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The spectrum of color -

Languages influence how we perceive and name colors. For instance, if an English speaker were to be shown the three different colors in this image, they would typically call them blue, purple, and brown, but Wobé speakers in Côte d’Ivoire use a single term for all three: Kpe.

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Color categories -

Interestingly, this is because most languages do not have the same number of basic color categories. English has 11, Russian has 12, and some, like Wobé, have only three.

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Predictable patterns -

If a language has just three or four basic color terms, researchers can often predict which colors are named. In Wobé, for instance, the three color categories they have are Kpe, Pluu, and Sain, which means dark, light, and red. Why does this happen?

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Naming game -

Every language has a different name for different colors. But researchers aren’t interested in simple translations of these names, but rather which colors receive names at all.

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Colors on a seamless spectrum -

Color is not inherently divided into categories, but actually exists as a continuous spectrum. It isn’t obvious why certain colors receive names while others do not.

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Early beliefs -

Anthropologists once believed that cultures randomly chose which colors to name on the spectrum. This view dominated until the 1960s, when researchers began uncovering systematic trends in how languages organize and label colors.

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The revolutionary theory -

In 1969, Paul Kay and Brent Berlin (two researchers from Berkeley University) challenged anthropologists' assumption when they published a book that showed consistent patterns across languages.

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Study -

Kay and Berlin had conducted a study with 20 participants, each of whom spoke different languages. The participants had been asked to look at 330 color chips and categorize them by their language’s basic color terms.

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Pattern of color -

The researchers found a universal pattern when it came to naming colors. If a language had six basic color words, they were almost always for black (or dark), white (or light), red, green, yellow, and blue. But if the language had four terms, it would be for black, white, red, and either yellow or green.

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Foundation -

If a language had only three color terms, they were always for black, white, and red. The researchers suggested that languages with fewer color terms followed a predictable hierarchy when naming basic colors.

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Hierarchy -

Kay and Berlin realized that the first color terms to develop in any language are black (or dark) and white (or light), followed by red, then green, yellow, blue, and other names like brown, orange, pink, and purple. This theory was revolutionary, but they weren’t the first researchers interested in this topic.

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Homer’s curious use of color -

In 1858, William Gladstone (who later became the British Prime Minister) noted that the ancient Greek works of Homer lacked distinct color terms. Homer often used the same words for different things, like using purple to describe blood, waves, and rainbows.

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Ancient descriptions -

Homer was also known to describe the sea as wine-looking. Surprisingly, Gladstone couldn’t find any reference to the colors blue or purple in any part of Homer’s writing.

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Ancient societies -

Some researchers wrongly speculated that ancient societies, like those depicted in Homer’s texts, were colorblind. This misunderstanding stemmed from the limited use of color terms rather than an actual inability to perceive certain hues.

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Papuan tribes -

In the 19th century, anthropologist W.H.R. Rivers studied tribes in Papua New Guinea, discovering that some had terms only for black, white, and red, while others included blue and green.

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Color and intellect -

Rivers suggested that the number of color terms in a language reflected cultural and intellectual development, claiming that societies with fewer terms were less evolved. Not only was this idea racist, but it was also debunked as a biased and unfounded interpretation.

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Criticism -

Unlike Rivers, researchers Berlin and Kay avoided such racist conclusions, but their initial study attracted a lot of criticism. Critics pointed out that the 20 participants of the original study was much too small of a sample size. Additionally, all the participants were bilingual speakers and came from industrialized societies. As such, the study lacked diversity.

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Defining “basic color terms” -

One challenge in color research is defining what qualifies as a “basic color term.” Some languages, like Yele in Papua New Guinea, use descriptive phrases for colors rather than single, basic terms. This complicates any comparisons that researchers may try to make between languages.

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Contextual color descriptions -

Languages like Yele use objects as references for colors, such as tree sap to describe orange or ashes for gray. Their language illustrates how there are complex ways to categorize and communicate color, as these descriptors cover a wide range of colors but aren’t single terms.

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Multifunctional color terms -

The Hanunó’o language of the Philippines uses color terms that convey both color and texture. Their four basic color terms are placed on a spectrum to describe light versus dark, strength versus weakness, and wetness versus dryness.

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Adapting to linguistic diversity -

Berlin and Kay’s initial study struggled to account for languages like Hanunó’o, where color naming doesn’t neatly align with standard tests. Indeed, there is much complexity when it comes to how cultures perceive and classify colors.

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The World Color Survey -

To address criticism, Berlin and Kay launched the World Color Survey in the late 1970s. Using the same labeling test as before, they collected data from over 2,600 speakers of 110 unwritten languages, focusing on nonindustrialized societies for a broader perspective.

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Findings -

Despite initial flaws, the World Color Survey confirmed Berlin and Kay’s hierarchy. With some adjustments, they found that most languages followed the same basic order when developing color terms. The newer study supported their original theory.

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Universal clustering -

The World Color Survey revealed that 83% of languages fit into the color hierarchy that the researchers originally created. Languages often clustered color terms around similar points on the color spectrum. These clusters matched English averages quite closely.

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Interpretation of universality -

Paul Kay explained the findings as evidence of universal patterns. He observed that languages “cut” the color spectrum in similar places, even if the number of terms varies. It seems that humans truly have shared cognitive processes.

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A question of why -

After producing this hierarchy, Kay and Berlin began questioning why the hierarchy exists. Why does a word for red appear in a language before a word for blue? Some researchers have suggested that colors are named in order to how prominent they are in the natural world.

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The significance of red -

Red appears early, likely because it stands out compared to other colors. It can be found in a plethora of places, including blood, dirt, and even flowers.

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Rarity of blue -

Before industrialization, blue was relatively rare in nature. This scarcity likely delayed its emergence as a basic color term in languages, and is a valid reason why Homer never used the color term in any of his writing.

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Testing color evolution -

In order to test the color hierarchy, cognitive scientists explored language evolution in conversations using computer simulations. The simulations featured artificial agents that were presented with multiple colors and tasked with finding names for them.

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Similar order -

Over time, the artificial agents negotiated names for colors, and the order in which they named them (red, green, yellow, blue) closely matched the hierarchy proposed by Berlin and Kay.

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Why does this matter? -

The universal patterns that exist in the naming of colors show that, despite cultural differences, humans have a lot more in common than they might realize. Especially in how they try to make sense of the world.

Sources: (Vox) (Encyclopedia Britannica) (Vocal Media)

See also: How adult eyes change color

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