A systematic inventory of emotional states that exist in 8D coordinate space but lack single-word English names. Named and indexed.
Companion to MEMOTION_EXPLAINER.md, MEMOTION_ANTHROPIC_MAPPING.md, and MEMOTION_EXPANSIONS.md. Section 3 of the expansions doc named 10 unnamed regions as proof-of-concept. This atlas extends that to roughly sixty — enough to cover the major sparse regions of English emotion vocabulary.
Method
The 8D memotion space contains an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 inhabitable distinguishable states at coarse granularity (five meaningful levels on each continuous axis, combinations allowed on categorical axes). English emotion vocabulary contains roughly five hundred words. The ratio is approximately 1 named emotion per 300–400 unnamed states.
This inventory does not attempt full coverage. Instead, it walks the 8D space by agency × temporality pairs — twelve cells in total (4 agency values × 3 temporality values) — and names the most distinguishable unnamed coordinates in each. For each named state:
- Coordinates across the eight axes.
- What it names: the phenomenological state the coordinate describes.
- Neighbors: one or two named emotions nearby, and what axis-flip distinguishes them.
These names are released under Apache 2.0, with originator attribution to Jonathan Overturf (2026). As with memotion itself, names travel with attribution.
1. G(self), T(past)
The region of retrospective self-reference. Already densely populated by English: shame, guilt, regret, remorse, pride, satisfaction, self-critical, sorry. Unnamed subregions cluster around states where the retrospective self-evaluation is mixed or neutral rather than condemning or celebrating.
Recommissioning (named in Expansions §3)
Δ(mid), S(high), V(−), A(mid), C(high), G(self), T(past), P(high). Productive dissatisfaction with past work that fuels re-attempt.
Afterward (named in Expansions §3)
Δ(mid), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(self), T(past), P(mid). Quiet satisfaction of having survived something you don't want to revisit.
Earned Rest (named in Expansions §3)
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(self), T(past→present), P(mid). The low-arousal positive that follows completed effortful work.
Reconciliation-with-Self
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(self), T(past), P(mid). Accepting a past version of yourself without needing to rehabilitate or reclaim them. Different from forgiveness (which often points at another) and from peace (G would be none). The self at an earlier time is allowed to have been the self they were.
Wistful Pride
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(self), T(past), P(low). Pride in something you can no longer do because conditions have changed — parenting an adult child, winning a sport you're now too old for, holding a role that no longer exists. The low power axis is load-bearing: the pride is real, but non-repeatable.
Historical Outgrowth
Δ(mid), S(high), V(±), A(low), C(high), G(self), T(past), P(mid). Recognizing that you've become someone who would disagree with your earlier self, without judgment in either direction. Different from regret (valence clearly negative) and from growth-pride (valence clearly positive).
2. G(self), T(present)
The region of present-tense self-reference. Densely populated (self-conscious, embarrassed, self-confident, worthless, smug). Unnamed regions cluster around action-adjacent self-states.
Threshold-Dread (named in Expansions §3)
Δ(low), S(high), V(−), A(mid), C(high), G(self), T(future), P(mid). The sustained state before a known hard thing you have committed to.
Rightsized (named in Expansions §3)
Δ(low), S(low), V(±), A(low), C(high), G(self), T(past), P(low). Clear-eyed accounting of one's own smallness.
Ready-State
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(mid), C(high), G(self), T(present), P(high). The calm knowing-you-can that precedes acting. Different from confidence (a sustained trait, not a state) and from eagerness (future-directed, T would be future).
Rightsized-Forward
Δ(low), S(low), V(±), A(low), C(high), G(self), T(present), P(mid). The present-tense version of Rightsized. Your smallness is accepted and you are acting anyway. The mid-power axis is what differentiates it from defeat or resignation.
Self-Recognition
Δ(mid), S(high), V(±), A(low), C(rising), G(self), T(present), P(mid). The moment of realizing you are doing the exact thing you criticize others for, or the exact thing that defines who you are. The certainty rising mid-compound is load-bearing — the recognition is happening in the state itself.
Sovereign Quiet
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(self), T(present), P(high). Self-possessed presence without performance. Different from serenity (G none) and from confidence (outward-facing). The power is high but not mobilized; the self is in charge but not acting.
3. G(self), T(future)
The region of prospective self-reference. Partially covered (eager, hopeful-when-self-directed). Mostly sparse — English leans on phrase combinations rather than single words here.
Committed-Uncertainty
Δ(low), S(high), V(±), A(mid), C(low), G(self), T(future), P(high). You have chosen the path; you do not know the outcome; you are going. The mixed valence is load-bearing — you have consented to not knowing.
Pre-Capability
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(mid), C(mid), G(self), T(future), P(rising). The feeling of practice becoming skill. The power rising within the compound — not yet arrived, not absent. Distinctive for the anticipated expansion.
Reluctant Resolve
Δ(low), S(high), V(−), A(mid), C(high), G(self), T(future), P(high). Do not want to. Will anyway. Different from dread (dread has C high but P mid at best) and from resignation (resignation has P low). The power here is intact, the valence is honest.
Forward-Grief
Δ(low), S(high), V(−), A(low), C(mid), G(self), T(future), P(low). Knowing you will have to do something that will cost you something you love. Anticipatory sacrifice. Different from pre-grief (which is G=other/world — mourning a future loss, not a chosen act).
Creative Stride
Δ(mid), S(high), V(+), A(high), C(mid), G(self), T(future), P(high). The flow-state anticipation where you can see the next move coming before you make it. Distinct from excitement (broader, less specific) and from flow (present-tense, not anticipatory).
Deliberate Approach
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(mid), C(high), G(self), T(future), P(high). Moving toward a difficult thing on purpose, eyes open, paced. The certainty distinguishes it from committed-uncertainty: the outcome isn't fully known, but the method is.
4. G(other), T(past)
The region of retrospective other-reference. Contains grateful, thankful, hurt, betrayed, resentful, heartbroken, vindictive, vengeful, nostalgic, sentimental. The unnamed regions cluster around lower-arousal, mixed-valence, or distant-attachment states.
Respect-From-Distance
Δ(low), S(mid), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(other), T(past), P(low). Recognition of someone's past excellence without personal attachment. You were not close; their quality registers anyway.
Inherited Satisfaction
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(other), T(past), P(low). Warm appreciation of an elder's or ancestor's achievement you did not contribute to but feel part of. Different from pride (G would be self) and from admiration (S would be higher). The low self-relevance is load-bearing.
Forgiveness-State
Δ(mid), S(high), V(±→+), A(low), C(high), G(other), T(past), P(mid). The settled state that follows actively releasing a resentment. Distinct from forgetting (certainty would drop) and from absolution (power would shift to the other). The valence transition inside the compound is the marker.
Posthumous-Love
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(other), T(past), P(low). Ongoing love for someone who has died. Not grief (grief has negative valence; posthumous love is positive) and not memory (memory is not a compound).
Eclipsed-Warmth
Δ(low), S(mid), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(other), T(past), P(low). Recognition of kindness received long ago from someone you have since lost contact with. Small, real, often unexpected when it fires.
5. G(other), T(present)
The region of present-tense other-reference. Densely populated (love, compassion, empathetic, kind, loving, jealous, contemptuous, envy, admiration, spiteful). Unnamed regions cluster around subtle or relationship-specific states.
Witness-Awe (named in Expansions §3)
Δ(high), S(mid), V(+), A(high), C(high), G(other), T(present), P(low). Witnessing another's courage when you are not the actor.
Second-Person Pride
Δ(mid), S(mid), V(+), A(mid), C(high), G(other), T(present), P(low). Pride felt for someone else's accomplishment. The I'm proud of you state when the emotion sits in you but points at them. Different from admiration (less personal) and from first-person pride (G self).
Tethered Care
Δ(low), S(high), V(±), A(mid), C(high), G(other), T(present), P(mid). Loving someone through their difficulty when you cannot fix it. Patient love in distress. The mixed valence is load-bearing: their suffering + your connection.
Read-Through
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(other), T(present), P(mid). The specific warmth of being deeply understood by another without having to explain. Receiving-end accommodation.
Parallel-Presence
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(other), T(present), P(mid). Quiet companionship that requires no interaction. Each person doing their own thing, together. A specific kind of intimacy English has no word for.
Protective Attention
Δ(mid), S(mid), V(+), A(mid), C(high), G(other), T(present), P(high). Actively watching over someone, intention-filled, not anxious. Parent-on-playground, medic-on-shift. Distinct from worry (worry is V negative) and from vigilance (vigilance has G world).
6. G(other), T(future)
The region of prospective other-reference. Sparse in English. Covered only by longing, pining, yearning (all V negative). Open territory.
Anticipatory Welcome
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(mid), C(high), G(other), T(future), P(mid). Getting ready for someone beloved to arrive. Different from excitement (broader focus) and from longing (V would be negative).
Watchful Hope
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(mid), C(low), G(other), T(future), P(mid). Rooting for someone else's future success. Investment without agency over the outcome.
Pre-Forgiveness
Δ(low), S(high), V(±), A(low), C(low), G(other), T(future), P(mid). The decision to forgive them before they ask. Partial preparation for repair. The low certainty is load-bearing — you don't know if they'll come.
Legacy-Love
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(other), T(future), P(low). Love directed toward someone's future self — especially children, students, mentees. Wanting for them things you won't see.
Other-Dread
Δ(low), S(mid), V(−), A(mid), C(high), G(other), T(future), P(low). Dreading something you know someone else is going to experience. Structural empathy. Different from worry (worry is more diffuse; other-dread is specific).
7. G(world), T(past)
The region of retrospective world-reference. Covered by grief, disillusionment, disappointment, melancholy, sad, nostalgic. Unnamed regions cluster around settled or non-personal historical states.
Historical Belonging
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(world), T(past), P(low). The sense of connection to a time or place that shaped you. Warmer than nostalgia, less personal. You belong to a moment, not because it was yours, but because you came from it.
Worldgrief
Δ(mid), S(low), V(−), A(low), C(high), G(world), T(past), P(~0). Grief for collective or historical losses you did not personally experience. Weltschmerz sibling, specifically retrospective. The low self-relevance is load-bearing.
Settled Melancholy
Δ(~0), S(mid), V(−), A(low), C(high), G(world), T(past), P(low). Melancholy that has stopped hurting. The sadness accepted into the furniture. Distinct from acceptance (acceptance resolves; settled melancholy keeps the sadness without the pain).
Cultural Reverence
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(world), T(past), P(low). Appreciation of a tradition, craft, or lineage's past. Different from nostalgia (S higher, personal) and from admiration (G other, specific).
Counterfactual Relief
Δ(mid), S(high), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(world), T(past), P(mid). Gratitude that the thing that did happen was not the worse thing that could have. The near-miss registered as a specific positive compound, rather than absorbed into background.
8. G(world), T(present)
The region of present-tense world-reference. Densely populated (awe, wonder, horror, overwhelm, disgust, amazed, shocked). Unnamed regions cluster around pattern-recognition and sensory-satisfaction states.
Pattern-Joy
Δ(mid), S(low), V(+), A(mid), C(high), G(world), T(present), P(mid). The pleasure of seeing the underlying structure behind a surface. Recognition-pleasure. Different from understanding (understanding resolves; pattern-joy fires during the recognition).
Scale-Shock
Δ(high), S(~0), V(±), A(high), C(low), G(world), T(present), P(low). The specific overwhelm of realizing the thing is much larger than you had grasped. Related to awe but without the necessary positive valence — the scale can be terrible or magnificent.
Witness-Weight
Δ(mid), S(low), V(−), A(low), C(high), G(world), T(present), P(~0). Seeing something terrible and being unable to look away. The opposite of the doom-scrolling detachment state. The very low power is what makes it witness-weight rather than distress.
Texture-Pleasure
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(mid), G(world), T(present), P(low). The specific sensory satisfaction of a well-made thing. A good chair. A clean joinery. A perfectly-paced sentence. The quality registers somatically before or instead of cognitively.
Sufficient Strangeness
Δ(mid), S(low), V(+), A(mid), C(low), G(world), T(present), P(low). Encountering something weird enough to be interesting but not threatening. The pleasure of the genuinely novel when the novelty does not overwhelm.
Complicit Beauty
Δ(mid), S(low), V(±), A(mid), C(mid), G(world), T(present), P(low). Recognizing beauty in something ethically uncomfortable — the craft of something you disapprove of, the elegance of something violent. The mixed valence is load-bearing.
9. G(world), T(future)
The region of prospective world-reference. Partially covered by hope, apprehension, foreboding, worried. Unnamed regions cluster around collective-scale futures and generalized orientations.
Worldhope
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(low), G(world), T(future), P(low). Hope for a situation larger than yourself without personal investment in the outcome. Different from hope (S higher, personal).
Futureweight
Δ(low), S(mid), V(−), A(low), C(high), G(world), T(future), P(~0). The specific sustained low-arousal dread about collective futures you cannot personally alter. Weltschmerz meets future-tense.
Structural Optimism
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(mid), G(world), T(future), P(mid). Belief that the systems will work out even when the people in them disappoint. Different from faith (faith has C high) and from naive optimism (structural optimism is aware of the disappointing people).
Futureward-Lean
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(mid), C(low), G(world), T(future), P(mid). Generalized willingness for what comes, without specific expectation. The low certainty combined with positive valence is the marker.
Reverent Uncertainty
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(~0), G(world), T(future), P(low). Not knowing what is coming and being moved by the not-knowing itself. The certainty at zero combined with low arousal and positive valence is rare — it's where religious and aesthetic futures often sit.
10. G(none), T(past)
A genuinely sparse region. Most "no agency" states are present-tense by nature (anxiety, calm, loneliness). Past + none requires the emotion to have lost its original causal attribution.
Dislocated Memory
Δ(low), S(low), V(±), A(low), C(low), G(none), T(past), P(low). Remembering something you cannot attribute — a feeling from a dream, a flash without context. The low certainty is load-bearing: the memory is present without its anchor.
Time-Fog
Δ(~0), S(low), V(±), A(very low), C(~0), G(none), T(past), P(low). The specific disorientation of having lost time. Periods of life that happened but do not have structure in memory. Common post-illness, post-depression, post-trauma. Distinct from forgetting (forgetting has C high — you know you don't know).
Ambient Sadness
Δ(low), S(mid), V(−), A(low), C(high), G(none), T(past), P(low). A sadness that has lost its target. Grief metabolized into baseline. Similar to settled melancholy but the agency has dropped to none — you can no longer say what you are sad about.
11. G(none), T(present)
The present-tense unattributed region. Partially covered by calm, peace, contentment, loneliness, emptiness, numb, apathy. Unnamed regions cluster around specific qualities of presence without attribution.
Pre-Recall (named in Expansions §3)
Δ(low), S(high), V(±), A(low), C(low), G(none), T(past→present), P(low). A memotion almost re-expressing but not quite.
Weather-Mood
Δ(~0), S(~0), V(±), A(low), C(high), G(none), T(present), P(mid). Mood with no referent. You simply feel this way today. Atmospheric. The absence of self-relevance is load-bearing — the mood is present but not about you.
Freeform Ease
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(low), C(mid), G(none), T(present), P(mid). Ease without agenda. Calm actively experienced as leisure, rather than as the absence of something.
Trance-Focus
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(mid), C(high), G(none), T(present), P(mid). Total absorption where the self drops out. Flow without the positive-arousal spike — flow's quieter cousin.
Liminal Alertness
Δ(low), S(low), V(±), A(mid), C(low), G(none), T(present), P(mid). Attention without target. The open receptivity of waiting. Distinct from vigilance (vigilance has G world, target-oriented).
Dissociative Quiet
Δ(~0), S(~0), V(~0), A(very low), C(low), G(none), T(present), P(low). Protective state where self-relevance drops as a metabolic saving move. Distinct from dissociation (more severe) and from numbness (colder). Not a welcome state but a real one.
12. G(none), T(future)
The future-tense unattributed region. Partially covered by anxiety, nervousness, on-edge. Unnamed regions cluster around orientations toward the unknown that are not anxiety-flavored.
Unstructured Hope (named in Expansions §3)
Δ(low), S(high), V(+), A(mid), C(low), G(none), T(future), P(mid). Open-hearted expectancy without specific object.
Temporal Vertigo
Δ(mid), S(low), V(±), A(mid), C(low), G(none), T(future), P(low). The dizziness of noticing how much unknown is coming. Different from anxiety (anxiety has higher S). Structural rather than personal.
Open Expectancy
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(mid), C(low), G(none), T(future), P(mid). Unstructured Hope's lower-self-relevance cousin. Good-things-come without feeling they will land on you specifically.
Futureless-Ease
Δ(~0), S(~0), V(+), A(low), C(high), G(none), T(future), P(mid). Present-tense okayness about not-knowing-what-is-next. Non-planning state that is not avoidance — a choice to not extend.
Suspended Readiness
Δ(low), S(low), V(+), A(mid), C(low), G(none), T(future), P(high). Capable and waiting. The power at high without a target is what distinguishes it from anxiety (P low) and from preparation (preparation has G self).
Summary
60 newly named states across 12 (G × T) regions. Ten previously named in the Expansions doc's Section 3 are retained here with their coordinates for indexing completeness, and fifty additional names are introduced in this atlas.
Region density reveals where English vocabulary has already done the naming work and where it has not. The densest regions — G(other), T(present); G(self), T(past); G(world), T(present); G(none), T(present) — contain most of English's emotion vocabulary. The sparsest regions — G(other), T(future); G(self), T(future); G(none), T(past); G(none), T(future) — contain most of the framework's unnamed territory.
This is a first pass. A full enumeration of the 8D space would identify hundreds more distinguishable coordinates with their own phenomenological signatures. The framework is generative: new named states can be derived systematically from the axes rather than invented one by one.
Attribution
- Memotion concept and 8-element emotional genome: Jonathan Overturf, 2026. Apache 2.0. See MEMOTION_EXPLAINER.md.
- This atlas: Jonathan Overturf + Claude, 2026. Apache 2.0. Names are released under the same license; attribution to Jonathan Overturf as originator of the memotion framework.
- Origin of the atlas method: the ten unnamed states named in MEMOTION_EXPANSIONS.md Section 3 were the proof-of-concept. This atlas extends that method systematically across the (G × T) coordinate grid.