Re: Color Terms

On Fri, 17 Nov 2000, Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
> On Fri, 17 Nov 2000, Sylvia Sotomayor wrote:
>
> > I had a small epiphany regarding Kélen color terms. Currently in the lexicon,
> > there are a number that have very similar meaning, as in:
> > tiél    purple, lavender
> > tásh    purple
> >
> > It occured to me that the Kélen have a rather complex color scheme where the
> > name of the color changes according to what is being described. The way a Kélen
> > person would describe it is that they have 4 different sets of color terms, 4
> > being the sacred number of course. The 4 terms cover 4 domains and 9 colors. I
> > will try to lay this out in a table format and hope that the tab settings in
> > your browser/email-reader are the same:
> [snip]
> Neat idea!  And I suppose it isn't any worse than the multiplicity of
> Crayola colors.  :-)
>
> I haven't figured out color terms myself, still trying to figure out how
> to revamp proto-conlang phonology.  But I doubt I'd've come up with
> something that neat.
>
> YHL
Thank you.

I came up with my 20-odd color terms years ago, and I've known all along that
some of them were used in specific circumstances, such as describing hair
color, or the color of the sky. It didn't occur to me to divide them into sets
until yesterday.

We've discussed personality types several times on this list. One reason I'm
always skeptical of the tests is this: When it comes to solving business and
practical problems, I take a very rational approach. But, when it comes to
resolving personal problems or figuring out Kélen, I take an intuitive approach
and will often mentally put questions aside to be answered later. Then my
subconscious chews on the situation for awhile (weeks, months, sometimes years),
and out pops a solution, full blown, like Athena.  So, which is my primary mode
of thinking?

--
Sylvia Sotomayor
sylvia1@ix.netcom.com
http://home.netcom.com/~sylvia1/
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