English Colour Terms

277 Pages·2002·1.892 MB·English

by  Anders Steinvall

English Colour Terms
in Context

Anders Steinvall

Skrifter från moderna språk 3
Institutionen för moderna språk
Umeå universitet 2002
Institutionen för moderna språk
Umeå universitet
SE-901 87 Umeå
Tfn. [phone]
Fax. [phone]
http://www.mos.umu.se/forskning/publikationer/

Skrifter från moderna språk 3
Umeå universitet ISSN 1650-304X

© 2002 Anders Steinvall
Omslag: Magnus Olofsson
Tryckt av UmU Tryckerier

ISBN 91-7305-226-4
ISSN 1650-304X
In memory of my father

Contents

Introduction.............................................................................................................1
0.1 Preliminaries.....................................................................................................1
0.2 Aims..................................................................................................................2
0.3 Method and material.........................................................................................3
0.3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................3
0.3.2 The use of computerised text corpora – problems and solutions.........5
0.3.3 Statistics................................................................................................6
0.3.4 The terms..............................................................................................7
0.3.5 Corpora...............................................................................................10
0.4 On the terminology of the dimensions of colour............................................11
0.5 Overview of the book.....................................................................................12
Chapter 1 Setting the Scene: Thirty Years of Studies of Colour Terminology 15
1.1 Introduction....................................................................................................15
1.2 The dominant theory: Berlin and Kay’s legacy..............................................15
1.2.1 Basic Color Terms..............................................................................15
1.2.2 The later development of the B&K theory.........................................19
1.2.3 Vantage theory – cognitive modelling at the fringe of the paradigm.22
1.2.4 The quest for verification outside anthropology.................................23
1.3 An alternative position – some criticism of the BCT theory..........................25
1.4 My own position.............................................................................................27
1.5 Colour semantics based on texts: historical studies of colour terminology...29
1.6 The study of non-basic colour terms..............................................................31
1.7 Summary.........................................................................................................32
Chapter 2 Providing the Tools: Meaning in Cognitive Linguistics..............33
2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................33
2.2 Principles of categorisation............................................................................34
2.3 Situation, context and mental spaces..............................................................38
2.4 Characterising meaning..................................................................................41
2.4.1 Domain, network and attribute...........................................................42
2.5 Conceptual processes......................................................................................49
2.5.1 Metaphor.............................................................................................50
2.5.2 Metonymy...........................................................................................51
2.6 Two perspectives of meaning: semasiology and onomasiology....................56
2.6.1 The semasiological perspective: important sense relations................57
2.6.2 The onomasiological perspective.......................................................59
2.7 Summary.........................................................................................................63
Chapter 3 Colour Terms in the Bank of English: Some Statistics................65
3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................65
3.2 Word frequency..............................................................................................65
3.2.1 The problem of yellow........................................................................68
3.2.2 The proportions of colour term categories.........................................69
3.2.3 Frequency and age..............................................................................71
3.3 Colour terms as nouns....................................................................................73
3.4 Colour – colour combinations........................................................................78
3.5 Colour terms and bound morphemes.............................................................82
3.5.1 Derivational morphology...................................................................82
3.5.2 Inflectional morphology.....................................................................89
3.6 Colour terms in different subcorpora.............................................................92
3.7 Summary........................................................................................................95
Chapter 4 Different Planes: Colour Terms as Adjectival Type Modifiers...97
4.1 Introduction....................................................................................................97
4.2 Classifying adjectives.....................................................................................98
4.2.1 Three classes of attribute modifiers...................................................99
4.3 Planes and valence relations.........................................................................102
4.4 Compounds, phrases and lexicalisation.......................................................106
4.5 Type modification in two different corpora.................................................110
4.5.1 The OED..........................................................................................111
4.5.2 The BoE............................................................................................116
4.5.3 Summary: a comparison between the two approaches.....................121
4.6 Decoding the process...................................................................................121
4.7 Wider implications – another look at previous investigations.....................130
4.8 Summary......................................................................................................131
Chapter 5 Elaborate Colour Terms: Definition, Formation and Usage.....133
5.1 Introduction..................................................................................................133
5.2 Defining ECTs..............................................................................................134
5.2.1 The standardisation approach...........................................................134
5.2.2 Dictionary definitions.......................................................................135
5.2.3 Summary..........................................................................................138
5.3 The Emergence of ECTs..............................................................................140
5.3.1 The motivation.................................................................................140
5.3.2 The process of creation....................................................................142
5.4 The sense relations of ECTs.........................................................................145
5.4.1 Polysemous relations........................................................................145
5.4.2 Hyponymy........................................................................................149
5.4.3 Synonymy.........................................................................................150
5.5 A case study of ECT synonymy – domain preference and salience............150
5.5.1 The semasiological perspective........................................................ 154
5.5.2 The onomasiological perspective..................................................... 157
5.6 Summary......................................................................................................159
Chapter 6 In Search of Extra Meaning: ECTs and Markedness................161
6.1 Introduction..................................................................................................161
6.2 Markedness and specificity..........................................................................162
6.3 The marked use of saturation terms.............................................................164
6.3.1 The pattern........................................................................................166
6.3.2 A look at some individual examples................................................170
6.3.3 Theorising the effects.......................................................................176
6.4 Facial colour and mood................................................................................179
6.4.1 Colour terms and emotions in the BoE............................................180
6.4.2 Results..............................................................................................181
6.4.3 ECTs and mood................................................................................184
6.5 Summary.......................................................................................................185
Chapter 7 Figurative Use of Colour Terms...................................................187
7.1 Introduction..................................................................................................187
7.2 Previous studies............................................................................................189
7.3 Basic assumption..........................................................................................194
7.4 Figurative colour expressions and classificatory use...................................195
7.5 Metonymical processes.................................................................................196
7.5.1 Part-whole metonymy.......................................................................197
7.5.2 Part – part metonymy.......................................................................201
7.6 Post-mapping development: local networks and domain logic....................206
7.6.1 Local networks and valence structure..............................................206
7.6.2 Domain logic....................................................................................210
7.7 Figurative use of ECTs.................................................................................212
7.8 Summary.......................................................................................................215
Concluding Remarks..........................................................................................217
Prospects for further research..................................................................................221
Bibliography........................................................................................................223
Dictionaries (with abbreviations)............................................................................244
Internet Sources.......................................................................................................244
Appendix 1. Description of the Bank of English Corpus...............................245
Appendix 2. Regular Expressions Eliminated via Automatic Commands...247
Appendix 3. Frequency of Colour Terms in the Bank of English.................251
Appendix 4. Definitions of Colour Terms.......................................................255
Appendix 5. English Colour Terms and their Age.........................................263
Typographical conventions

Linguistic forms: Italics: dog, black

Meanings of linguistic forms: Single quotes: ‘dog’, ‘written record’

Citations: Double quotes: “…”

Emphasis: Bold face: emphasis

Cognitive categories/concepts: Small caps: DOG, VEHICLE

(Semantic) attributes: normal type in square brackets:
[has legs], [can swim]

Cognitive metaphors/metonymies: + signs and small caps:
+LIFE IS A JOURNEY+,
+PLACE FOR INHABITANTS+

Domains/nominal fields: small italicised caps: DOG, CHAIR
Acknowledgements
Despite my colourful subject, I can confess that writing a thesis could be both grey
and dull at times. Fortunately, I have been privileged to meet and work with a
number of people who have reduced the number and length of those grey moments
considerably.
First I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Gunnar
Persson. Gunnar suggested this subject to me, and although working at a distance
of 300 kilometres, he has always been close; his help, engagement and support
have been invaluable to me. I am grateful to Professor Henryk Kardela, Maria
Curie-Skłodowska University, for his very constructive suggestions for improving
this text. I also owe much of my interest in cognitive linguistics to Henryk. Another
person important for my theoretical development has been Dr Piotr Twardzisz, with
whom I have had many interesting discussions concerning Langackerian
constructs.
Special thanks to Dr Johan Nordlander and Morgan Lundberg for their
meticulous readings of many versions of my manuscript. Their comments have
forced me to clarify obscure thoughts, and sharpen my analytical tools. As true
friends they provided me with endless help in the last stage of my thesis work. I can
truthfully say that without your help, guys, I would never have completed this
thesis. Neville Shrimpton lured me into post-graduate studies and although I gave
up my initial creole project he has continued to give me moral support. Pat
Shrimpton’s well-trained eyes spotted many places where stylistic improvements
could be made in my manuscript. I am grateful for your kind help, Pat. Together
with Mia Svensson I have shared the frustration and laughter of trying to
understand how to draw images in a computer program. My understanding of some
theoretical concepts has deepened in spiritual discussions with Mia.
The Department of Modern Languages at Umeå University is a truly inspiring
environment to work in, and the continuous encouragement I have received from
practically all my colleagues has meant a lot to me. I wish to thank Professor Raoul
Granqvist for giving me valuable comments from the point of view of cultural
studies and Assistant Professor Mark Troy, now, alas, in Karlstad, for teaching me
the importance of passion. Professor Pat Poussa, and my former teacher Berit Wik
have time and again provided me with those little words of encouragement that are
so important. On a personal level, there is a group of people whose importance to
me cannot be overestimated. The humour, warmth and friendship of Katarina
Gregersdotter, Elias Schwieler, Dr Heidi Hansson, Dr Patrik Svensson, Mats
Deutschmann, Janet French and Philip Grey mean more to me than any words can
express. In the last few hectic days in the completion of the thesis Philip’s
contributions in terms of language advice and support were crucial. Thanks to Gerd
Lilljegren, Christina Karlberg and Gunn-Marie Forsberg for always supplying
practical help whenever I needed it.
Many thanks are due to Magnus Olofsson for helping me with the cover, and
Per Arnqvist for explaining statistics to me.
In May of 1999, I spent a couple of weeks at the Centre for Advanced
Research in English, University of Birmingham, working with the Bank of English.
Jeremy Clear, Michelle Devereux and Dr Susan Hunston helped make my stay
extremely fruitful. Dr Alan Cruse, University of Manchester, accepted the
challenge of discussing a twenty-year old article with a soaking wet Swedish post-
graduate student for several hours, and provided me with many facts of language to
consider.
For a while, I terrorised almost any English speakers I could find with
questions about their usage of terms such as turquoise, almond, cinnamon, emerald
etc. Many thanks to Van Leavenworth, Dot Åström and Mary Söderström for
patiently answering such questions.
I am greatly indebted to Knut and Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse for awarding
me a full-time grant for two years.
Finally, and most important of all, I wish to thank my family: my mother
Birgitta for always helping out whenever we need a babysitter or any other
assistance, and for her belief in me; my sons Hjalmar and Konrad for accepting that
their father might have to go to work yet another Saturday or Sunday; my LOVE
Åsa, for her unflagging support, for helping me understand statistics and, not least,
for telling me to take a break occasionally. I hope that this will mark the start of our
new life. My father, Martin Steinvall, did not live to see me complete my thesis, but
he knew that if I had any of his genes I would fight to the bitter end. I dedicate this
book to his memory. A working class hero is something to be.