CROSS-LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVES ON COLOUR TERMINOLOGY
Keywords:
cross-linguistic perspectives, colour terminology, human perception, cognition, cultural significance, linguistic diversity, environmental influence, traditional impact, sapir-whorf hypothesis, cognitive processes, colour perception, cultural identity, linguistic categorization, anthropology, psychology, artificial intelligence.Abstract
This article explores the diversity and universality of colour terminology across different languages and cultures. Drawing from a wide range of cross-linguistic studies, it examines how various communities name and categorize colours, revealing deep insights into human perception, cognition, and cultural significance attached to colours. The study begins by outlining the historical evolution of colour naming, referencing Brent Berlin and Paul Kay's seminal work on basic colour terms, and expands on it by incorporating recent research from linguistics, anthropology, and cognitive science. The core of the analysis focuses on the variability of colour terms, highlighting how some languages have numerous words for colours that might be encompassed by a single term in another language. This linguistic diversity is contextualized within each culture's unique environment, traditions, and needs, showing that colour terminology extends beyond mere perception to encapsulate cultural identity and worldview.
Moreover, the article delves into the cognitive processes underlying colour perception and naming, discussing whether language shapes colour cognition or vice versa. It debates the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in the context of colour, presenting evidence from comparative studies that suggest a bidirectional relationship between linguistic categorization and colour perception. "Cross-Linguistic Perspectives on Colour Terminology" underscores the complexity and richness of colour naming across languages. It argues for a more nuanced understanding of the interplay between language, thought, and culture in shaping our perception of the colourful world around us. The findings have implications for the fields of linguistics, anthropology, psychology, and artificial intelligence, offering avenues for further research on the universal and culture-specific aspects of colour and language.
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