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The motivational analysis of some Finnic colour terms

  • Vilja Oja
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Colour Studies
This chapter is in the book Colour Studies

Abstract

The origin and semantics of some (non Indo-European) Finnic colour words denoting the yellow, red and brown hues are discussed, including their various earlier interpretations. All the words discussed, namely, ruske, raudjas, lepp, leet and paat (with variations and cognates) have similarities with word-roots in Indo-European languages, for example, among the Finnic colour names with the raud- stem there are Germanic and Baltic loanwords, all originating in the same root. The chapter includes a new hypothesis as to the semantic origin of words from the lepp- stem, and it explores aspects of the morphological and semantic changes which occurred in the adopted words. These include examples of mistaken folk-etymology in connection with leet and paat / paatti, and investigation of the dialectal meanings of the ruske-based lexemes which vary from orange to red and brown hues.

Abstract

The origin and semantics of some (non Indo-European) Finnic colour words denoting the yellow, red and brown hues are discussed, including their various earlier interpretations. All the words discussed, namely, ruske, raudjas, lepp, leet and paat (with variations and cognates) have similarities with word-roots in Indo-European languages, for example, among the Finnic colour names with the raud- stem there are Germanic and Baltic loanwords, all originating in the same root. The chapter includes a new hypothesis as to the semantic origin of words from the lepp- stem, and it explores aspects of the morphological and semantic changes which occurred in the adopted words. These include examples of mistaken folk-etymology in connection with leet and paat / paatti, and investigation of the dialectal meanings of the ruske-based lexemes which vary from orange to red and brown hues.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface ix
  4. Acknowledgements x
  5. Abbreviations xi
  6. Prehistoric colour semantics
  7. Prehistoric colour semantics 3
  8. Colour and Linguistics
  9. Preface to Section II 29
  10. Towards a historical and cultural atlas of colour terms in the Near East 31
  11. The evolution of GRUE 53
  12. Linguistic categorization of BLUE in Standard Italian 67
  13. From blood to worms 79
  14. The motivational analysis of some Finnic colour terms 93
  15. Her blue eyes are red 109
  16. The spread of RED in the Historical Thesaurus of English 126
  17. A metaphorical spectrum 140
  18. Exploring the metaphorical use of colour with the Historical Thesaurus of English 153
  19. Colour categorization, naming and preference
  20. Preface to Section III 167
  21. The case for infant colour categories 169
  22. Bornstein’s paradox (redux) 181
  23. Category effects on colour discrimination 200
  24. Colour category effects 212
  25. Gender differences in colour naming 225
  26. Personality and gender-schemata contributions to colour preferences 240
  27. Axiological aspects of Polish colour vocabulary 258
  28. The metaphysical significance of colour categorization 273
  29. Colour and the World
  30. Preface to Section IV 287
  31. Color seeing and speaking 291
  32. Colour terms in the names of coastal and inland features 307
  33. Referential meaning in basic and non-basic color terms 323
  34. Unfolding colour in mind and language 339
  35. Synaesthetic associations 352
  36. Bach to the blues 366
  37. “Miss Gartside’s immediate eye” 380
  38. Lighting up Shakespeare 397
  39. Index 413
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.191.06oja

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface ix
  4. Acknowledgements x
  5. Abbreviations xi
  6. Prehistoric colour semantics
  7. Prehistoric colour semantics 3
  8. Colour and Linguistics
  9. Preface to Section II 29
  10. Towards a historical and cultural atlas of colour terms in the Near East 31
  11. The evolution of GRUE 53
  12. Linguistic categorization of BLUE in Standard Italian 67
  13. From blood to worms 79
  14. The motivational analysis of some Finnic colour terms 93
  15. Her blue eyes are red 109
  16. The spread of RED in the Historical Thesaurus of English 126
  17. A metaphorical spectrum 140
  18. Exploring the metaphorical use of colour with the Historical Thesaurus of English 153
  19. Colour categorization, naming and preference
  20. Preface to Section III 167
  21. The case for infant colour categories 169
  22. Bornstein’s paradox (redux) 181
  23. Category effects on colour discrimination 200
  24. Colour category effects 212
  25. Gender differences in colour naming 225
  26. Personality and gender-schemata contributions to colour preferences 240
  27. Axiological aspects of Polish colour vocabulary 258
  28. The metaphysical significance of colour categorization 273
  29. Colour and the World
  30. Preface to Section IV 287
  31. Color seeing and speaking 291
  32. Colour terms in the names of coastal and inland features 307
  33. Referential meaning in basic and non-basic color terms 323
  34. Unfolding colour in mind and language 339
  35. Synaesthetic associations 352
  36. Bach to the blues 366
  37. “Miss Gartside’s immediate eye” 380
  38. Lighting up Shakespeare 397
  39. Index 413
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