LANGUAGE AND COLOR
BACKGROUND || In the human brain, the conceptualization of color is a complex
psychological function. Different colors have popularly been ascribed different
meanings, moods, and connotations. Differences in culture translate into
differences in the psychological perceptions of color. Some research has been
conducted towards determining the differences in color perception between
cultures and speakers of different languages.
LANGUAGE || Language is one of the key differences between many cultures,
and it certainly has a major effect on the perception (or at the very least, the
manner of relation) of color. Some languages have different, more, or fewer
words for colors than others, so it is not illogical to hypothesize that language and
culture differences directly affect the brain’s interpretation of colors.
Figure 1: A short gradient of several shades of blue. In simple terms, a typical
English speaker might simply refer to any and all of these colors as "blue."
However, in a language such as Russian, there are multiple basic color terms
embodying darker and lighter shades as separate concepts, rather than
degrees of blue qualified with adjectives.[6] [Image courtesy Ars Technica
<http://arstechhnica.com/>]
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Prepared by Timothy Petrie —
UD Linguistic Research Committee
DISTINCTIONS OF COLOR
COLOR TERMS || According to linguistic color studies such as those performed
in 1969 by linguists Brent Berlin and Paul Kay, languages build up basic color
terminology in a predictable way—color terms begin with solely black and white,
and build up from there and evolve in the same order from language to language.
This research suggests that there is something encoded about color in human
beings’ linguistic capacity that is activated by their need to refer to colors.[1]
DISTINCTIONS || This is not to say that languages with only basic color terms of
white and black are incapable of recognizing or referring to other colors. Berlin
and Kay discern between “color terms” and “basic color terms”—the former being
linguistic ways of referring to colors (in the lexicon of the language), and the latter
being the encoded basic means of understanding color. Basic color terms are the
linguistic signifiers of colors as separate ideas, and are built upon with language
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to open up into a broader, nearly infinite descriptive vocabulary beyond the basic
terms. For example, a color term like “chartreuse” linguistically suggests a shade
of green needing qualification as not simply green, yet to simplify the idea of
“chartreuse,” an English speaker would classify it under the basic term “green.” [1]
DEVELOPMENT || These terms are introduced into languages in a series of
stages, in an order that Berlin and Kay observed to be somewhat of a standard.
There are up to 11 basic color terms that languages utilize, beginning with 2
(black and white) and escalating to 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and finally jumping from 7 to the
full 11.[1] [2]
Prepared by Timothy Petrie —
UD Linguistic Research Committee
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Figure 2: The table below illustrates the pattern by which color words are
added to languages, including a general count of languages in the world that
operate under each “level” of color distinction.[2] [Table courtesy Put Learning
First <http://www.putlearningfirst.com/>]
WHITE BLACK
9 languages
WHITE BLACK RED
21 languages
WHITE BLACK RED GREEN
8 languages
7 New Guinea 1 Congo 1 South India
Stage II
2 Amerindian 16 African 1 Pacific 1 Australian
Aboriginal 1 South India
Stage III-A
6 African 1 Philippine 1 New Guinea
WHITE BLACK RED YELLOW
Stage IlI-B
9 languages
2 Australian Aboriginal 1 Philippine 3 Polynesian
1 Greek (Homeric) 2 African
WHITE BLACK RED GREEN YELLOW
Stage IV
18 languages
WHITE BLACK RED GREEN
YELLOW BLUE
8 languages
WHITE BLACK RED GREEN
YELLOW BLUE BROWN
5 languages
COMPLETE ARRAY OF COLOR
20 languages
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Stage I
12 Amerindian 1 Sumatra 4 African 1 Eskimo
Stage V
5 African 1 Chinese 1 Philippine 1 South India
Stage VI
2 African 1 Sumatra 1 South India 1 Amerindian
Stage VII
1 Arabic 2 Malayan 6 European 1 Chinese 1
Indian 2 African 1 Hebrew 1 Japanese 1 Korean
2 South East Asian 1 Amerindian 1 Philippine
Prepared by Timothy Petrie —
UD Linguistic Research Committee
LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY
SAPIR-WHORF || Studies performed in the early 1900s by linguist Benjamin Lee
Whorf as well as Edward Sapir gave to linguists what is now known as the SapirWhorf hypothesis. This hypothesis founded the idea of linguistic relativity.
Linguistic relativity is the idea that language is what enables human beings to
form their perceptions of reality—language allows us to relate to and envision our
reality.[6] This research has gone in and out of favor over the decades since its
original publishing, and still remains debated to this day.
RECENT RESEARCH || Studies and experiments are still being done in more
recent years in attempts to shed more light on the cause of the relationship
between language and perception. As recently as 2008, the University of Hong
Kong performed experiments involving speakers of different languages
discerning between panels of different colors.
“In their experiments, seventeen subjects were asked during neuroimaging sessions to decide whether two squares were of the same colour.
Some of the squares were filled with easy-to-name colours (such as 'red'
or 'blue'); others with hard-to-name colours. The result shows that the
perception of both kinds of colours involved the same cortical regions
which have long been known to be associated with colour vision.
However, in comparison with the hard-to-name colours, perception of the
easy-to-name colours evoked significantly stronger activation in two
additional brain areas that have been found independently to be
responsible for word searching suggesting that with colours that have
names in a language, there is a close link between language processing
and colour perception.”[6]
Prepared by Timothy Petrie —
UD Linguistic Research Committee
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FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION
PROPOSAL || Seeing as there is still much debate in the linguistic field over the
matter of linguistic relativity, I am interested in proposing an experiment of my
own to generate some new data from which to draw more conclusions about the
situation.
EXPERIMENT || Utilizing a computer screen in a controlled test environment, a
collection of subjects representing a number of different languages/cultures
would be asked to view the prepared content and identify distinctions in a
changing panel of color. The data would be recorded and classified per
language, and analyzed for when, where, and if distinctions were made.
PROCEDURE || A computer screen would display a panel of solid color which
would cycle smoothly from one color to another, fading through a gradient. There
would be cycles between contrasting and similar colors, i.e. from red to green
and from pale blue to darker blue, or blue to purple. I plan on having two
variations of the experiment:
Variation A: The user has no control over the progression of the color
change and must identify the point at which they perceive the color to
have “changed.”
Variation B: The user is asked to drag a slider to cycle through the color
changes, actively searching for the point at which they believe the color
changes classifications.
By using different configurations of procedure, I hope to diversify the results and
see if the change alters the point at which the color perception differs.
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Prepared by Timothy Petrie —
UD Linguistic Research Committee
DATA || Ideally, I would have equal numbers of speakers of all the sampled
languages, anywhere from 5 to 10 of a each of a selection of languages. Data
would be analyzed and graphed to give a good visual meter of where color
distinctions were drawn on the presented spectrums, making differences easily
evident, if present. I think this experiment would benefit from being done
repeatedly with different subjects, subjects of varied ages and educations, and
even repeated with the same subjects.
CLOSING
Linguistic research has undoubtedly found connections between
individuals’
spoken language and ascribed culture and their perception of the world—this can
hardly be denied. Sapir and Whorf’s hypothesis may have changed meanings
and become debated, but the idea still holds much weight and there is plenty of
observable evidence that needs analyzing. Experimentation such as that
proposed can certainly shed light on the matter and help further our
understanding of the human mind.
Prepared by Timothy Petrie —
UD Linguistic Research Committee
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RESOURCES
[1] Berlin, Brent, and Paul Kay. Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and
Evolution. Stanford, Calif.: Center for the Study of Language and
Information, 1999. Print.
[2] "Colour Words." Put Learning First. Web. 9 May 2010.
<http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/colour_words.html>.
[3] Kay, Paul, and Terry Regier. Language, Thought, and Color: Recent
Developments. Rep. Print.
[4] "Language And Color Perception Linked In Human Brain." Science Daily:
News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. University
of Hong Kong. Web. 9 May 2010.
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407201846.htm>.
[5] Swoyer, Chris. "Relativism The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis." Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2003. Web. 14 May 2010.
<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/relativism/supplement2.html>.
[6] Timmer, John. "Language Influences Color Perception." Ars Technica. 1 May
2007. Web. 9 May 2010.
<http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2007/05/language-influences-colorperception.ars>.
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Prepared by Timothy Petrie —
UD Linguistic Research Committee