- Kutob,Kamalayan.  Senses- Mga Pakiramdam


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## Ghabi

From a diachronic perspective, 聞 man4 (I use Cantonese pronunciations throughout) can mean both "to hear/listen" and "to smell" in Chinese. The issue is hotly debated among philologists. There are two possibilities:

-The word carried both meanings from the very beginning, despite the fact that the character for the word contains only the "ear" determinative (耳)
-The meaning of "to smell" was a later development, but when this happened is controversial

I am not aware of any modern dialect in which man4 can be used by itself for "to hear/listen", although it exists with that meaning as a bound morpheme in many compound words.

On the other hand, the word teng1 聽 (the normal word for "to hear/listen" in modern Chinese) is known to have the meaning of "to smell" in some dialects.


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## ThomasK

I'll just add Dutch words for the *zintuigen *("sense tools") to the German ones: 


Holger2014 said:


> Adding German to the list:
> 
> smell - Geruchssinn < riechen    - *reuk (zin)  < ruiken*
> touch - Tastsinn < tasten          *             tast(zin) < tasten*
> hearing - Gehörsinn < hören             *gehoor(zin)  < horen   *(het gehoorzintuig
> taste - Geschmackssinn < schmecken   *smaak(zin) < smaken *[in fact: proeven]
> sight - Sehvermögen < sehen    *het gezicht < zien
> *
> _-sinn_ = 'sense'; _-vermögen =_ 'ability'; _-en_ = verbal infinitive suffix


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## Encolpius

Hungarian ----  látás (sight) - hallás (hearing) - tapintás (touch) - szaglás (smell) - ízlelés (taste)


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## apmoy70

apmoy70 said:


> In Greek:
> 
> 
> Smell: *«Όσφρηση»* [ˈosfrisi] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension deverbal noun *«ὄσφρησις» óspʰrēsis* --> _olfactory sense or organ_ < Classical deponent v. *«ὀσφραίνομαι» ŏspʰraínŏmai* --> _to catch scent of, smell_ (PIE *h₃ed-, _to smell_
> + *gʷʰreH₁-, _to smell, breathe_ cf Skt. जिघ्रति (jighrati), _to perceive by smell_).
> 
> 
> Touch: *«Αφή»* [aˈfi] (fem.) < Classical deverbal fem. noun *«ἁφὴ» hapʰḕ* --> _touching, grip_ < Classical v. *«ἅπτω» háptō* --> _to join, attach, grasp_ (PIE *h₂ep-, _to join, fit_ cf Skt. आप्नोति (āpnoti), _to obtain, grasp_; Hitt. h̬app-, _to join_; Lat. apere).
> 
> 
> Hearing: *«Ακοή»* [akoˈi] (fem.) < Classical deverbal fem. noun *«ἀκοὴ» ăkŏḕ* and *«ἀκουὴ» ăkouḕ* --> _hearing, tiding_ < Classical v. *«ἀκούω» ăkoúō* --> _to hear, obey, be called_ (PIE *keus-/*kous-, _to hear_ which is perhaps from PIE *(s)keu-, _to notice, observe_; the initial *«ἀ-» a-* in the Greek verb is copulative cf Proto-Germanic *hauzjan > Ger. hören, Eng. hear, Dt. horen, Isl. heyra, D./Nor. Bokmål høre, Nor. Nynorsk høyra, Swe. höra).
> 
> 
> Taste: *«Γεύση»* [ˈʝefsi] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension deverbal fem. noun *«γεύσις» geúsis* --> _tasting_ < Classical deponent v. *«γεύομαι» geúŏmai* --> _to taste_ (PIE *ǵeus-, _to taste_ cf Lat. gustāre > It./Rom. gustare, Sp. gustar, Por. gostar, Fr. goûter).
> 
> 
> Sight: *«Όραση»* [ˈoɾasi] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension deverbal fem. noun *«ὄρασις» órasis* < Classical v. *«ὀράω/ὀρῶ» ŏráō* (uncontracted)*/ ŏrô* (contracted) --> _to look, perceive, contemplate, see_ (PIE *uer-, _to observe, note_ cf Proto-Germanic *waraz > Eng. aware).


Forgot to add that _sense_ is *«αίσθηση»* [ˈesθisi] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension fem. deverbal noun *«αἴσθησις» aístʰēsis* --> _perception, knowledge, sense_ < Classical deponent v. *«αἰσθάνομαι» aistʰắnŏmai* --> _to perceive, apprehend, note_ (in MoGr *«αισθάνομαι»* [eˈsθanome] --> _to feel, sense_), PIE *h₂eu-is-, _to perceive_ cf Skt. आविस् (ávis), _apparently_; Av. āuuiš, _manifestly_.
Five senses = *«Πέντε αισθήσεις»* [ˈpende eˈsθisis]


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## Armas

Finnish

hajuaisti = smell
tunto(aisti) = touch
kuulo(aisti) = hearing
makuaisti = taste
näkö(aisti) = sight

aisti = sense
aistia = to sense


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## 涼宮

Spanish: Vista (sight), oído/audición (hearing), gusto (taste), olfato (smell), tacto (touch).

Spanish is super inconsistent with the sense of taste, its verb can be translated in several ways, _saborear, degustar, detectar, notar, probar_, _sentir_, it depends on context and what you mean by 'taste', the verb 'to taste' is pretty general in English.


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## Dymn

*Catalan*: _vista_ (sight), _oïda_ (hearing), _gust_ (taste), _olfacte_ (smell), _tacte_ (touch).


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## Gavril

Armas said:


> Finnish
> 
> hajuaisti = smell
> tunto(aisti) = touch
> kuulo(aisti) = hearing
> makuaisti = taste
> näkö(aisti) = sight
> 
> aisti = sense
> aistia = to sense



Interestingly enough, _aisti _is thought by some to be connected to _haistaa _"to smell (transitive)". According to this theory, the initial _h_- would have been lost in compound environments like _näköaisti_, _tuntoaisti_ etc. and then generalized to the independent word. (Or, the independent word could have been formed by abstraction from these compounds.)


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## ThomasK

Ghabi said:


> From a diachronic perspective, 聞 man4 (I use Cantonese pronunciations throughout) can mean both "to hear/listen" and "to smell" in Chinese. The issue is hotly debated among philologists. There are two possibilities:
> 
> -The word carried both meanings from the very beginning, despite the fact that the character for the word contains only the "ear" determinative (耳)
> -The meaning of "to smell" was a later development, but when this happened is controversial
> 
> I am not aware of any modern dialect in which man4 can be used by itself for "to hear/listen", although it exists with that meaning as a bound morpheme in many compound words.
> 
> On the other hand, the word teng1 聽 (the normal word for "to hear/listen" in modern Chinese) is known to have the meaning of "to smell" in some dialects.


I think there is something similar in Italian, I think, where *sentire *can mean : feel, hear/listen _(Senti !), _sometimes [- pers.] smell...


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## elroy

Arabic:

smell - الشمّ (_ash-shamm_)
touch - اللمس (_al-lams_)
hearing - السمع (_as-sama`_)
taste - الذوق (_adh-dhawq_) or التذوّق (_at-tadhawwuq_)
sight - البصر (_al-baSar_) or النظر (_an-naDHar_)

There are five distinct verbs as well:

to smell - شمّ (_shamma_)
to touch - لمس (_lamasa_) 
to hear - سمع (_sami`a_)
to taste - ذاق (_dhaaqa_) or تذوّق (_tadhawwaqa_)
to see - رأى (_ra'a_)


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## MyriadLeaves

sight - syn/synssansen*; verb: at se
touch - følesansen; verb: at føle/røre
hearing - hørelse/høresansen; verb: at høre
taste - smag/smagssansen; verb: at smage
smell - lugtessansen; verb: at lugte**

*-sansen is derived from "sans" which means "sense", i.e. synssans literally translates to "sense of sight".
**In more recent Danish the verb "dufte" has been used synonymously though this is seen by some as erroneous as a thing only can emit a smell ("dufte"). Such newer usage could stem from the dual-usage of the English "smell" since there's been a lot of anglicisms in Danish as of recently.


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## Messquito

SuperXW said:


> Here's the situation in Chinese.
> Scientifically, the five senses can be clearly distinguished by 嗅觉/触觉/听觉/味觉/视觉 (same etymology with Japanese).
> However, in conversations, *the noun 味 and 味道 can mean either "smell" or "taste"*.
> Maybe this is because we often use the words to comment on a dish by considering both its smell and the taste. The two concept got combined.
> 
> Another thing:
> *In modern spoken Chinese (Mandarin), 闻 is the verb for "smell", however, in traditional Chinese, it is the verb for "hear".*
> I don't study traditional Chinese so I have no idea why and how the verb has transferred its meaning.


http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/files/publication/j2014_5_04_8672.pdf
Based on that research, 嗅 was used to denote "actively smelling something" (The dog is smelling me./in modern Chinese, 聞...) and 聞 was chosen as the passive counter part for it. (I smell roses./in modern Chinese, 聞到...)

I'd like to add more information, in modern Chinese, the verbs for the five senses are:
sense-->active verb-->passive verb-->verb+adjective
嗅覺-->聞(v.)smell-->聞到(v.)smell-->聞起來(v.)smell
觸覺-->摸(v.)touch/feel-->摸到(v.)touch/feel-->摸起來(v.)feel
聽覺-->聽(v.)listen-->聽到(v.)hear-->聽起來(v.)sound
味覺-->嚐(v.)taste/吃(v.)eat-->嚐到/吃到(v.)taste-->嚐/吃起來(v.)taste
視覺-->看(v.)look at/watch/see-->看到(v.)see-->看起來(v.)seem/look


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## Red Arrow

ThomasK said:


> I'll just add Dutch words for the *zintuigen *("sense tools") to the German ones:


sight is in Dutch _zicht.
Gezicht_ = face.


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## Medune

In Portuguese
The senses.
sight: visão
smell: olfacto/olfato
hearing: audição
taste: paladar
touch: tacto/tato

But.
to look like: parecer
to taste like: saber a
to smell like: cheirar a
to sound like: soar
to feel like: parecer, ter a textura de. I really don't know if there is a specific verb for it

to look, to see: olhar, ver
to taste: provar, degustar
to smell:cheirar, sentir
to hear: ouvir, escutar
to feel:sentir (preferably) , tatear


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## franknagy

Hungarian


Encolpius said:


> Hungarian ----  látás (sight) - hallás (hearing) - tapintás (touch) - szaglás (smell) - ízlelés (taste)





bibax said:


> Hungarian verbs
> *érez* = feel (by nose), guess (by brain, soul), taste (by tongue) | touch (by skin)
> *hall* [slux] - hearing*
> lát* - sight



_The verbs above mean stimulus.
The verbs below mean an action trying to feel something.
_
*tapint* = touch
*ízlel* = taste (by tongue)




rusita preciosa said:


> In Russian the verb for *to feel *(touch) and *to smell *is the same:


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## oveka

swintok said:


> Hello, all.
> 
> As an English speaker, I always found it very strange that in Ukrainian "to hear" and "to smell" are given the same word:  чути /chuty/.  This means that whereas in English there are considered to be five physical senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight), in Ukrainian there are only four.
> 
> How many physical senses are there in your languages?



Mistake:
(taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight), in Ukrainian -  зір, слух, нюх, смак, дотик, рівновага.


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## franknagy

Encolpius said:


> Hungarian ----  látás (sight) - hallás (hearing) - tapintás (touch) - szaglás (smell) - ízlelés (taste)


These are nouns usually translated as gerunds to English.
The verbs are simpler: lát, hall, tapint, szagol, ízlel. (The vocabulary form of the Hungarian words is the 3rd person Singular with zero ending.) 
In general érez = to feel.


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## Yendred

In French, there are commonly five admitted senses:

L'*odorat *(smell)*, sentir* (to smell)
Le *toucher *(touch)*, toucher* (to touch)
L'*ouïe *(hearing)*, entendre *(to hear)
Le *goût *(taste)*, goûter *(to taste)
La *vision *(sight)*, voir *(to see)


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## Dymn

Let me expand with the corresponding verbs:

*Catalan*:

Smell:
Sense: _olfacte_
Sensation: _olor_
To passively sense: _olorar _
To actively sense: _ensumar_
To emit: _fer olor de
_
Touch:
Sense: _tacte_
Sensation: ~ _textura_
To passively sense: ~ _notar_
To actively sense: _tocar_
To emit: -

Hear:
Sense: _oïda_
Sensation: _so_
To passively sense: _sentir_
To actively sense: _escoltar_
To emit: _sonar
_
Taste:
Sense: _gust_
Sensation: _gust, sabor_
To passively sense: _-_
To actively sense: _tastar_
To emit: _tenir gust de, saber a
_
See:
Sense: _vista_
Sensation: _visió, vista_
To passively sense: _veure_
To actively sense: _mirar_
To emit: -


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