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Germanic Interrelations: Studies in memory of Hans Frede Nielsen
Edited by Stephen Laker, Carla Falluomini, Steffen Krogh, Robert Nedoma and Michael Schulte
[NOWELE Supplement Series 34] 2025
► pp. 83–103

Unity and diversity in basic color terms

A comparison of Germanic, Slavic, and Romance

ORCID logo | University of California, Santa Barbara
We develop a methodology for assessing the degree of unity versus diversity in Stage V basic color terms in Germanic, Romance, and Slavic languages. We make use of the Glottolog language list, with principled modifications, and of a notion “extended cognate set”, which includes all terms derived from the same etymon plus genus-internal loans. We thus provide a solid underpinning of the intuitive observation that color term diversity is minimal in Germanic, extensive in Romance, and at an intermediate level in Slavic, as well as providing a methodology that should be more generally applicable in lexical typology.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and methodology
    • 1.1Colors
    • 1.2Languages and sources
    • 1.3Extended cognate sets
    • 1.4Database
  • 2.The data: Qualitative analysis
    • 2.1Germanic color terms
      • 2.1.1Germanic black
      • 2.1.2Germanic white
      • 2.1.3Germanic red
      • 2.1.4Germanic green
      • 2.1.5Germanic yellow
      • 2.1.6Germanic blue
      • 2.1.7Germanic summary
    • 2.2Romance color terms
      • 2.2.1Romance black
      • 2.2.2Romance white
      • 2.2.3Romance red
      • 2.2.4Romance green
      • 2.2.5Romance yellow
      • 2.2.6Romance blue
      • 2.2.7Romance summary
    • 2.3Slavic color terms
      • 2.3.1Slavic black
      • 2.3.2Slavic white
      • 2.3.3Slavic red
      • 2.3.4Slavic green
      • 2.3.5Slavic yellow
      • 2.3.6Slavic blue
      • 2.3.7Slavic summary
  • 3.Quantitative analysis
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations used in the article and online database
  • References
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