A STUDY ON BASIC COLOR TERMS: LEXICO-SEMANTIC DEVELOPMENT IN JAPANESE-ENGLISH BILINGUALS IN NEW YORK

Abstract

Investigated the English lexico-semantic development of 21 Japanese-English bilingual children (aged 10–11 yrs). Japanese color names were elicited from Ss by asking them to write down as many color terms as they could think of within 30 sec. The obtained order of color terms was interpreted within the framework of B. Berlin and P. Kay's (1969) universal hierarchy of color terms, G. Miller and P. Johnson-Laird's (1976) landmark-color hypothesis, and E. Rosch's (1973) prototype theory. It is suggested that bilingual children use a strategy of picking up the best examples of categories to organize their semantic field. Ss were also asked to respond to the emotive tone of Japanese and English color terms. Some systematicity was observed in their response (i.e., selection of similar semantic features that characterized positive and negative features). It is argued that the systematicity could be attributed to universal sensations inherent in a given color, cultural transmission, area-specific sociocultural conditions, and idiosyncratic personal experiences. Linguistic factors that constrain lexico-semantic development in bilingual children and instances of language transfer are examined. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)