Part of
Progress in Colour Studies: Cognition, language and beyondEdited by Lindsay W. MacDonald, Carole P. Biggam and Galina V. Paramei
[Not in series 217] 2018
► pp. 167–178
Edited by Lindsay W. MacDonald, Carole P. Biggam and Galina V. Paramei
[Not in series 217] 2018
► pp. 167–178
Chapter 9Is it all guesswork?
Translating colour terms across the centuries
Addressed to non-semanticists, this article discusses the means by which colour semanticists strive to pursue their research with as much objectivity as possible. Three functions of colour terms are presented: descriptive, classificatory and connotative, showing that colour expressions operate differently in various semantic environments. In addition, lexical meanings can change over the years, as a result, for example, of semantic shift or contact with other languages, and this is likely to render inappropriate the application of modern colour-term definitions to their historical antecedents. Finally, a connotative case-study of hair-colour descriptors in English across the centuries reveals that words operating in restricted contexts can convey more than colour.
Keywords: colour, semantic research, English, connotations
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Three functions of colour terms
- 3.The limitations of historical colour-term research
- 4.Variations of descriptive function
- 5.Variations of classificatory function
- 6.Avoiding assumptions
- 7.The connotative function and human hair-colour
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Notes -
References
References (9)
Dictionaries
Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND). 2005–, by William Rothwell, Stewart Gregory, and David Trotter. 2nd ed. in progress. London: Maney.
Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary (HTOED). 2009, by Christian Kay, Jane Roberts, Michael Samuels, and Irené Wotherspoon. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Also: [URL]
Middle English Dictionary (MED). 1956–2001, by Hans Kurath, Sherman Kuhn et al. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Also: [URL]
Oxford English Dictionary (OED), [URL]
Non-dictionary references
Biggam, C. P. 1997. Blue in Old English: An Interdisciplinary Semantic Study. Amsterdam & Atlanta: Rodopi.
2006. “Political Upheaval and a Disturbance in the Colour Vocabulary of Early English.” In Progress in Colour Studies, Volume 1: Language and Culture, ed. by C. P. Biggam, and C. J. Kay, 159–179. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 
2012. The Semantics of Colour: A Historical Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gaimar, Geffrei. 1960. L’Estoire des Engleis, ed. by Alexander Bell. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Steinvall, Anders. 2006. “Basic Colour Terms and Type Modification: Meaning in Relation to Function, Salience and Correlating Attributes.” In Progress in Colour Studies, Volume 1: Language and Culture, ed. by C. P. Biggam, and C. J. Kay, 57–71. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.