A cross-cultural colour-naming study. Part I: Using an unconstrained method

Abstract

Colour naming by panels of British and Taiwanese subjects (speaking English and Mandarin, respectively) was used to study colour categorization, and the results applied to investigate differences of usage between the two languages. Fifty British and 40 Chinese subjects took part in experiments using an unconstrained method with 200 ISCC-NBS colour samples. Data analysis was performed to calculate the frequency and codability of each colour name in each group and subgroup. These names were then grouped using 7-category and 4-category methods to find the culture and gender differences. It was confirmed that the 11 basic names found by Berlin and Kay were the most widely used for both languages. The results showed a close agreement between the two languages in terms of colour categories, but a large discrepancy in the use of secondary names due to cultural differences. The cross-cultural comparison revealed a clear pattern of the linkage between language and concepts of colour. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.