Nature and Culture: An Analysis of Individual Focal Color Choices in World Color Survey Languages

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 151-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Kuehni
Keyword(s):  
Color Vision ◽  
Vision System ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Color Term ◽  
The World ◽  
Cultural Choices

AbstractThe data from the World Color Survey of 110 un-written languages have been analyzed in regard to individual focal choices. A total of 46 major color terms (used by at least 60% of speakers in a given language) have been identified. Of these 24 can be defined in terms of English color terms, while 22 cannot. The most important color term in terms of usage is red, followed by white and black. In the 110 languages, 73 different arrangements of major color terms have been found. The six Hering fundamental colors, presumably closely related to the workings of the color vision system, occur preferentially but not consistently in languages with 6 or more major terms. They represent the top six categories in terms of major usage. WCS indicates usage of major color terms to be complex and clearly also influenced by cultural choices.

scholarly journals Семантические особенности цветообозначения улан ‘красный’ в калмыцком языке и способы его перевода на немецкий язык (на примере калмыцких сказок в записи Г. Й. Рамстедта)

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-197
Author(s):  
Aleksandra T. Bayanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
German Translation ◽  
Color Term ◽  
The World ◽  
Linguistic Intuition ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Morphological Patterns

Introduction. Color terms constitute a most archaic lexical stratum of any language. Being characterized by vivid ethnocultural specifics, those serve as important elements to the linguistic view of the world. Goals. The paper seeks to analyze semantic features of the Kalmyk color term улан ‘red’ and its German translation equivalents. Materials and Methods. The work explores Kalmyk folktales recorded by the Finnish scholar G. J. Ramstedt during his 1903 scientific expedition to the Kalmyk Steppe. The analysis of the color term comprises both general research methods and specifically linguoculturological ones, such as linguoculturological and conceptual insights into folklore texts. Results. Impacts of color in world perception of the Kalmyks — just as for any other nation — are diverse enough. The folktale texts recorded by G. J. Ramstedt contain a total of five shades of the color, the lexeme улан ‘red’ being largely characterized by positive semantics. German translation variants are not always complete semantic equivalents of the color term which results from that color denoting lexemes — and those of red in particular — are integral to a certain ethnic worldview, this leading to some ambivalence of the color under study. Conclusions. The lexeme улан ‘red’ in its first nominative meaning denotes a color of an object, e.g., red proper, scarlet, ruddy, etc. In the Kalmyk language, it also serves to denote the prototypic color of blood and is often used to describe animal coat colors. The Finnish scholar employed different German translation means. In most cases, the selection of translation equivalents depends on the translator’s associative/visual thinking and perception of the world, as well as on lexical, semantic and morphological patterns of Kalmyk and German. Folklore texts are structured specifically, and a translator needs utmost attention and linguistic intuition to avoid any inaccuracies when communicating a color paradigm from the original text. The challenge be tackled by a translator of color terms in a folklore text is that he/she is supposed to bear both the linguocultures examined.

Focal Color Variability and Unique Hue Stimulus Variability

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 409-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Kuehni
Keyword(s):  
Vision System ◽  
Order System ◽  
Range Data ◽  
Color Term ◽  
Color Categories ◽  
The World ◽  
Stimulus Variability ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Unique Hues ◽  
Individual Choices

AbstractThe degree to which physiology and culture have affected the formation of primitive color categories continues to be a matter of discussion. In this paper the degree of agreement between the ranges of individual color term foci for the four hue-based color categories yellow, green, blue, and red and individual choices of Munsell samples representing for the observers Hering's four unique hues is investigated. The color term focus range data are extracted from the survey results of the 110 unwritten languages of the World Color Survey, also in terms of the Munsell color order system. Agreement of approximately 90% between the two has been found, indicating the likelihood of a strong color vision system related physiological component in the formation of these four primitive hue categories.

scholarly journals Семантика белого цвета в фольклорном тексте: лингвокультурологический аспект (на примере калмыцких сказок в записи Г. Й. Рамстедта)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 592-604
Author(s):  
Aleksandra T. Bayanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Color Term ◽  
Snow White ◽  
Unique Material ◽  
The World ◽  
Main Color ◽  
Culture And Language ◽  
Color Symbol

Introduction. Color terms constitute a most archaic lexical stratum of any language. Being characterized by vivid ethnocultural specifics, those serve as important elements to the linguistic view of the world. In nature color is an objective and independent phenomenon, while in culture and language color perceptions turn completely subjective. Differences in mentality, unique material culture inherent to each and every ethnos that lives in particular natural surroundings — all the factors have their impacts on color perceptions. And there are virtually no works to have investigated color in the Kalmyk language, i.e. comprehensive studies of color terms still remain in the periphery of Kalmyk linguistics. Goals. The paper analyzes Kalmyk folktales recorded by the Finnish scholar G. J. Ramstedt for a key color symbol — white — in a linguocultural perspective. Results. Traditionally, Mongolic peoples tend to view white as the main color of the spectrum. The comparative analysis of the lexeme цаһaн (Kalm. ‘white’) reveals a number of specific features attributed to the examined color term in unrelated languages (Kalmyk and German). The study concludes that the Kalmyk lexeme comprises a wider range of meanings. It denotes colors of visually perceived objects, and the color scope includes shades from ‘snow white’ to ‘grey’, while in German — from ‘sharply white’ (Germ. blendendweiß) to ‘silver’ (Germ. silber).

The Historical Change in the Role of the Two Hungarian Words for Red (Piros and Vörös) and Their Visual Semantics

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-302
Author(s):  
Beáta Bálizs
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
International Research ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Color Term ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Red Color ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hungarian Language

The present study summarizes the key findings of a multi-year interdisciplinary investigation, performed using specific (ethnographic, anthropological, and linguistic) research methods, into the two color terms mentioned in the title. Originally intended as empirical research involving all Hungarian color terms and individual community-dependent relationships with colors, it was eventually supplemented by a text-based examination of the history of the color terms piros and veres/vörös. A further objective was to answer questions raised in the course of international research concerning the reason for the existence of two color terms with similar meanings in the Hungarian language to denote the red color range. Earlier studies had already suggested that the modern use of vörös, which has more ancient roots in the Hungarian language, may be related to the fact that this color term was previously used more extensively. However, the present research is unique in demonstrating the substantial changes that have taken place in the Hungarian language in relation to the role and meaning of these color terms. It has already been established that the two color terms switched places historically, and that piros today fulfills precisely the same function that for centuries belonged to veres/vörös, until the color term piros began to gain ground in the 19th century.

Can Animism Save the World? Reflections on Personhood and Complexity in the Ecological Crisis

Sociologus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Guido Sprenger
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
Moral Commitment ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
Human World ◽  
Communicative Processes ◽  
Politics Of Life

The term “animism” is at once a fantasy internal to modernity and a semiotic conduit enabling a serious inquiry into non-modern phenomena that radically call into question the modern distinction of nature and culture. Therefore, I suggest that the labelling of people, practices or ideas as “animist” is a strategic one. I also raise the question if animism can help to solve the modern ecological crisis that allegedly stems from the nature-culture divide. In particular, animism makes it possible to recognize personhood in non-humans, thus creating moral relationships with the non-human world. A number of scholars and activists identify animism as respect for all living beings and as intimate relationships with nature and its spirits. However, this argument still presupposes the fixity of the ontological status of beings as alive or persons. A different view of animism highlights concepts of fluid and unstable persons that emerge from ongoing communicative processes. I argue that the kind of attentiveness that drives fluid personhood may be supportive of a politics of life that sees relationships with non-humans in terms of moral commitment.

A Cultural History Of Color in the Renaissance

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Material World ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Global Circulation ◽  
The World ◽  
Color Technology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Psychology Literature

A Cultural History of Color in the Renaissance covers the period 1400 to 1650, a time of change, conflict, and transformation. Innovations in color production transformed the material world of the Renaissance, especially in ceramics, cloth, and paint. Collectors across Europe prized colorful objects such as feathers and gemstones as material illustrations of foreign lands. The advances in technology and the increasing global circulation of colors led to new color terms enriching language. Color shapes an individual’s experience of the world and also how society gives particular spaces, objects, and moments meaning. The 6 volume set of the Cultural History of Color examines how color has been created, traded, used, and interpreted over the last 5000 years. The themes covered in each volume are color philosophy and science; color technology and trade; power and identity; religion and ritual; body and clothing; language and psychology; literature and the performing arts; art; architecture and interiors; and artefacts. Volume 3 in the Cultural History of Color set. General Editors: Carole P. Biggam and Kirsten Wolf

scholarly journals THE COLOR TERMS FOR BLACK AND WHITE IN BULGARIAN, POLISH AND LITHUANIAN PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

2021 ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
Nadelina IVOVA
Keyword(s):  
Good Life ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Figurative Meaning ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Cultural Connotation ◽  
Color Term ◽  
Cultural Connotations ◽  
The Way

The present paper is contrastive analysis of Bulgarian, Polish and Lithuanian phraseological units containing a color term naming black or white. It traces the way these components reflect the figurative meaning of the unit - through their color semantics or through their function as a cultural signs. The study classiffiеs Bulgarian, Polish and Lithuanian expressions as to their belongings to several groups, which refer to different concepts. In each group the comparison of the examples found in the three phraseological subsystems is based on their semantics, their lexical components and structure. Under observations are substantive, adjectival, adverbial and verbal phraseological units where the colors are used only as an adjective component. The analysis takes into consideration that black has negative symbolism and cultural connotations. Thus the phraseological units with black are linked mainly to the concepts such as death, sorrow, bad life, misfortune. The text suggests that color term for black is rarely used to express neutral or positive meanings. The white has a positive cultural connotation associated to whiteness, light, good life, goodness, but its meaning can vary to neutral or negative in phraseological system of the three languages. The present paper observes similarities of collected phraseological expressions and emphasizes their nation-specific features.

scholarly journals On Time and Other Things: Some Cartesian Dichotomies in Antarctica

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Sarah de Barros Viana Hissa
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Human Relations ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Internal Time ◽  
Time Consciousness ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way ◽  
Global Relations

Antarctica differs from all other regions in the world, not only from its unique geography, but also in the way humans understand it and have incorporated it into global relations. Considering Antarctica's distinctive landscapes and human relations, this paper discusses aspects of how time is humanly perceived in Antarctica. Basing on elements from different human occupations, nineteenth-century sailor-hunters and current incursions, this discussion approximates different historical groups in their experiences of Antarctica, connecting their personal lives, past and present. Meanwhile, also put into issue are the dualities that separate nature and culture, physical and relative time, and past and present, as well as the related notions of time in itself, perceived time speed and internal time consciousness.

scholarly journals Educational Content of Today The Understanding of Architecture as a Collective Art

2019 ◽  
pp. 100-103
Author(s):  
Gro Lauvland
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Educational Content ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
The World ◽  
The Given ◽  
As If ◽  
At Home

Our understanding of the world is manifested in what we make and produce. Through the last 250 years there has been a change in the understanding of man´s place in the world. Our way of building is characterized by market economy and controlled production processes — as if we can control everything through our consciousness. Both the given nature and what is transferred to us through history, are regarded as resources made for us. Today our understanding of the world makes the cities more and more similar. This understanding of nature and culture challenges our human conditions. As human beings, we are embedded in the place, according to both Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In line with their understanding the Norwegian architect and theorist Christian Norberg-Schulz argued, for instance in Stedskunst (1995), that it is the qualities of the place we identify with, and which makes it possible for us to feel at home.

scholarly journals Axiology of Anthropological Time in Stefan Furman’s Calendars of the 17th Century Gdansk

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (31) ◽  
pp. 217-229
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Krzysztofik
Keyword(s):  
17Th Century ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Culture Time ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Experience Of Time ◽  
The World ◽  
Theological Perspective ◽  
Temporal Structures ◽  
Culture Cycle ◽  
Divine Order

Time, as everybody knows, is the primary category of culture. Human’s altitude to the time determines how we see ourselves, the world and why we choose various activities. Entire scientific description of every culture has to contain characteristics of the specific time structure. One of the most important problems the answers to which we should search between texts of culture, is the axiology of the particular streams of the culture time. The article presents multifaceted characteristics of category of anthropological time in two calendars printed in Gdansk in the 17th century (for years 1652 and 1664). Questions about measure, pace, rhythm and axiology of human time are asked. The paper presents a discussion of typical characteristics of chronosophy of that epoch, anisotropy, which is a stream of many kinds of time flowing in parallel and in interaction with each other. The Christian concept of time which can be found in both calendars is decribed. Also rhythms of nature and culture (cycle of liturgical festivals) that regulate anthropological time are presented; how three dimensions of human experience of time (past, present, future) go together. Characteristics of axiological aspect of human time which has complex relations with numerous temporal structures and streams of time are given. Evidence that axiology of human time—oscillating between sacrum and profanum, between divine order and devil’s order, between human activity and God’s intervention – is given with regard to theological dimension in Stefan Furman’s calendariography as it is concentrated on reality out of this world. In theological perspective meaningful becomes the experience of earthly life, which gives every human being a chance to choose the good or the bad path of life, whilst they look for the redemption.

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