You don’t need to be Korean to understand that not everyone has the same language, culture, and life experiences as you. ;)
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I think I remember reading a few years ago that “blue” is one of the last colors to be named/distinguished in the evolution & development of most languages.
[edit: Oops, that’s covered in your wikipedia link]
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In fact I also learned that recently.
I wonder if there are any languages that have a word for the color orange that isn’t derived from the name of the fruit.
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You mean the word as it’s own named color, rather than something that is a composite word of the component colors?
i.e., would you discount hypothetical languages where the color is a transliteration of something like “red-yellow”?
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Yes. In the same way that purple is its own named color, and not a transliteration of something like “red-blue.”
In the Ndonga language of the Namibia-Angola border region, citrus fruits themselves are borrowed, and I think that someone early on got them reversed, because the word for the orange is elemune, which sounds like borrowing “lemon” into Ndonga phonics. And then the word for the color orange is lwelemune – derived from the name of the fruit.
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Another Hawaiian one: the humuhumunukunukuapua’a! That name is even gloriously better than its scientific name (Rhinecanthus rectangulus)!
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Worse? You mean gloriously better!
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Harder and funnier I mean…
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Korean borrows the English 오랜지 (oraenji) for the fruit but has traditionally used 주황/朱黃 (juhwang) for the color, from the Chinese characters 朱=red* + 黃=yellow. However, these days people have started using 오랜지 for the color as well, similar to how the English loanword 핑크 (pingkeu; pink) has been gradually replacing the traditional 분홍/粉紅 (粉 = powder + 紅 = red*).
- Possibly unnecessary addendum:
朱 and 紅 occupy different hues within the spectrum of the general ‘red’ of English.
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Aaaaaaaah so confusing.
I thought that I remembered reading that name was applied to more than one species, not just Rhinecanthus rectangulus
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Oh, really?
I got a weird one for y’all, chicken of the woods.
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The Cloak-and-Dagger Bees would be a good addition to that other thread about fairytale-like taxon names…
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A dinner party consisting of Lepidopterans and Odonatans I’ve observed in Korea could include …
Lepidopterans:
- Great Purple Emperor
- Blue Admiral
- Indian Red Admiral
- Painted Lady
- The Flame
- Black Hairstreak
- Dryad
- Four-spotted Footman
- Pygmy
- Double-striped Tabby
Odonatans:
Also invited to the party, and present in Korea, but which I haven’t seen myself …
Lepidopterans:
Seems like it has the potential to be an interesting evening with all of those individuals in attendance.
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