Re: Quest for colours: what's basic then?

Just for the record, Austronesian color terms, as reflected in
Malay/Indonesian:

Black - hitam
White - putih
Red - merah
Green - hijau
These seems to have no other meanings.

Also reconstructed: *buluN various langs. 'green, black''-- apparently the
color of foliage in the jungle.




Beyond those, it's a little iffy:
--Blue, Ml/In. biru looks like a European loan, and if native is only
attested in Ml/Jav. and Ngaju (of Borneo, influenced by both Ml. and Jav.)
--Yellow - Ml. kuning, possibly related to kunyit 'turmeric' (*kunij)
--Brown - Indo. coklat.  Interestingly, there are lots of native phrasal
compounds to describe attractive (and not) skin-color.

In Indo., light colors are called muda 'young', dark ones tua 'old'; I was
somewhat non-plussed when, as I was picking out a sarong, a companion
remarked that I apparently liked "warna tua" 'old color(s)'-- I thought he
was commenting on my age :-(