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Basic colour terms: comparative results for French and Russian*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Gerry Morgan
Gerry Morgan
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistic and International StudiesUniversity of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 5XH
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Abstract

An experiment is described in which 74 French subjects were asked to list colour terms within a limited time period. Results are compared with those from a similar experiment with Russian subjects. The resulting data are used as a measure of psychological salience to establish which French colour terms are basic. Particular attention is paid to the two possible French terms for brown (marron and brun), and to beige ‘beige’, which may be emerging as an additional basic term. As Russian also has an additional term for blue, both languages are particularly interesting in the light of Berlin and Kay's 1969 model of basic colour term development.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of French Language Studies , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , March 1993 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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