E-Book Overview
There are many different colour terms in most languages of the world. This study examines how English colour terms are used in an extensive computerised text corpus. Focusing on those occasions when a colour term may refer to peripheral nuances or may evoke meanings that are outside the colour domain, and employing the theoretical framework of cognitive linguistics, the study demonstrates that occurrences of peripheral meanings can be modelled on the present idea of the colour domain. Three types of usage are identified as the sources of "stretched" meanings: classifying usage, figurative usage and marked usage. The first two show similarities and are primarily restricted to the most basic colour terms, while the third shows that non-basic terms can be used to achieve markedness effects.
On the basis of the patterns of usage that can be established and the frequency of occurrences, this thesis suggests that the colour category may be analysed as a radial category, with the most basic terms forming the centre.
E-Book Content
English Colour Terms in Context
Anders Steinvall
Skrifter från moderna språk 3 Institutionen för moderna språk Umeå universitet 2002
Institutionen för moderna språk Umeå universitet SE-901 87 Umeå Tfn. +46 90 786 51 38 Fax. +46 90 786 60 23 http://www.mos.umu.se/forskning/publikationer/
Skrifter från moderna språk 3 Umeå universitet ISSN 1650-304X
© 2002 Anders Steinvall Omslag: Magnus Olofsson Tryckt av UmU Tryckerier ISBN 91-7305-226-4 ISSN 1650-304X
In memory of my father
Contents Introduction............................................................................................................. 1 0.1 0.2 0.3
Preliminaries..................................................................................................... 1 Aims.................................................................................................................. 2 Method and material......................................................................................... 3 0.3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 3 0.3.2 The use of computerised text corpora – problems and solutions ......... 5 0.3.3 Statistics................................................................................................ 6 0.3.4 The terms .............................................................................................. 7 0.3.5 Corpora ............................................................................................... 10 0.4 On the terminology of the dimensions of colour............................................ 11 0.5 Overview of the book ..................................................................................... 12
Chapter 1 Setting the Scene: Thirty Years of Studies of Colour Terminology 15 1.1 1.2
1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
Introduction .................................................................................................... 15 The dominant theory: Berlin and Kay’s legacy.............................................. 15 1.2.1 Basic Color Terms .............................................................................. 15 1.2.2 The later development of the B&K theory ......................................... 19 1.2.3 Vantage theory – cognitive modelling at the fringe of the paradigm. 22 1.2.4 The quest for verification outside anthropology................................. 23 An alternative position – some criticism of the BCT theory.......................... 25 My own position............................................................................................. 27 Colour semantics based on texts: historical studies of colour terminology ... 29 The study of non-basic colour terms .....................................