From blood to worms
-
Andrew Swearingen
Abstract
The historical record provides evidence of an apparent semantic shift in the denotational range of the Portuguese colour term roxo, whereby its referent, initially designating the colour red, came to designate the colour purple. Drawing on colour term research from the World Colour Survey, prototype theory and cognitive semantics, I argue that such a process was set in motion by an adjacent semantic shift in the colour term vermelho from non-basic to the basic colour term for red in Portuguese. Supported by empirical evidence from historical texts as well as comparative linguistics, I document an overall timeline for this change and argue that extra-linguistic factors involving the dyeing industry in Iberia serve as the motivation for these shifts, a view supported by colour term cognates in other Ibero-Romance varieties such as Catalan and Galician. The evolution of Portuguese roxo and vermelho provides an example of one possible evolutionary path that basic colour terms can take in the history of a language, demonstrating the cognitive mechanics involved in the division and shift of colour category boundaries and the relocation of prototypes.
Abstract
The historical record provides evidence of an apparent semantic shift in the denotational range of the Portuguese colour term roxo, whereby its referent, initially designating the colour red, came to designate the colour purple. Drawing on colour term research from the World Colour Survey, prototype theory and cognitive semantics, I argue that such a process was set in motion by an adjacent semantic shift in the colour term vermelho from non-basic to the basic colour term for red in Portuguese. Supported by empirical evidence from historical texts as well as comparative linguistics, I document an overall timeline for this change and argue that extra-linguistic factors involving the dyeing industry in Iberia serve as the motivation for these shifts, a view supported by colour term cognates in other Ibero-Romance varieties such as Catalan and Galician. The evolution of Portuguese roxo and vermelho provides an example of one possible evolutionary path that basic colour terms can take in the history of a language, demonstrating the cognitive mechanics involved in the division and shift of colour category boundaries and the relocation of prototypes.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
- Acknowledgements x
- Abbreviations xi
-
Prehistoric colour semantics
- Prehistoric colour semantics 3
-
Colour and Linguistics
- Preface to Section II 29
- Towards a historical and cultural atlas of colour terms in the Near East 31
- The evolution of GRUE 53
- Linguistic categorization of BLUE in Standard Italian 67
- From blood to worms 79
- The motivational analysis of some Finnic colour terms 93
- Her blue eyes are red 109
- The spread of RED in the Historical Thesaurus of English 126
- A metaphorical spectrum 140
- Exploring the metaphorical use of colour with the Historical Thesaurus of English 153
-
Colour categorization, naming and preference
- Preface to Section III 167
- The case for infant colour categories 169
- Bornstein’s paradox (redux) 181
- Category effects on colour discrimination 200
- Colour category effects 212
- Gender differences in colour naming 225
- Personality and gender-schemata contributions to colour preferences 240
- Axiological aspects of Polish colour vocabulary 258
- The metaphysical significance of colour categorization 273
-
Colour and the World
- Preface to Section IV 287
- Color seeing and speaking 291
- Colour terms in the names of coastal and inland features 307
- Referential meaning in basic and non-basic color terms 323
- Unfolding colour in mind and language 339
- Synaesthetic associations 352
- Bach to the blues 366
- “Miss Gartside’s immediate eye” 380
- Lighting up Shakespeare 397
- Index 413
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
- Acknowledgements x
- Abbreviations xi
-
Prehistoric colour semantics
- Prehistoric colour semantics 3
-
Colour and Linguistics
- Preface to Section II 29
- Towards a historical and cultural atlas of colour terms in the Near East 31
- The evolution of GRUE 53
- Linguistic categorization of BLUE in Standard Italian 67
- From blood to worms 79
- The motivational analysis of some Finnic colour terms 93
- Her blue eyes are red 109
- The spread of RED in the Historical Thesaurus of English 126
- A metaphorical spectrum 140
- Exploring the metaphorical use of colour with the Historical Thesaurus of English 153
-
Colour categorization, naming and preference
- Preface to Section III 167
- The case for infant colour categories 169
- Bornstein’s paradox (redux) 181
- Category effects on colour discrimination 200
- Colour category effects 212
- Gender differences in colour naming 225
- Personality and gender-schemata contributions to colour preferences 240
- Axiological aspects of Polish colour vocabulary 258
- The metaphysical significance of colour categorization 273
-
Colour and the World
- Preface to Section IV 287
- Color seeing and speaking 291
- Colour terms in the names of coastal and inland features 307
- Referential meaning in basic and non-basic color terms 323
- Unfolding colour in mind and language 339
- Synaesthetic associations 352
- Bach to the blues 366
- “Miss Gartside’s immediate eye” 380
- Lighting up Shakespeare 397
- Index 413
