colors, numbers and language class 11b. puzzle du jour: can you name all the colors? count first...
TRANSCRIPT
Colors, Numbers and Language
Class 11B
Puzzle du Jour:Can you
Name all the colors?
Count first row?Count total
crayons?
Image from Flickr User Laffy4K, Licensed by Creative Commons
Last TimeSapir-Whorff
Hypothesis that language (grammar) influences thoughts
Bad “folk linguistic” theories connecting language and thought
But some subtle effects possible
Numbers: Is counting cultural?Actually…maybe it is
Although most cultures count to 100 or more.
Many birds/mammals can count up to 3-4 … or moreCuckoos have to remove one egg before
adding cuckoo egg (so other birds won’t notice missing egg)
Cormorants get every eighth fish. Refuse to move after 7th fish
Rhesus monkeys can do addition/subtraction with low numbers
Pirahã (Amazon Basin)Words
Hòi (HL tone) ‘one’, hói (LH) ‘two’Baagi or aibai ‘many’Experiments on men show difficulty in
determining exact quantities Often cheated by Portuguese speakers But Pirahã women mock men for being cheated Grouping into units of 2,3 helps
If children learn Portuguese They learn Portuguese numbers well
ActionsExperiments show that Pirahã can identify
exact quantities (without number words)
Early Counting in WritingEarly writing = inventory controlSumeriansBronze Age Greeks
Counting important forCommerce/trade transactionsLevying tithes/taxesDividing itemsCharging interest on loans
Counting MethodsGrouping can vary
1,2,3,…100In almost all languages
Grouping1-10, 11-20,… (West)
40 = 4 tensBase ten
Group by 20 (Celtic, Danish)40 = 2 20s
Group by 6 (Ndom, PNG) or 12 (Nimbia, Nigeria)1/3 ≠.333 but an easier decimal
Group by 10 & 60 (Babylonian)
Beyond IntegersAdding Zero
Zero < zero (It) < *zefiro (Ar çifr)Imported from India
Simplifies multiplication, division, …
Larger NumbersSanskrit śata ‘100’ borrowed in many S.
Asian languagesMillion common in many languagesMetric prefixes
Kilo (KB), Mega (MB), Giga (GB), Tera (TB)Milli (mm), nano meter (nm), pico (pm)
Exotic NumbersNegatives (-1)
Used for accounting
Irrationals (√2, π, e)Greeks could not define as ratios
Imaginary (√-1)Thought to be impossible
We have these terms because of cultural innovationOften considered “unnatural” at first
Color QuestionsColor terminology varies widely by languageSome only have two basic colors
Are we seeing the same colors?
How many can we visually distinguish?
Painting Across Cultures
Pompeii (79 AD) China (1127-1279)
Images from Wikipedia
Color Swatches100s of colors available for
Beads, embroidery floss, ink, crayons,…
Image from yarntree.com. Fair Use claimed.
BUT Naming LimitedEnglish Major Categories
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
Black, white, brownSecondary
Cyan, magenta, pink, gray, lime, ….Often perceived as mix of two colors
ShadesIndigo, sky, navy, periwinkle…Crimson, vermillion, fire engineOlive, emerald, jade,
Russian ColorsMore is better
Pink, “sky”, gray are major colors
Image from masterrussian.com Fair Use claimed.
Traditional Welsh Color TermsLess and not easily
translated
ColorsCoch = redMelyn = yellowGlas = blue/green
=“grue”Sky glas ≠ grass glas
Gwyn = whiteDu = blackLlywd =
gray/brown/blue/gray/black (????) Image by Elizabeth J. Pyatt. All Rights Reserved.
“New” Welsh ColorsBrown = brown
Oren = “orange”
Gwyrdd = greenFrom Latin viridisCognate with verde (Sp/It), vert (Fr),
Porffor = purpleFrom Latin purpura
Used in catalogsAnd to describe dyed objects (e.g. flags).
Hence grass is still glas “blue”
More on Grue“Blue” Traffic light
Go = green in EnglishGo = Ao ‘blue’ (Japanese)
Many languages combine blue/greenBasque (blue/green/gray)VietnameseOlder Japanese, Chinese,
Korean
Borders can shiftSkies “green” in Classical
ArabicTraffic lights “blue” in
Japanese/KoreanImage by Andreas Habeland. Licensed via Creative Commons
Traffic Light ColorsWhat colors in
traffic lights?
Image by Andreas Habeland. Licensed via Creative Commons
Color Theory3 Parameters – Hue, Value, SaturationUsed in digital color manipulationHue – color in a rainbow + magenta
Add cyan & magenta
Value – lightness/darknessSaturation – intensity of hue
Art TrainingNeed to decouple language and train
on these parametersExpert language ≠ novice language
Munsell 3-Axis Color Space
Image from Wikipedia
Hue & ValueHue = color
Black, white, gray ≠ hueBrown also not a hueMost intense hues are
color names Red = fire engine red Blue = sapphire blue
ValueBlack, white are maximal
ends of value scaleGrays are in between
Images by Elizabeth J. Pyatt. All Rights Reserved.
SaturationIntensity of hue
Percentage of color
Mixing hue w/black & whiteHue + white = tintHue + black = shadeHue + gray = tone
Image by Elizabeth J. Pyatt. All Rights Reserved.
Brown = Unsaturated Red/Yellow/OrangeBrown results from
Red/orange/yellow +black/gray
Image by Elizabeth J. Pyatt. All Rights Reserved.
Other color illusionsPink = pale magenta
Pale red = salmon
Sky blue = pale cyanPale sapphire blue = periwinkle
Llywd (and Llwyd River)Primarily gray in modern WelshGray, faint color, pale, wan,
brown, muddy (water) Afon Llwyd “Lloyd River” Silver River or Muddy River?
Gray haired, grizzledMoldy, mustyUnremarkable, insignificant,
common, uninterestingHoly, blessed pious
Rivers, lakes were sacred So were monks in plain dress
Also name of mythical sorcerer
Llwyd River. Photo from Wikipedia
Compound Color WordsLlwyd-dywyll
Black-gray = dark gray, twilight, dusk
Llwyd-lasGray blue = Bluish gray
Llwyd-felynGray yellow = khaki, beige, buff
Unsaturated shades
Related WordsBore llwyd
Gray morning = overcast
Wedi llwydo Mouldy, must
= unsaturated?
Llwyd = “Unsaturaturated”?Middle Welsh
Llwyd = unsaturated?
Modern WelshLlwyd = gray or grayishBrown = brownLlwyd-frown = grayish
brown
Image by Elizabeth J. Pyatt. All Rights Reserved.
Berlin-Kay et al Color UniversalsBerlin & Kay
Color researchers & linguistsProposed universal trends in color
systemsStill under debate
Some findingsBasic color systems max out about 12
Many more secondary colors possible
Black/white most common color wordsRed is next most common color
Extremes = ColorBlack/white
End points on value scale
“Red” usually fire engine red“Red” ≠ maroon, salmon, pink,…Red also prominent as symbolic color
Cardinal robes (Catholic church)Chinese New Year/gift envelopesWeddings (India…)
Red also dangerousWestAncient Egypt
Fair Use claimed
Licensed via Creative Commons
Hunt for Saturated DyesFamous dyes
Phonecian red/purple: sea snailsIndian yellow: dried cow urine (fed
mango leaves)Cochineal red: bug partsUltramarine: ground lapis lazuli
Only Old world source = Afghanistan
Cinnabar: can cause mercury poisoning
Soy dyes – relatively new
Saturated colors rejected as “tacky”E. Asia, West, (NOT Greeks & Romans)
Image from Wikipedia
Hering PrimaryHering identified six primary colorsBlack (K) /white (W) Red (R), yellow (Y), blue (B), green (G)
These colorsMost frequently found in languagesMost frequently found in color
symbolismWestern game pieces – R,Y,G,BWestern flagsWu Xing – B,W,R,Y,G,BNative American Compas colors
Cherokee – blue (N), white (S), red (E), black (W)
Color Name by TextureHair
Blonde, chestnut, Red = Irish finn = white/blondeWelsh gwyn = white/blonde
WineWhite vs Red
White whine usually pale yellow
Skin tone?!?!?
Images from Wikipedia
Basic vs. Secondary?Latin Colors
Red: ruber, roseusYellow: croceus (saffron), fulvus, flavus,
luteus Fulvus was probably darker maize yellow
White: albus, candidus, canus (hair)Black: niger, aterBlue: caeruleus (sky blue?)Green: viridisPurpureus: purple
Changes in many Romance languages
Color Adj vs Reference ObjectIs there a perceptual difference betweenLime-colored shirt vs lime shirtRaspberry colored vs raspberryChocolate, peach, wine, cranberry…
When is there a shift?Orange once was orange fruit colored
Latin-eus = adj from noun
Croceus (saffron color), aureus (gold color)
Image from Wikipedia
ConclusionsWe can see millions of colors
Grouped into only a few categoriesCultures can add secondary colors
Categories can focus on extremesDark/light & saturated hues
Perception doesn’t follow color theoryBrown usually not recognized as variety of
red/orange
Are Hering primaries universal?