Use Of Color Terms Research Articles

The Effect of Gender, Urban/Rural Background, and Profession on Patterns of Use of Color Terms in Jordan

In this study, we examined the relationship between social factors and language by focusing on color terms. We investigated patterns of color terms’ use and the diversity of the color terms lexicon (CTL) among males and females belonging to different subcultures—city vs. small town or urban vs. rural—and different university majors—professionally color educated vs. others. Using an unconstrained color-naming task performed on a computer, three hundred and ninety-nine participants were asked to type in descriptions for fifteen color samples. The use of lexical items from Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in the color descriptions was also investigated. Uni/multivariant analyses of the data were carried out in order to test the association between the patterns of color terms and the social independent variables. Females, participants with professional education in colors, and participants from the city were found to have a larger and more diversified CTL than males, participants with no professional color education, and participants from small towns.

Color Terms in Mongolian Place Names: A Typological Perspective

With their implications for human perception and conceptualization of the physical environment, place names have been largely analyzed from a cognitive perspective. This article aims to extend such cross-disciplinary studies by investigating the use of color terms in place names. The authors use a large-scale database of 214,805 toponyms of Mongolia to identify place names that feature color terms, both basic and non-basic, and compare them with previous literature on the toponymy of other countries and languages. Our results can be summed up in three major findings. (1) The most frequently attested color terms in Mongolian toponymy (namely, ‘black,’ ‘white,’ and ‘red’) prove to be identical to the most salient “toponymic colors” in other territories and cultures as can be seen from the analysis of previous research. The phenomenon of similar behavior of color terms in place names across different languages and cultures requires an explanation based on the universal cognitive mechanisms of color perception and development of color terminology. (2) Color terms are more frequently found in the toponymy of desert and steppe areas of Mongolia than in continental climate areas, which can be explained by the topographic properties of these two zones and universal cognitive mechanisms of place naming. Along with that, it was found that all Mongolian place names feature a unified set of color terms regardless of the region and topographic environment. (3) Against the typological background, Mongolian toponyms appear to be culture-specific in that they largely feature animal coat colors, as nomadic lifestyle and stock-raising have always been an essential part of the culture and, in the past, had a major impact on the color terminology of Mongolians. Such onomastic investigation into place names with color terms helps broaden our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms of place naming in different cultures and contributes to the color studies in cognitive sciences.

COLOUR TERMS AND THE CREATION OF STATIUS’ EKPHRASTIC STYLE

AbstractThis paper focusses on colour terminology as a tool for achieving ἐνάργεια (pictorial vividness) in the Latin poetry of the first century c.e. After briefly outlining the developments in the concept of ἐνάργεια from Aristotle to Quintilian, the paper considers the use of Latin terms for black in three descriptive passages from Statius’ epic poem, the Thebaid. It is observed that the poet privileges the juxtaposition of the two adjectives ater and niger in a pattern of uariatio, where ater often carries a figurative meaning and repeats established poetic clichés, while niger is part of unparalleled collocations that evoke a material notion of blackness. Further analysis of the uariatio in the context of each passage reveals that the juxtaposition of the two-colour terms enhances the vividness of the objects described not only by increasing their chromatic impact but also by establishing connections with other parts of the poem, and by inviting a reflection on the competing practices of imitation and transgression of poetic models. The analysis of one stylistic feature (the use of colour terms in uariatio) shows that this stylistic feature is used by Statius for achieving ἐνάργεια as an artistic effect, for reflecting on ἐνάργεια as an instrument through which poetic models are challenged, and for tying his own poetic practice to contemporary rhetorical discussions.

Basic Color Terms in the Glorious Qur’an

Colour plays a key role in people’s communication. Languages represent the gradation of colours in nature by a series of discrete categories. These categories of colour differ along with the different cultures. Colour distinctions and meanings also play a major role in different religions. A certain colour may have a particular meaning in Christianity and another different meaning. There is no single language is said to include all colour variations. Colour distinctions and meanings play a major role in different religions. A certain colour may have a particular meaning in Christianity and another different meaning. This paper aims at identifying the basic colour terms in the Glorious Qur'an and making structural and semantic analyses of them. It is hypothesized that the Glorious Qur’an contains particular colour terms that occupy various grammatical classes and indicates specific functions. Furthermore, some are linked to each other by semantic relations. The major findings arrived at are the following: there are six basic colour terms used in the Glorious Qur’an; they are white, black, green, yellow, blue, and red. Colour terms used in the Glorious Qur’an have various structures in Arabic syntax. Secondly, semantic variations are found in many verses of the Glorious Qur’an that include colour terms. Thirdly, cultural differences affect the usage of colour in language. Finally, the use of colour terms in the Glorious Qur’an is meant to apply different functions of the terms, such as the visual, the aesthetic, the symbolic, and the expressive functions. one colour might be interpreted in one way in a language and in a totally different way in another.

Способы обозначения цвета и света в латинской медицинской терминологии (на материале анатомической терминологии)

The article is devoted to studying colour terms in the Latin language and in the Latin anatomical terminology. The work aims to identify ways of denoting colour and light in anatomical terminology. Scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that an analysis of ways of denoting colour and light in the Latin anatomical terminology is presented for the first time. The article examines the main ways of denoting colour in Latin, compares inventories of lexical units / colour terms in the language and within the system of anatomical terminology, notes similarities and differences in the use of colour terms. The attained results have shown that Latin possesses a vast inventory for expressing chromatic and achromatic hues and shades, besides, there can be additional lexical units used to denote colours in anatomical terminology. The authors have also identified the main trends in using a range of means, existing in the language, to denote colour in anatomical terminology.

Цвет в художественном тексте и в переводе: Опыт корпусного исследования

ABSTRACTDifferent languages have different colour palettes and different colour associations. Literary texts is an area, where colours play a special role. Preserving colour flavours of literary works in translation may therefore be difficult. In the first part of the article I examine the colour palettes of six Russian writers: Gogol′, Dostoevskij, Tolstoj, Čechov, Bulgakov and Pasternak. An analysis of the frequencies of colour terms shows that the writers have different attitudes to colours: to some of them colour is important (Bulgakov, Pasternak), while others pay less attention to it (Tolstoj, Dostoevskij); some authors do not have favourite colours (Gogol′, Čechov), others do have colour preferences (Bulgakov, Dostoevskij). In the second part of the paper, Finnish translations of the Russian works studied in the first part are examined with the same methods. The analysis reveals massive changes in the use of colour terms. Both colour repertoire and proportions of different colours change dramatically in the colour palettes of the translations. A case study of a parallel concordance for the word černyj ‘black’ in Bulgakov’s works shows that the main reason of the observed changes is the differences in the semantics of colour terms in Russian and Finnish.

Translation of Horse Colors in Zechariah 1:8; 6:2–3, 6 Based on Textual and Material Evidence

The first and final visions of Zechariah include the Hebrew Bible’s only descriptions of horses in terms of their color. The color terms employed have long sparked debate about whether these horses have realistic or imaginative colors, the significance of these colors for the interpretation of Zechariah’s visions, and whether technical or ordinary color terms are most appropriate for translating them today. Recent genetic studies of the coat color of ancient horses prompt a new consideration of these terms in Zechariah. This article combines Athalya Brenner’s textual analysis of the color terms in the Hebrew Bible with a list of genetically probable horse coat colors in Iron Age Israel in order to produce working translations of these terms for American audiences. This list of genetically probable horse coat colors results from the integration of David Anthony’s study of the initial domestication of horses with Arne Ludwig et al.’s genetic study of horse coat color in the ancient world. The evaluation of current genetic analyses of ancient horse coat colors in light of the broader use of color terms in the Hebrew Bible produces translations of these terms that are as precise as possible, given current genetic evidence, and sensitive to the contours of the source and target languages.

Translation of Horse Colors in Zechariah 1:8; 6:2–3, 6 Based on Textual and Material Evidence

The first and final visions of Zechariah include the Hebrew Bible's only descriptions of horses in terms of their color. The color terms employed have long sparked debate about whether these horses have realistic or imaginative colors, the significance of these colors for the interpretation of Zechariah's visions, and whether technical or ordinary color terms are most appropriate for translating them today. Recent genetic studies of the coat color of ancient horses prompt a new consideration of these terms in Zechariah. This article combines Athalya Brenner's textual analysis of the color terms in the Hebrew Bible with a list of genetically probable horse coat colors in Iron Age Israel in order to produce working translations of these terms for American audiences. This list of genetically probable horse coat colors results from the integration of David Anthony's study of the initial domestication of horses with Arne Ludwig et al.'s genetic study of horse coat color in the ancient world. The evaluation of current genetic analyses of ancient horse coat colors in light of the broader use of color terms in the Hebrew Bible produces translations of these terms that are as precise as possible, given current genetic evidence, and sensitive to the contours of the source and target languages.

Utility‐Based Generation of Referring Expressions

This paper presents two cognitive models that simulate the production of referring expressions in the iMAP task-a task-oriented dialog. One general model is based on Dale and Reiter's (1995)incremental algorithm, and the other is a simple template model that has a higher correlation with the data but is specifically geared toward the properties of the iMAP task. The property of the iMAP task environment that is modeled here is that the color feature is unreliable for identifying referents while other features are reliable. The low computational cost of the incremental algorithm for generating referring expressions makes it an interesting starting point for a cognitive model. However, its explanatory power is limited, because it generates uniquely distinguishing referring expressions and because it considers features for inclusion in the referring expression in a fixed order. The first model extends the original incremental algorithm by an ability to adapt to feedback of whether a referring expression was used successfully, but it seems to overpredict the frequency with which distinguishing expressions are made and underpredict the frequency of overspecified referring expressions. The second model produces features for referring expressions purely based on its current estimate of a feature's utility. Both models predict the observed human behavior of decreasing use of color terms and increasing use of useful feature terms.

‘Był człowiekiem czerwonych przekonań’, ‘na volitvah so zmagali zeleni’: Colour Metaphors and Symbols

Abstract This paper examines the metaphorical use of colour terms (CTs), with a special focus on the Slavonic languages. The metaphorical use of CTs is derived from their literal sense. Basic CTs are the most likely to occur in metaphorical use. In Sl folklore, RED is the colour par excellence, opposed to BLACK and WHITE. RED had both positive and negative associations. WHITE and BLACK relate to such oppositions as good – bad, happy – unhappy, healthy – sickly, hardworking – lazy. GREY designates gloom, both literally and figuratively, while YELLOW often symbolizes betrayal and cowardice. In many languages GREEN means ‘inexperienced’, but also ‘spritely’. Anger is associated with different colours, while envy is imagined as causing a person to go blue or green. Bachilinia considers Ru goluboj to have positive connotations but sinij to be neutral. Many metaphorical or phraseological uses of CTs are internationalisms. In many cultures and in many countries, CTs have been used to denote points of the compass.

Color terms and color concepts

In their lead articles, both Kowalski and Zimiles (2006) and O’Hanlon and Roberson (2006) declare a general relation between color term knowledge and the ability to conceptually represent color. Kowalski and Zimiles, in particular, argue for a priority for the conceptual representation in color term acquisition. The complexities of the interaction are taken up in the current commentary, especially with regard to the neuropsychological evidence. Data from aphasic patients also argue for a priority for abstract thought, but nevertheless it may still be that the use of color terms is the only way in which to form color categories even if both linguistic and attentional factors play an important role.

Swings and roundabouts: Strategies for translating colour terms in poetry

In Illusion City, a collection of forty integrated poems, the Chinese poet Yang Lian makes great play with colour terms. The poet often uses colour to heighten the atmospheric intensity of his poems. In the larger context of Chinese poetry, the use of colour terms, particularly compound ones, also helps to create special rhythmic effects. While the basic colour terms are straightforward and either conform to both standard and poetic use of colour terms in English or can be exchanged like simple counters to supply appropriate equivalents, compound colour terms cause unintended and bizarre effects. The notion of the balancing out of plus and minus, loss and gain, and their mutual compensation in translation is here brought into sharp focus. This article which is written by the translator of Yan Lian's poetry identifies four possible ways of rendering compound colour terms and concludes, on an empirical basis, that a good translation involves the judicious combination of all these techniques.

A developmental study of the acquisition of colour terms in Setswana

We report a study of the acquisition of colour terms by speakers of Setswana, the language of Botswana in Southern Africa. This was carried out as a test of Berlin & Kay's theory of colour term universals, on a language with less than the maximum complement of eleven basic colour terms, and in order to document changes in Setswana under the impact of economic development. Seventy-seven five- to nine-year-olds were studied on two colour tasks: elicited lists and colour naming. In general the data were consistent with Berlin & Kay's theory: the rank order of frequency of correct use of colour terms was similar to the order of the Berlin & Kay hierarchy; and primary colour terms were offered more frequently and were more likely to be used correctly than secondary colour terms. The use of English colour terms was prevalent, especially amongst the younger groups, but they functioned as substitutes for Setswana terms, rather than as a means to fill the vacant basic colour term slots.

Gender Differences in Color Naming: Direct Mail Order Advertisements

N A SEMINAL WORK ON GENDER DIFFERENCES in speech, Robin Lakoff (1975) invents a conversation between a man and woman to illustrate lexical differences between the sexes. Readers are asked to imagine how the woman, then the man, would describe a wall painted a pinkish shade of purple. She asserts, The woman may say 'The wall is mauve,' with no one consequently forming any special impression of her as a result of the words alone; but if the man should say 'The wall is mauve,' one might well conclude he was imitating a woman sarcastically or was a homosexual or an interior decorator (8-9). Contemporary readers who deplore gender bias, or who are the target of Lakoff's interpretation, may lament the extent to which her observations continue to strike positive chords of recognition in either sex. Other readers, among them linguists, may think it more useful to explore ways to substantiate the conclusions she draws from that single and hypothetical (albeit persuasive) example: first, that women make far more precise discriminations in naming colors than do men [so that] words like beige, ecru, aquamarine, lavender, and so on are unremarkable in a woman's active vocabulary, but absent from that of most men; second, that men tend to relegate to women things that are not of concern to them, or do not involve their egos. Among these are problems of fine color discrimination and deciding whether to name a color lavender or mauve. Have these assertions been tested by empirical studies? A review of the literature reveals extensive research (and some controversy) on color perception and its representation in language (e.g., Berlin and Kay 1969, Kay and McDaniel 1975, Bornstein 1975) but relatively little research that has specifically addressed gender differences in color naming. Earlier studies showed females to be faster than males in correctly naming colors (Ligon 1932, DuBois 1939) and superior in assigning names consistently to a wide range of colors (Chapanis 1965). More recently, in testing for preferences in ordering conjoined color terms (e.g., black and white), females showed stronger ordering tendencies than males (Conley and Cooper 1981). However, aside from these studies, to my knowledge only one has tested Lakoff s claim: Steckler and Cooper's (1980) experimental controlled study of subjects' use of color terms in describing an article of

Semantic Extension in the Colour Lexicon

A cross-linguistic study of the figurative use of colour terms reveals the existence of both language-idiosyncratic developments and general tendencies. It is argued that both types of development are ultimately grounded in the experience of the world by the speakers of the languages. Furthermore, the findings contradict the claim that there exists a universal order in the development of the figurative use of colour terms.

Children's Color Vocabulary

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of color terms by male and female elementary school children. Thirty-six children were asked to label colors. A significant difference was found between younger females and older females, tentatively indicating a developmental trend that may explain the differences in color term production between adult females and adult males. No significant differences were found between males and females, or between younger males and older males.

The Naming of Colours

PERHAPS some of your readers would be interested in, and could suggest some explanation of, the following rather fanciful colour term. A light purple, almost a mauve, is called by the Chinese (süt0) (Ts'eng), (shik,) “snow green colour.” I have asked many educated Chinese for some explanation of the name, but the best I can get is the Chinese are very “fanciful” in the use of colour terms. I may say that the term I have translated “green” is sometimes applied by the Chinese to the colour of the sky.

The Colour-Sense

WITH reference to Dr. Pole's valuable papers on Homer's colour-blindness, it may interest your readers to learn that I have now nearly completed a work on “The Origin and Development of the Colour-Sense”, which will be shortly published by Messrs. Trübner and Co. In it I have endeavoured to show (inter alia) that the use of colour-terms in the Homeric poems is strictly analogous to that of other races, existing or extinct, at the corresponding stage of culture; and that both depend, not upon dichromic vision, but upon a defect of language closely connected with the small number of dyes or artificial pigments known to the various tribes. To establish this result I have sent a number of circular letters to missionaries, Government officials, and other persons having relations with native uncivilised races in all parts of the world; and their answers to my queries, framed so as to distinguish carefully between perception and language, in every case bear out the theory which I had formed. As my results will so soon be published elsewhere, I shall not burden your columns with them at present, but may add that my researches lead me to place the origin of the colour-sense far lower down in the animal scale, as evidenced both by the distinctive hues of flowers and fruits, and by the varied integuments of insects, birds, &c, so far as these are the result of sexual selection, or of mimicry and other protective devices.