Chapter 5. Diatopic variation in the referential meaning of the “Italian blues”
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Galina V. Paramei
Abstract
Standard Italian blu is unanimously glossed as “dark blue”. In comparison, azzurro is referred to as either “light blue” or “medium blue” in different studies. We explored diatopic variation (linguistic variation on a geographical level) in the denotata of blu, azzurro and celeste “sky blue” in a psycholinguistic experiment conducted in Verona (Veneto region) and Alghero (Sardinia). Participants named Munsell chips of the BLUE area. For each blue term, a referential volume of naming consensus colours was fitted by a convex hull visualized in CIELAB space. The referential extents of azzurro and celeste were found to differ markedly between the two regions: Verona participants used azzurro to denote “medium-and-light blue”; in contrast, for a similar colour space extent, Alghero participants used predominantly celeste, with azzurro being constrained to darker “medium blue”. The historical factors are discussed behind the more conservative colour naming in Sardinian dialects compared to mainland Standard Italian.
Abstract
Standard Italian blu is unanimously glossed as “dark blue”. In comparison, azzurro is referred to as either “light blue” or “medium blue” in different studies. We explored diatopic variation (linguistic variation on a geographical level) in the denotata of blu, azzurro and celeste “sky blue” in a psycholinguistic experiment conducted in Verona (Veneto region) and Alghero (Sardinia). Participants named Munsell chips of the BLUE area. For each blue term, a referential volume of naming consensus colours was fitted by a convex hull visualized in CIELAB space. The referential extents of azzurro and celeste were found to differ markedly between the two regions: Verona participants used azzurro to denote “medium-and-light blue”; in contrast, for a similar colour space extent, Alghero participants used predominantly celeste, with azzurro being constrained to darker “medium blue”. The historical factors are discussed behind the more conservative colour naming in Sardinian dialects compared to mainland Standard Italian.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface x
- Contributors xii
- Abbreviations xviii
- Emeritus Professor Christian J. Kay 1940–2016 xx
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Section 1. Colour perception and cognition
- Chapter 1. The colours and the spectrum 5
- Chapter 2. Ensemble perception of colour 23
- Chapter 3. The role of saturation in colour naming and colour appearance 41
- Chapter 4. Spanish basic colour categories are 11 or 12 depending on the dialect 59
- Chapter 5. Diatopic variation in the referential meaning of the “Italian blues” 83
- Chapter 6. A Color Inference Framework 107
- Chapter 7. Kandinsky’s colour-form correspondence theory 123
- Chapter 8. Cross-modal associations involving colour and touch 147
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Section 2. The language of colour
- Chapter 9. Is it all guesswork? 167
- Chapter 10. ColCat 179
- Chapter 11. Unifying research on colour and emotion 209
- Chapter 12. Divergence and shared conceptual organization 223
- Chapter 13. Colour and ideology 241
- Chapter 14. B lack and white linguistic category entrenchment in English 269
- Chapter 15. Colour terms in the blue area among Estonian-Russian and Russian-Estonian bilinguals 285
- Chapter 16. The journey of the “apple from China” 301
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Section 3. The diversity of colour
- Chapter 17. A theory of visual stress and its application to the use of coloured filters for reading 319
- Chapter 18. Does deuteranomaly place children at a disadvantage in educational settings? 341
- Chapter 19. Common basis for colour and light studies 357
- Chapter 20. Identifying colour use and knowledge in textile design practice 371
- Chapter 21. An empirical study on fabric image retrieval with multispectral images using colour and pattern features 391
- Chapter 22. The effects of correlated colour temperature on wayfinding performance and emotional reactions 405
- Chapter 23. Colour in the Pompeiian cityscape 419
- Chapter 24. Mapping the Antarctic 441
- Subject index 463
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface x
- Contributors xii
- Abbreviations xviii
- Emeritus Professor Christian J. Kay 1940–2016 xx
-
Section 1. Colour perception and cognition
- Chapter 1. The colours and the spectrum 5
- Chapter 2. Ensemble perception of colour 23
- Chapter 3. The role of saturation in colour naming and colour appearance 41
- Chapter 4. Spanish basic colour categories are 11 or 12 depending on the dialect 59
- Chapter 5. Diatopic variation in the referential meaning of the “Italian blues” 83
- Chapter 6. A Color Inference Framework 107
- Chapter 7. Kandinsky’s colour-form correspondence theory 123
- Chapter 8. Cross-modal associations involving colour and touch 147
-
Section 2. The language of colour
- Chapter 9. Is it all guesswork? 167
- Chapter 10. ColCat 179
- Chapter 11. Unifying research on colour and emotion 209
- Chapter 12. Divergence and shared conceptual organization 223
- Chapter 13. Colour and ideology 241
- Chapter 14. B lack and white linguistic category entrenchment in English 269
- Chapter 15. Colour terms in the blue area among Estonian-Russian and Russian-Estonian bilinguals 285
- Chapter 16. The journey of the “apple from China” 301
-
Section 3. The diversity of colour
- Chapter 17. A theory of visual stress and its application to the use of coloured filters for reading 319
- Chapter 18. Does deuteranomaly place children at a disadvantage in educational settings? 341
- Chapter 19. Common basis for colour and light studies 357
- Chapter 20. Identifying colour use and knowledge in textile design practice 371
- Chapter 21. An empirical study on fabric image retrieval with multispectral images using colour and pattern features 391
- Chapter 22. The effects of correlated colour temperature on wayfinding performance and emotional reactions 405
- Chapter 23. Colour in the Pompeiian cityscape 419
- Chapter 24. Mapping the Antarctic 441
- Subject index 463
