Distinction of blue and green in various languages

One difference between the names of the colors green and blue in different languages ​​is sometimes not or only partially reproduced.

Language certificates for green to blue

Most Indo-European languages ​​distinguish clearly between green and blue. Other languages ​​, however, often have only one word for both colors. Some languages ​​carry the names back to the basic experience of the usual brightness, so it light green and light blue are often grouped together as a color term for simplicity. Borrowing from nature, like the color of water in the source ponds often dark to black, in rivers rather transparent, that is, bright, and blue, as well as in stagnant water by algae formation is usually fast greenish, or the use of vegetable dyes for the derivation of green were used. Many peoples tropical regions such as southern Africa or Papua New Guinea use a single word for the colors green and blue.

" The ribbon of the solar spectrum is not allocated to the languages ​​in the same manner. Number and validity of the available color words are different (though in European languages ​​is a broad compensation may have occurred ) "

Greek

Early texts of ancient Greek does not distinguish, for example, linguistically between the color of honey and grass. Both were chloros. Probably the grass in rather dry and hot Mediterranean climate of Greece was not long enough green, but mostly yellow, just like the honey. However, the green color of fresh grass led to the use of the term as a color name for green things, such as still on the leaf green, scientifically chlorophyll. An independent coinage for green space in this language is not found. A special treatment of the blue or blue-green relationship is not provided. Only later texts use the word kyanos ( κυανός ) for blue, synonymous with cornflower. This term is found in cyan again. Without reference to green are the terms ble ( μπλε ) and Galanos ( γαλανός ).

Chinese

In Chinese, especially in the ancient Chinese, is青Chinese, Pinyin qīng as a generic term for green, blue ( dark ) purple and black. According to the local view of the then Chinese, the color of the water was so rather dark, but not bright blue or green. In recent times, in particular Chinese蓝/蓝, Pinyin and Chinese lán blue for ( indigo )绿/绿, Pinyin lǜ used for green. The latter is for the Green Tea, Chinese绿茶/绿茶, Pinyin lǜ chá used.

Both the ancient Chinese as well (mostly in his footsteps ) the newer language levels, however, know about these few, most commonly used terms out but dozens of refining gradations (for plants, earth, crystal, gemstone, spring, textile colors). The lake, after the chines. Qinghai province is named, the Qinghaihu (Chinese青海 湖, Pinyin Qīnghǎihú, the green / blue sea ' ) where Chinese青, Pinyin qīng stands for the rather dark color (see also fig.) Countless composite descriptions are in use, the word玄青Chinese, Pinyin Xuanqing meaning " deep black ", where玄Chinese, Pinyin Xuán " black" means.

Korean

The situation is different in Korean with the color name. Over the centuries, have been introduced due to the close contact of Korea with China several characters that precisely describe green and blue. So there is the sign绿- 록 ( rog ) or青- 청 ( cheong ), to name only a fraction ( see the Chinese characters in green and blue in Japanese ).

While绿rather dark green and referred to today in Korean as绿色- 녹색 ( noksaek, Meaning: dark green color ) is used and shows, for example in the word for green tea ,青thinks rather light green or blue. This sign originally referred sky blue or azure. This is evident for example in the formulation 푸른 하늘 ( Pureun Haneul ). It actually means " blue sky ", but usually is thus a " clear, beautiful sky " meant. Older generations use for " light green or blue " yet 푸른 색 ( pureunsaek ), but younger Koreans often use 파란색 ( paransaek ) with the same meaning.

In the course of the influence of Western languages, especially of the English and American, the young generation is used even 파랑 색 almost exclusively for blue, to avoid misunderstandings, and草 绿色- 초록색 ( choroksaek; sinokoreanisch for " intense grass green " ) for normal green, and 녹색 again for forest green or dark green.

A special feature of Korean is that you can play by a grid of changes in the original color words numerous shades. Almost every Korean thus knows 14 names and more for yellow or red Even more amazing is that Koreans among themselves distinguish between these colors and they can imagine, although the color perception is relatively subjective and not as accurate fixable.

Japanese

The Japanese has a number of Chinese characters imported, which have the meaning of colors. These have, like many others get their own Japanese reading further.

Mainly are in use in modern Japanese midori (绿, "green") and aoi (青い). The word midori came during the Heian period in use, but for a long time was even considered as a shade of aoi. There are also a number of other words in the green-blue spectrum; This information can include aiiro (蓝色, " indigo ", see Ch ), kon (绀, " navy blue " ) and kusairo (草 色, " grass colors " ), as well as the English loanwords Gurin (グリーン) of green and Buru (ブルー) of blue.

Confusing for Europeans is the use of aoi (青い). The central importance is azure or " sky blue ", as in the expression aozora (青 空, " blue sky "). But Aoi has a whole range of transferred uses even the whole ribbon width from green to blue, but pale in the use of " you see today but pale ." Among other things, it is also for the " green light " (青 信号, aoshingō ), where in Japan is actually blue-green light to use. This also happens in many other countries, to facilitate people with red-green color blindness or visual impairments to participate in the road.

Vietnamese

The Vietnamese has words for brown, pink, purple and gray, but not blue. In Vietnamese xanh is the word for the color of the ( blue ) sky and the green leaves of a tree. Therefore, to identify the exact colors extended forms are often used: xanh lá cây for green, which means cây plant and can therefore be translated with plant color, as well as xanh Troi Troi said means sky.

Guaraní

Guaraní, the language spoken in Paraguay by many residents, for blue and green, the word Hovy, however, distinguish between light and dark colors. What color is meant to be inferred from the context. In practice, however, the Spanish word is most often used to avoid confusion.

Welsh and Gaelic

The Welsh word boundaries has other than English. So the word is usually translated as blue glass. However, both the color of the sea, of grass or a silver tone to be. The standard translation for Green is gwyrdd.

In Gaelic is also glass for both green and blue to gray, but at the same time also for waters (similar to Welsh ), which could explain the color assignments. Furthermore gorm can stand for blue and gray, but not green. Finally, there are still green for the unique Uaine. The word, fields are strongly mixed.

Light Blue and Dark Blue

In Polish and Russian, there is an entirely different specificity. In addition to the usual distinction between " green" ( pl. zielony, ru. Зелёный ) and "blue" ( pl. niebieski ), there is also a clear distinction between (light ) "blue" ( pl. niebieski, ru. голубой ) and "dark blue" ( pl. granatowy, ru синий. ). A very similar phenomenon is also available in Italian, for a bright sky blue ( azzurro ) a completely different color than a rich dark blue ( blu ). Likewise, many Spanish speakers is (especially in Latin American varieties of Spanish ) sky blue ( celeste, literally " sky color " or " sky color " ) strictly from other impressions blue ( azul ) distinguished.

Explanations

Some researchers assume that these speakers the colors blue and green can not visually distinguish. However, this is highly questionable, since Koreans and Vietnamese wonder new words for " green " or "blue" in English or any other language can learn easily and without which they - if the theory were correct - otherwise could not distinguish. As already clarified, several such languages ​​have also differentiated concepts with which they can determine the color closer.

In the following two not yet be represented as properly to be designated theories:

Color distributions

The continuous spectrum of light is not the basis of the color perception. The field of perceived colors is not necessarily detectable in a color circle. At least the multitude of lightened and darkened stained variants are not detected by the spectral colors. The " blue sky " as may appear to the sunset down depending on the season and time of day of a Light ( = white ) over stormy gray to Bright blue and orange and all shades of purple. Thus, the color name is originally divided into any language in a finite set of colors with language-specific meanings. The " merging " of the " spectrally adjacent colors " Blue and Green thus appears only to those unfamiliar, knows this color circle arrangement from his culture. But that is not explained by pathologic features.