Kimberly Burnham

• PhD Integrative Medicine
• Independent Scholar at Akamai University, Hilo, Hawaii

I am creating a database with the words for "Peace" and "Calm" in 5000 plus languages. I have collected about 4,000. I am sure there are still thousands I do not know. What I find fascinating about this project is that many languages have synonyms for peace, calm, tranquility that are different from English or other Romance languages for example, tame, cool, slow, cool liver, legible, health, wholeness, etc. Then there are also interesting homonyms like peace and piece or peas. Homonyms are unique to each language because the word for peace is unique.

There is much research to say that learning a new language after age 50 decreases the chances of developing Alzheimer and that new language learning encourages neuroplasticity and brain health. I am creating a dictionary of "peace" with 5000 words and ways people around the world think about peace. I believe that studying the word for peace in thousands of different language will also improve brain health and enhance neuroplasticity.

Examples from my upcoming book.

Smelling Peace

In |xam, the language of the Cape San people

in Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia,

Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa.

there is a saying

"ha ka: ha se !khou:, ti e:

ǂgou:wa ǀ nũe, ĩ:"

he intends to come and smell

whether peace (ǂgou:wa) it be here

and I wonder

what if we all could smell peace

would it smell the same to all

like roses blossoming on the bush

on a sunny summer day

or a baking chocolate cake

celebrating the birth of a child

or baby powder on a new born

would each of us find a different way

to describe the smell of peace

Peace Talking and Telling Tales

From The Year of The Poet June 2020 (Inner Child Press)

“The most loquacious people”

J. Marshall observed

referring to the Ju/’hoan

suggests one useful strategy

maintaining peace “ǂgou”

diffusing tensions by talking

the San people of the Kalahari Desert

are not silent “ǂgau”

engage in conversation

all day long and well into the night

as they work

as they eat

as they gather around the fires

with their children at night

as they visit with other families

people who have hunted or gathered separately

recount in exhaustive detail

the tracks of animals

amounts of berries

abundance of certain plants

then plan what come next

where might there be game?

to whom will they give nuts?

the band a unit of sharing

demands peace and cooperation among members

Found poetry from Marshall, J. and C. Ritchie. Where Are the Ju/wasi of Nyae Nyae? Changes in a Bushman Society: 1958–1981. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press, 1984 found in Culture S etches, Case Studies in Anthropology 3rd Ed. by Holly Peters-Golden

The Rabbit Hole Of Peace In Javanese

Today I went looking

for the word for peace in Javanese

and found it

"slamet" or "rahaju"

in a safe, peaceful condition or

"sranta" and "saranta"

patient and calm or

"sepi" which is quiet and still

in Javanese or Ngoko

Also in non-Ngoko languages

"wiludjeng" is a safe, peaceful condition

or similarly "srantos" is patient and calm

"epen" is quiet and still in Krama Standard

"rahadjeng" in Krama Substandard

or "sugeng" in a safe, peaceful condition

in Kromo Inggel

But half a world away

I found along the path

"uxolo" (peace)in South African Xhosa

"xolile" to be at peace

"uizwe lixolile" to make peace

"nku Xolisa" to be at peace with each other

"uku Xolelana, noxolo, ngoxolo ngo kuxolileyo, Noxolo Xolileyo,"

peaceable, peaceably, peaceful, peacefully

The search rolled out

different languages spoken with

different tongues

bringing the world together

a little tighter

I am also looking for grant funding to be able to complete this project. I can be contacted at nervewhisperer@gmail.com Kimberly Burnham, PhD Integrative Medicine.