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Lexicalization patterns in color naming: A cross-linguistic perspective
Edited by Ida Raffaelli, Daniela Katunar and Barbara Kerovec
[Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics 78] 2019
► pp. 133–156

Lexicalization patterns in color naming in Gbaya, a Ubanguian language of CAR

| LLACAN (CNRS, INALCO, Université Sorbonne Paris-Cité)

In this chapter, I show that Gbaya, a Ubanguian language of the Central African Republic, does not lexically distinguish color from the visual aspect resulting from a variety of parameters. I first analyze in detail the lexical terms and the grammatical devices that Gbaya uses for color naming. Then, I discuss how Gbaya speakers put these terms into actual use in a daily task. Gbaya illustrates the main role played by grammar to organize the lexicon according to properties expressed by adjectives, processes expressed by verbs, and visual conspicuousness express by nouns. Beyond language idiosyncrasies, the case of Gbaya illustrates, once more (Wierzbicka, 2008), a possible universal tendency among hunter-gatherers in the partition of the visual aspect.

Keywords: color, visual aspect, Niger-Congo, Ubanguian, Gbaya, grammatical categories, grammar
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Lexical and grammatical devices for color naming
    • 2.1Nouns
      • 2.1.1The generic noun dàp
      • 2.1.2Color nouns
      • 2.1.3Deadjectival human nouns
    • 2.2Verbs
    • 2.3Adjectives
      • 2.3.1The primary adjective bú (PA)
      • 2.3.2Verbal adjectives (VA)
      • 2.3.3Adjective-adverbs (AAs)
      • 2.3.4Summary
  • 3.When and how do the Gbaya use color terms in a daily task?
    • 3.1Colors in compound nouns
      • 3.1.1Color adjectives
      • 3.1.2Name of an entity referring to color
    • 3.2Colors in actual use
      • 3.2.1Plants
      • 3.2.2Caterpillars and larvae
      • 3.2.3In oral productions
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 9 October 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sfsl.78.07rou
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