Abstract
Basic color terms used in Mandarin Chinese have been controversial since first discussed by Berlin and Kay in 1969. Previous studies showed much inconsistency on what should be considered as basic color terms in Mandarin Chinese. In the present study, we investigated categories of color rather than merely the color terms used by Taiwanese native Mandarin speakers. Using samples conforming to the Berlin and Kay survey, various colors were chosen from a collection of Natural Color System (NCS) colored papers and mounted on a piece of neutral gray card. The card was then mounted on a touch-screen, under D65 illumination. Thirty-two single-character color related Mandarin terms were selected from a Chinese character database according to frequency of use. Participants were required to select the color sample that matched the term by pressing a virtual button on the touch screen. The results show that certain terms can be directly correlated to basic color terms in English, comparable with the results of Berlin and Kay’s original study and those that followed. However, some terms, such as Mo (墨 ink), Tie (鐵 iron), and Cai (菜vegetable), show a wide spread of term maps and inconsistent use among subjects. Principle component analysis (PCA) procedures were used to analysis the commodity of data among subjects. The findings suggest that the basic color categories among Mandarin Chinese speakers are similar to those found in the World Color Survey (WCS), but are represented by wide-spread and inconsistent color terms among speakers.
Highlights
The findings suggest that the basic color categories among Mandarin Chinese speakers are similar to those found in the World Color Survey (WCS), but are represented by wide-spread and inconsistent color terms among speakers
Modern studies on the basic color terms began with the seminal work of Berlin and Kay [1], who suggested that a basic color term should have four characteristics: (i) its meaning cannot be predicted from its parts; (ii) its meaning is not included in that of another term; (iii) it is not specific to a narrow class of objects; and (iv) it must be psychologically salient for the users
We found that three terms, Zhe, Zong, and the color of mud (Tu) occupied the same region on the WCS chart as brown in English and that this region does not overlap other basic color terms
Summary
Modern studies on the basic color terms began with the seminal work of Berlin and Kay [1], who suggested that a basic color term should have four characteristics: (i) its meaning cannot be predicted from its parts; (ii) its meaning is not included in that of another term; (iii) it is not specific to a narrow class of objects; and (iv) it must be psychologically salient for the users. Berlin and Kay applied these criteria to determine the basic color terms in several languages [1, 2]. They reported that in the English language, there were eleven basic color terms: white, gray, black, blue, green, red, yellow, orange, brown, purple and pink. Berlin and Kay [1] reported that Mandarin Chinese had six basic color terms.
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