Colour as a linguistic and extra-linguistic phenomenon
AS
A LINGUISTIC AND EXTRA-LINGUISTIC PHENOMENON
Content
Introduction
. Extralinguistic and
linguistic spheres of colour naming adjectives study. Colour as a physical
phenomenon
.2 Colour as a characteristic
of an object
.3 Psychological aspects of the
focus colours
.4 Colour as one of the basic
spheres of cognition
Introduction
aspects of our reality are
apprehended by the means of colour.name of the colour has its great information
potential.to the priority of the perceptive form of the world assimilation and
the capacity of the colour to influence on the physical and emotional person
state, colour is an important part of the conceptual picture of the
world.actuality of this research is determined by the great interest of modern
linguistics for the language world conceptualization research and a special
emphasis to colour naming studying as the main marker of national cultures. The
problems of discovering common and specific features in different linguistic
world images are also important.research work is focused on the language colour
naming concepts representation in English, Russian and European.object of the
research is concepts, representing green, blue and red colours in English
linguistic world-image.subject of this research is the peculiarities of
linguistic representation of colour in English linguistic world-image.main goal
of the research is to find out the main characteristics of concept function,
representing green, blue and red colours in English linguistic world-image.achieve
this goal we should solve several problems:
) To find the place of colour
naming in the conceptual picture of the world.
) To analyze nuclear
conceptual marks of the describing colour names in English language.
) To elicit common and
specific features in functioning of these colour concepts in English linguistic
world-image.research methods were determined by specificity of the material,
the goal and the particular problems solving in this research work.my work I used
such traditional methods of research as supervision, description and
evaluation.practical value of the research is that it helps to understand the
language influence on perception of the world by the native speakers.consider
that from the point of view of semantics object colour named adjectives have
their own special qualities naming a mark through its attitude towards objects
being contextually conditioned and at the same time in contrast to the
classical relative adjectives that denote such a mark that can be characterized
according to its intensity that allows us to compare them.
1. Extralinguistic and linguistic
spheres of colour naming adjectives study
.1 Colour as a physical
phenomenon
, physical phenomenon of light or
visual perception associated with the various wavelengths in the visible
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum (see Electromagnetic Radiation;
Spectrum). As a sensation experienced by humans and some animals, perception of
colour is a complex neurophysiological process. The methods used for colour
specification today belong to a technique known as colorimetry and consist of
accurate scientific measurements based on the wavelengths of three primary
colours.human eye does not function like a machine for spectral analysis, and
the same colour sensation can be produced by different physical stimuli. Thus a
mixture of red and green light of the proper intensities appears exactly the
same as spectral yellow, although it does not contain light of the wavelengths
corresponding to yellow. Any color sensation can be duplicated by mixing
varying quantities of red, blue, and green. These colours, therefore, are known
as the additive primary colours. If light of these primary colours is added
together in equal intensities, the sensation of white light is produced. A
number of pairs of pure spectral colours called complementary colours also
exist; if mixed additively, these will produce the same sensation as white
light. Among these pairs are certain yellows and blues, greens and blues, reds
and greens, and greens and violets.
.2 Colour as a characteristic
of an object
is the most important characteristic
of an object. It makes the object brighter and gives it an emotional
expression.is a complicated phenomenon based on many reasons. Multicolouring
from the physical point of view is made by the interaction of light and an
object.paths consisting of many coloured rays is reflected or absorbed by
different objects. Our eyes can see only reflected rays.the physical
characteristics of the colour we can name hue, lightness and saturation. Hue is
the main characteristic of the colour which is expressed by the words
"red", "green", "blue" and as a result it helps
us to distinguish different colours. Hue depends on the length of the light
wave reflecting or absorbing by an object. Except black, white and grey which
are achromatic all the other colours are chromatic.is a location of the colour
on the scale from black to white. It is described by the word "dark"
or ‘light’.level of chromaticity is defined by the saturation.physical
qualities explain why a man can divide all the colours into coloured and
uncoloured.
.3 Psychological aspects of the
focus colours
the psychological point of view the
categories of natural phenomena include following processes:
) The choice of motivation.
On the assumption of the motivations that can be perceived by the organs of
senses, only few of them are suitable for the cognitive process (they are in
the focus of attention);
) Identity and
classification. This can be reached by the means of comparision of special
motivations of useful information in a man’s brains;
) Nominative. The most part
of the cognitive categories were named after some indefinite categories.Rosch
(once known as Eleanor Rosch Heider) is a professor of psychology at the
University of California, Berkeley, specializing in cognitive psychology and
primarily known for her work on categorization, in particular her prototype
theory, which has profoundly influenced the field of cognitive psychology.
Throughout her work Rosch has conducted extensive research focusing on topics
including semantic categorization, mental representation of concepts and
linguistics. Her research interests include cognition, concepts, causality,
thinking, memory, and cross-cultural, Eastern, and religious psychology.Rosch
was studying the psychological aspects of the focus colours. According to her
research several conclusions were made:
) Focus colours are
appreciated better than the others;
) Focus colours are kept in
the recent memory longer than the others;
) The names of focus colours
are produced faster by the children [15].
.4 Colour as one of the basic
spheres of cognition
linguistic colour
physical phenomenon
Being an important factor of man’s
life and activity the colour is a part of the world image in all the
components, marked by Leontyev A.N. in the consciousness structure (material
part, meaning and personal sense) [7].mechanisms of forming colour perception
are mainly common for the mankind, like many other psychophysiological effects
of the color.comparison of the material level, colour on the personal sense
level always has unique meaning, forming during human’s life and his
activity.colours have different meanings. Even in childhood a child due to his
organs of the senses starts to appreciate color and other qualities of objects
and denote them with the help of the language, assimilating the ways of
phenomena categorization, typical for the cultural picture of the world.the
course of time personal stable systems of meaning begin to form.usually
function as verbal-sensitive association complexes.A.R. in his experiments that
took place in Central Asia in 1931-1932, focused on discovery of cultural
differences in the man intellectual activity stated that the ways of
categorization and classification of colour are culturally determined[8].the
same time Luria agreed that colour perception is a universal function[8].we
should avoid the total opposition of cultural and universal features.as the
component of the world’s image can be found in all the features. It’s an
integral part of the subject image content and is a part of the material. Every
person can feel different emotions to one colour according to his personal
denotation.colour has its own meaning fixed in culture and the meaning is based
on the material (for example red color increases pressure and pulse, a rush of
blood, as according to M. Lusher, from the times of primitive man it symbolizes
the danger of attack) [9].most meaningful colours have their own verbal
expressions. The language hasn’t got a term for particular colour if this
colour is out of importance for this culture.are two the most effective ways of
finding out the meaning of each colour. The first one is connected with the
usage of linguistic methods. Here we can speak about comparative study of
fiction literature and different literary and scientific sources about colour
and the comparative analysis of phraseological units with colour naming
component. The second one is holding of associative experiment with the
representatives of each culture.to Vasilevich A.P. "Associative field of a
word is a real thing which is closely connected with historical and cultural
tradition of this particular nation" [1. С.
97]. An associative experiment the respondents’ answers are standard, typical
and reflect common cultural realias.the first method permits to find out all
the meanings of the colour typical for this culture and to make up the
structure of the semantic field of the colour. The second method allows to
specify these meanings and the structure of the semantic field of the colour
and to make final reconstruction.associative experiment took place in 2004-2009
in Russia, Europe, the USA and some other countries with a help of the sources
of the e-mail and different social networks. The test group was asked to name
their verbal associations with the particular colours: red, blue and
green.exposed the results to the procedure of content-analysis and semantic
grouping. According to the research several conclusions were made:
. Blue and green colours were
closely connected with the associations of the objects and phenomena of wild
life and inanimate nature;
. Red colour has many
associations with emotions in all cultures. This can be explained by the fact
that red colour is traditionally connected with the terms of love, passion,
anger and so on.is interesting to notice that the blue colour has got high
percent of emotional associations in the English language. This can be
explained by the fact that the semantic field of blue colour in English culture
contains the terms of sadness and grief. So the semantics of blue colour in
English culture is mainly negative.
1.1 The results of the associative
experiment
Colour
|
Total
|
Associations with the objects and
phenomena of wild life and inanimate nature
|
Associations with the cultural
objects
|
Associations with abstract terms
|
Associations with the emotional
terms
|
Russian culture, N = 145, total
2849
|
red
|
496
|
209
(42.1)
|
177
(35.7)
|
43
(8.7)
|
64
(12.9)
|
green
|
459
|
279
(60.8)
|
88
(19.2)
|
69
(15.0)
|
20
(4.4)
|
blue
|
481
|
276
(57.4)
|
111
(23.1)
|
85
(17.7)
|
8
(1.7)
|
English culture, N = 110, total
2218
|
red
|
387
|
176
(45.5)
|
112
(28.9)
|
45
(11.6)
|
52
(13.4)
|
green
|
366
|
233
(63.7)
|
59
(16.1)
|
48
(13.1)
|
25
(6.8)
|
blue
|
240
(65.6)
|
65
(17.8)
|
41
(11.2)
|
19
(5.2)
|
Mixed European culture (answers in
English), N = 65, total 1303
|
red
|
226
|
93
(41.6)
|
33
(14.6)
|
40
(17.7)
|
58
(25.7)
|
green
|
214
|
122
(57.0)
|
30
(14.0)
|
39
(18.2)
|
19
(8.9)
|
blue
|
213
|
127
(59.6)
|
28
(13.2)
|
52
(24.4)
|
5
(2.4)
|
highest percent of the answers in
the regarded groups took the meanings of the so-called "prototypical
referents" of the colour, as they are the names of the objects and
phenomenon of the wild life and inanimate nature that surrounded a man since
the very beginning of his cultural and historical development. So they are the
nuclear of the semantic field of the colour. Some meanings with low percent but
pointing to the prototypical referents of the colour can be also included to
the nuclear of the semantic field of colour, that means that objects and
phenomena of the nature which are closely connected with the person’s
consciousness speaking this or that language and which are defined by the
climate, nature, geographical position of the country.
Picture 1.1 The nuclear meanings of
the semantic field of the red colour
1.2 The nuclear
meanings of the semantic field of the blue colour
to the results of the first stage of
the research the hypothesis was made: the nucleuses of the semantic field of
the same colour in different cultures usually contain similar meanings
presented by the prototypical referents of the colour (thus there can be little
differences because of the difference in geographical position and climate).
The peripherical meanings can be marked as culturally-specific, appeared in the
nation’s consciousness in a course of it cultural and historical
development.the table below you can see all the nuclear meaningsof the semantic
fields of the basic colours for Russian, English and European cultures.this
table you can see that in the nuclear of the semantic field of meaning there
are some coincidences except for the animals, birds and flowers, because they
are representatives of the sample colour for each culture.some meanings are
unique. For example only in the English culture birds (robins) are prototypical
referents of the red colour and they play an important role in folklore and
literature. So we have got a confirmation of our hypothesis that the
prototypical referents of the colour, forming a nuclear of the semantic field,
may differ in different countries because of different climatic and
geographical conditions.
1.2 Nuclear meanings of the semantic
field of the main colours
Colour
|
Russian culture
|
English culture
|
Mixed European culture
|
Red
|
blood,fire, the sun, flowers,
berries, fruit and vegetables, wine, ruddiness.
|
blood,fire, the sun, flowers,
berries, fruit and vegetables, wine.
|
blood,fire, the sun, flowers,
berries, fruit and vegetables.
|
Green
|
Nature, plants, animals, green
eyes, fruit and vegetables, sea, spring, summer, precious gems.
|
Nature, plants, animals, green
eyes, fruit and vegetables, spring, summer, precious gems.
|
Nature, plants, animals.
|
Blue
|
Water, sea, ocean, rain, lake,
river, sky, eyes, night, flowers, sapphire.
|
Sky, water, sea, ocean, rain,
flowers, eyes, night.
|
Sky, water, sea, ocean.
|
1.3 Peripherical meanings of the
semantic field of the main colours.
Colour
|
Russian culture
|
English culture
|
Mixed European culture
|
Red
|
A symbol of love and passion:
love, passion, heart; sexuality; warm, hot; anger, aggression; bright,
active, strong, energetic.
|
A symbol of love and passion:
love, passion, heart; sexuality; warm, hot; anger, aggression; bright,
active, strong, energetic.
|
A symbol of love and passion:
love, passion, heart; sexuality; warm, hot; anger, aggression; bright,
active, strong, energetic.
|
Green
|
Balance, youth, inexperience;
freshness; a symbol of life.
|
Freshness, peace, comfort;
coolness; a symbol of life; energetic, vivacity; illness.
|
Balance, a symbol of life, new,
fresh.
|
Blue
|
Balance, coolness, cold, winter,
depth, sadness, positive emotions.
|
Coolness, cold, sadness, balance,
peace, depth, sea animals.
|
Coolness, cold, balance, depth,
fresh, sea animals.
|
research helps us to determine the
colour meanings unique for each country, that were formed as the result of its
cultural and historical development and that they have no parallels even in
closely connected cultures.
Conclusion
the all physical qualities colour is
one of the most important, most obvious and the brightest characteristics of
the objects of the world.derives from the spectrum of light (distribution of
light power versus wavelength) interacting in the eye with the spectral
sensitivities of the light receptors. Colour categories and physical
specifications of colour are also associated with objects, materials, light
sources, etc., based on their physical properties such as light absorption,
reflection, or emission spectra. By defining a colour space, colours can be
identified numerically by their coordinates.is the most important
characteristic of an object. It makes the object brighter and gives it an
emotional expression.to the research made by Eleanor Rosch several conclusions
were made:colours are appreciated better than the others;
) Focus colours are kept in
the recent memory longer than the others;
) The names of focus colours
are produced faster by the children.
) The names of focus colours
are produced faster by the children.mechanisms of forming color perception are
mainly common for the mankind, like many other psychophysiological effects of
the color.the material level, colour on personal level always has unique
meanings, which are formed exactly during the process of man’s life and
activity.research of the semantic field of the main colours in three cultures
permits to find out the structure of the semantic field of each colour and its
meaning, particular for the representatives of each culture on the present
level of their cultural and historical development.nuclear of the semantic
field includes the meanings expressed by the prototypical referents of the
colour. This meanings are usually common for different cultures, but in
addition they have specific meanings influenced by the geographical position
and the climate.pheripherical units contain meanings that can be derived from
the psychological features of the colour and its prototypical referents, that
are the meanings of the nuclear of the semantic field. These meanings are
similar in different cultures but not identic. So we can conclude that the pheripherical
meanings of the semantic field are represented by the culturally-specific
meaning of a colour that was formed in each culture in the process of its
cultural and historical development.
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