The basic color terms of Mandarin Chinese

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Gao ◽  
Urmas Sutrop
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Color Naming ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Counter Example ◽  
Wild Card ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Basic Color Terms ◽  
Naming Tasks ◽  
Cognitive Salience

In this paper the theory of the evolution of basic color terms introduced by Berlin & Kay is applied to Mandarin Chinese. The data was collected using the fieldwork methods, color list and color-naming tasks. The rainbow order of colors does not affect the list task results. The results, i.e. basic color terms, are calculated according to the procedure in Davies & Corbett. There are nine basic color terms in Mandarin. Ranked according to the cognitive salience criterion they are the following: hóng ‘red’, huáng ‘yellow’, lu ‘green’, lán ‘blue’, hēi ‘black’, bái ‘white’, zǐ ‘purple’, fěn ‘pink’, and huī ‘gray’. Of the fully developed set of BCTs only the terms for ‘brown’ and ‘orange’ are absent. There are no real gender differences for the BCTs. Mandarin is a Stage VII basic color vocabulary language. The absence of the Stage VI term for ‘brown’ is explained using the wild-card theory. As a result Mandarin is not a counter-example to the theory of basic color terms. We suggest that the term chéng ‘orange’ is the next candidate for basic status in Mandarin. There are two competing terms for basic ‘brown’ zōng and hè. If one competing term for ‘brown’ (with high probability the term zōng) becomes basic, Mandarin Chinese will have a full set (eleven) of basic color terms.

scholarly journals Delving Deeper Into Color Space

i-Perception ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 204166951879206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmina Jraissati ◽  
Igor Douven
Keyword(s):  
Color Space ◽  
Color Naming ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Color Categories ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Basic Color Terms

So far, color-naming studies have relied on a rather limited set of color stimuli. Most importantly, stimuli have been largely limited to highly saturated colors. Because of this, little is known about how people categorize less saturated colors and, more generally, about the structure of color categories as they extend across all dimensions of color space. This article presents the results from a large Internet-based color-naming study that involved color stimuli ranging across all available chroma levels in Munsell space. These results help answer such questions as how English speakers name a more complex color set, whether English speakers use so-called basic color terms (BCTs) more frequently for more saturated colors, how they use non-BCTs in comparison with BCTs, whether non-BCTs are highly consensual in less saturated parts of the solid, how deep inside color space basic color categories extend, or how they behave on the chroma dimension.

Color, Color Terms, Categorization, Cognition, Culture: An Afterword

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 487-495
Author(s):  
Don Dedrick
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Color Naming ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Color Categories ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Basic Color Terms

AbstractRecent work on color naming challenges the idea that there are shared perceptually salient colors or color categories that are "hardwired" into homo sapiens and provide the basis for one of the most famous cross-cultural claims of all time, Brent Berlin and Paul Kay's claim that there is a small number of "basic" color terms (eleven), and that some subset of these terms is present in every human language (Berlin & Kay, 1969; see Kay and Maffi, 1999; Kay and Reiger, 2003; and Kay 2005 for updates).

Considering the Prevalence of the "Stimulus Error" in Color Naming Research

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 119-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Dedrick ◽  
David Bimler ◽  
Kimberly Jameson ◽  
Debi Roberson
Keyword(s):  
Color Naming ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Potential Problems ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Basic Color Terms

AbstractIn "Does the Basic Color Terms discussion suffer from the Stimulus Error?" Rolf Kuehni describes a research stumbling block known as the "stimulus error," and hints at the difficulties it causes for mainstream color naming research (Kuehni, is Issue). Among the issues intrinsic to Kuehni's "stimulus error" description is the important question of what can generally be inferred from color naming behaviors based on bounded samples of empirical stimuli. Here we examine some specifics of the color naming research issues that Kuehni raises. While we share Kuehni's view regarding potential problems caused by the "stimulus error" and his concern regarding its prevalence, Kuehni's commentary seems primarily aimed at stimulating a general discussion of color naming research implications, because the articles he critiques do not actually commit the "stimulus error" in any serious sense. Based on Kuehni's comments, we further examine some of the relevant empirical and theoretical implications for cross-cultural color naming research.

scholarly journals Intergenerational differences in Russian color naming in the globalized era: linguistic analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulia A. Griber ◽  
Dimitris Mylonas ◽  
Galina V. Paramei
Keyword(s):  
Diversity Index ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Color Naming ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Generation Z ◽  
Intergenerational Differences ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Basic Color Terms

AbstractThe present study is an apparent-time analysis of color terms in Russian native speakers (N = 1927), whose age varied between 16 and 98 years. Stratified sampling was employed with the following age groups: 16–19, 20–29, and so on, with the oldest group of 70 years and over. Color names were elicited in a web-based psycholinguistic experiment (http://colournaming.com). Participants labeled color samples (N = 606) using an unconstrained color-naming method. Color vocabulary of each age group was estimated using multiple linguistic measures: diversity index; frequency of occurrences of 12 Russian basic color terms (BCTs) and of most frequent non-BCTs; color-naming pattern. Our findings show intergenerational differences in Russian color-term vocabulary, color-naming patterns, and object referents. The CT diversity (measured by the Margalef index) progressively increments with speakers’ juniority; the lexical refinement is manifested by the increasing variety of BCT modifiers and growing use of non-BCTs, both traditional and novel. Furthermore, the most frequent Russian non-BCTs sirenevyj “lilac”, salatovyj “lettuce‐colored”, and birûzovyj “turquoise” appear to be the emerging BCTs. The greatest diversity and richness of CT inventory is observed in Russian speakers aged 20–59 years, i.e., those who constitute the active workforce and are enthusiastic consumers. In comparison, speakers of 60 and over manifest less diverse color inventory and greater prevalence of (modified) BCTs. The two youngest groups (16–29 years) are linguistic innovators: their color vocabulary includes abundant recent loanwords, predominantly from English and, not infrequently, CTs as nouns rather than adjectives. Moreover, Generation Z (16–19 years) tend to offer highly specific or idiosyncratic color descriptors that serve expressive rather than informative function. The apprehended dynamics of color naming in apparent time reflects intergenerational differences as such, but even more so dramatic changes of sociocultural reality in the post-Soviet era, whereby Russian speakers, in particular under 60 years, were/are greatly impacted by globalization of trade: new market product arrivals resulted in adoption of novel and elaboration of traditional CTs for efficient communication about perceived color

scholarly journals The synchronic behavior of basic color terms in Tswana and its diachronic implications

1983 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-194
Author(s):  
Ronald P. Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Color Naming ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Distributional Pattern ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Color Term ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Semantic Reference ◽  
Basic Color Terms ◽  
Universal Constraint

The synchronic distributional pattern of potential basic color terms in one dialect of Tswana is examined in a wide range of construction types. From this pattern the non-basic status of the term lephutsi emerges, as well as a constraint requiring the exclusion of animals from the semantic extension of basic terms designating hue. Accepting lephutsi as non-basic, however, leaves a pattern of semantic reference violating a widely assumed universal constraint governing historical stages in the evolution of color names. To resolve this dilemma, a comparative analysis of color term reference in the Sotho languages is undertaken. Based on this analysis, the semantic reference for one basic color term in Tswana is hypothesized to have undergone a historical change, whereby the universal constraints on color naming give way to the constraint governing basic terms for hue.

scholarly journals The basic color terms of Russian

Linguistics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
IAN DAVIES ◽  
GREVILLE CORBETT
Keyword(s):  
Color Terms ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Basic Color Terms

scholarly journals Color Linguistics: Khanty riddles

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 00005
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Andreeva ◽  
Olga Khudobina ◽  
Tatyana Moldanova ◽  
Nataliya Miryugina
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Continuous Sampling ◽  
Language Functioning ◽  
Cultural Determinants ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Basic Color Terms

From the point of view of physics and physiology, the perception of color should be the same by all people, but the process and associations connected with it have historical and cultural determinants in different nations. The conceptual apparatus of color linguistics is studied in different scientific studies and from different points of view. The material of this study comprises riddles extracted from Khanty folklore by the method of continuous sampling, as well as scientific literature on the descriptionof color words. A common way of creating riddle metaphors is color matching. Therefore, exploring color words in the Khanty riddles allows us to reveal the cognitive, pragmatic and cultural factors of language functioning. The present research highlights the role of color terms in the formation of linguistic worldview, as well as conceptualizes and defines the place of the color vocabulary in the cognitive process. Key words: Khanty riddles, basic color terms, color words.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document