Blue–green distinction in language

In many languages, the colors described in English as "blue" and "green" are colexified, i.e. expressed using a single cover term. To describe this English lexical gap, linguists use the portmanteau—with a rather different meaning—in his 1955 '' Fact, Fiction, and Forecast'' to illustrate his "new riddle of induction".

The exact definition of "blue" and "green" may be complicated by the speakers not primarily distinguishing the hue, but using terms that describe other color components such as saturation and luminosity, or other properties of the object being described. For example, "blue" and "green" might be distinguished, but a single term might be used for both if the color is dark. Furthermore, green might be associated with yellow, and blue with either black or gray.

According to Brent Berlin and Paul Kay's 1969 study '' Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution'', distinct terms for brown, purple, pink, orange, and gray will not emerge in a language until the language has made a distinction between green and blue. In their account of the development of color terms the first terms to emerge are those for white/black (or light/dark), red and green/yellow.

Afro-Asiatic

Amazigh

The word for blue in the Amazigh language is ''azerwal''. In some dialects of Amazigh, like Shilha or Kabyle, the word ''azegzaw'' is used for both green and blue.

Arabic

The color of the sky is sometimes referred to as "the green" in Classical Arabic poetry, in which it is ''al-khaḍrā''' (). In Arabic the word for blue is generally ''azraq'' (). The Arabic word for green is ''akhḍar'' ().

In Moroccan Arabic, the word for light blue is ''šíbi'', whereas ''zraq'' () stands for blue and ''khḍar'' () for green. The word ''zrag'' () is used to describe the color of a suffocated person, and is also used pejoratively as a synonym to "dumb, stupid".

Egyptian

The ancient Egyptian word ''wadjet'' covered the range of blue, blue-green, and green. On the one hand, it was the name of a goddess, the patroness of Lower Egypt, represented as a cobra called Wadjet, "the green one", or as the Eye of Horus, also called by the same name. On the other hand, ''wedjet'' was the word used for Egyptian blue in faience ceramics.

Hebrew

In Hebrew, the word "" (pronounced ) means blue, while "" (pronounced ) means green and has the same root, (j-r-q), as the word for "vegetables" (, ). However, in classical Hebrew, can mean both green and yellow, giving rise to such expressions as (pronounced ), "leek green", to specify green to the exclusion of yellow. Like Russian and Italian, Hebrew has a separate name for light blue (, " t'khelet")—the color of the sky and of fringes (''tzitzit'') on the ritual garment ''tallit''. This color has special symbolic significance in both Judaism and Jewish culture.

American languages

Chahta

The Choctaw language has two words, ''okchʋko'' and ''okchʋmali'', which have different meanings depending on the source. In 1852 ''okchakko'' is translated variously as pale blue or pale green, ''okchakko chohmi'' (''somewhat okchakko'') is given as swarthy, and ''okchamali'' is defined as deep blue, gray, green, or sky blue. In 1880 ''okchakko'' and ''okchʋmali'' are both given as blue, and green is not specifically listed as a color. In an 1892 dictionary, ''okchamali'' is deep blue or green, ''okchakko'' is pale blue or bright green, and a third word ''kili̱koba'' is bright green (resembling a ''kili̱kki'', a species of parrot). By 1915, the authoritative Byington dictionary gives ''okchako'' as blue and ''okchamali'' as green, blue, gray, verdant. A current coursebook differentiates based on brightness, giving ''okchʋko'' as bright blue/green and ''okchʋmali'' as pale or dull blue/green. Modern usage in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma language school is to use ''okchʋko'' for blue and ''okchʋmali'' for green, with no distinction for brightness.

Kanienʼkéha

The language of the Kanien'kehá:ka Nation at Akwesasne is at Stage VII on the Berlin–Kay Scale, and possesses distinct terms for a broad range of spectral and nonspectral colors such as blue (''oruía''), green (''óhute''), black (''kahúji''), white (''karákA''), and gray (''atakArókwa''). According to one researcher, the Kanien'kehá:ka term for purple (''arihwawakunéha'') translates to 'bishop s color, a recent, post-Christianization coinage. The way in which purple was categorized and referenced prior to the addition of the latter term is not clear.

Lakota

In the Lakota Sioux language, the word ''tȟó'' is used for both blue and green, though the word ''tȟózi'' (a mixture of the words ''tȟó'' meaning "blue (green)," and ''zí'' meaning "yellow") has become common (''zítȟo'' can also be used). This is in line with common practice of using ''zíša/šázi'' for orange (''šá'' meaning "red"), and ''šátȟo/tȟóša'' for "purple/violet."

Mapudungun

Mapudungun distinguishes between black (''kurü''), blue (''kallfü'') and green (''karü'', also meaning "raw" or "immature"). The word ''payne'' was formerly used to refer to a sky blue, and also refers to the bluish color of stones (Zúñiga, 2006).

Mayan

Single words for blue/green are also found in Mayan languages; for example, in the Yukatek Maya language ''blue/green'' is ''yax''.

Tupian

Tupian languages did not originally differ between the two colors, though they may now as a result of interference of Spanish (in the case of Guaraní) or Portuguese (in the case of Nheengatu). The Tupi word ''oby'' () meant both, as does the Guaraní ''hovy'' (). In modern Tupi ( nheengatu) you can use the word "suikiri" for green and "iakira/akira" for blue, but they are still interchangeable, because "iakira/akira" also means immature, as in "pakua akira" (green banana/immature banana), and "suikiri" can also mean blue. In modern Guarani, they use "hovy" for blue and "hovy'û" (which literally means "dark green/blue") for green. So "hovy" can still be used for green, and "hovy'û" can be used for dark blue shades. They also have the word "aky", cognate with nheengatu "akira", and it means green/immature too.

Yebamasa

The Yebamasa of the Rio Piraparana region in Vaupés Department, southeastern Colombia, use the term ''sumese'' for both blue and green. The letter "u" is pronounced like the German "ü".

Austronesian languages

Filipino (Tagalog)

Speakers of Tagalog most commonly use the Spanish loanwords for blue and green—''asul'' (from Spanish ''azul'') and ''berde'' (from Spanish ''verde''), respectively. Although these words are much more common in spoken use, Tagalog has native terms: ''bugháw'' for blue and ''lunti(án)'' for green, which are seen as archaic and more flowery. These are mostly confined to formal and academic writings, alongside artistic fields such literature, music, and poetry.

In Cebuano, another major Philippine language, the native words for "blue" and "green" end in the same syllable: ''pughaw'' and ''lunhaw'', respectively. Pughaw means sky blue, while lunhaw is fresh leaf green (i.e. neither brownish nor yellowish).

Humor and jokes of a sexual or derogatory nature that would otherwise be described as "blue" in English (e.g. " blue comedy", " blue joke") are called "green" in Philippine English. This is a calque of the Hispanic term ''chiste verde''.

Javanese

Modern Javanese has distinct words for blue ''biru'' and green ''ijo''. These words are derived from Old Javanese ''birū'' and ''hijo''. However, in Old Javanese ''birū'' could mean pale blue, grayish blue, greenish blue, or even turquoise, while ''hijo'' which means green, could also mean the blue-green color of clear water. ''Biru'' and ''ijo'' in Modern Javanese are cognates of Malay/Indonesian ''biru'' and ''hijau'' which both have the same meaning.

Dravidian

Kannada

The Kannada language distinguishes between blue (''neeli'' - ನೀಲಿ), green (''hasiru'' - ಹಸಿರು) and yellow (''haladi'' - ಹಳದಿ). The prefix ''kadu'' (ಕಡು) would indicate darker colors while the prefix ''tili'' (ತಿಳಿ) would indicate light colors. Thus ''kaduneeli'' (ಕಡುನೀಲಿ) would mean dark/deep blue, while ''tilineeli'' (ತಿಳಿನೀಲಿ) would mean light blue.

Tamil

The Tamil language distinguishes between the colors green (''paccai''), blue (''neelam'') and black (''karuppu''). The prefix ''karu-'' would indicate dark colors while the suffix ''iḷam'' would indicate light colors. Thus ''karumpaccai'' would be dark green.

Telugu

The Telugu language uses a single word, te, పచ్చ ''pacca'', for green and yellow. To differentiate between the two shades, another word is prefixed in some cases. For example, green will be called ''ākupacca'' "leaf-''pacca''" and yellow ''pasupupacca'' "turmeric-''pacca''".

Malayalam

In Malayalam there are distinct words for blue (neela - നീല), green (pachcha - പച്ച) and yellow (manja - മഞ്ഞ).

East Asian languages

Chinese

The modern Chinese language has the blue–green distinction ( 藍 ''lán'' for blue and 綠 ''lǜ'' for green); however, another word that predates the modern vernacular, ''qīng'' (), is also used. The character depicts the budding of a young plant and it could be understood as "verdant", but the word is used to describe colors ranging from light and yellowish green through deep blue all the way to black, as in ''xuánqīng'' (). For example, the flag of the Republic of China is referred to as ''qīng tiān, bái rì, mǎn dì hóng'' ("Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth"—「」); whereas ''qīngcài'' () is the Chinese word for "green vegetable," referring to bok choy. ''Qīng'' 靑, was the traditional designation of both blue and green for much of the history of the Chinese language, while 藍 ''lán'' ('blue') originally referred to the indigo plant. However, the character 綠 ''lǜ'' ('green'), as a particular 'shade' of ''qīng'' applied to cloth and clothing, has been attested since the '' Book of Odes'' (1000 to 600 B.C.) (e.g., the title of Ode 27 《邶風·綠衣》 'Green Upper Garment' in the ''Airs of Bei''). After the discarding of Classical Chinese in favor of modern Vernacular Chinese, the modern terms for blue and green are now more commonly used than ''qīng'' as standalone color terms, although ''qīng'' is still part of many common noun phrases. The two forms can also be encountered combined as 靑藍 and 靑綠, with 靑 being used as an intensifier. In modern scientific contexts, ''qīng'' refers to cyan and is distinguished from blue and green.

Japanese

The Japanese word , the same kanji character as the Chinese ''qīng'', can refer to either blue or green depending on the situation. Modern Japanese has a word for , but it is a relatively recent usage. Ancient Japanese did not have this distinction: the word ''midori'' came into use only in the Heian period, and at that time (and for a long time thereafter) ''midori'' was still considered a shade of ''ao''. Educational materials distinguishing green and blue came into use only after World War II; thus, even though most Japanese consider them to be green, the word ''ao'' is still used to describe certain vegetables, apples, and vegetation. ''Ao'' is also the word used to refer to the color on a traffic light that signals one to "go". However, most other objects—a green car, a green sweater, and so forth—will generally be called ''midori''. Japanese people also sometimes use the word , based on the English word "green", for colors. The language also has several other words meaning specific shades of green and blue.

Korean

The native Korean word (Revised Romanization: ''pureu-da'') may mean either blue or green, or bluish green. These adjectives are used for blue as in (''pureu-n haneul'', blue sky), or for green as in (''pureu-n sup'', green forest). 푸른 (''pureu-n'') is a noun-modifying form. Another word 파랗다 (''para-ta'') usually means blue, but sometimes it also means green, as in 파란 불 (''para-n bul'', green light of a traffic light). There are Sino-Korean expressions that refer to green and blue. (''chorok'' adj./ n.), (''choroksaek'' n. or for short, ''noksaek'' n.) is used for green. ''Cheong'' , another expression borrowed from Chinese (靑), is mostly used for blue, as in 청바지/靑-- (cheong-baji, blue jeans") and Cheong Wa Dae ( or Hanja: ), the Blue House, which is the former executive office and official residence of the President of the Republic of Korea, but is also used for green as well, as in 청과물/靑果物 (cheong-gwamul, fruits and vegetables) and 청포도/靑葡萄 (cheong-podo, green grape).

Tibetan

In Tibetan, སྔོན་པོ། ( Wylie sngon po) is the term traditionally given for the color of the sky and of grass. This term also falls into the general pattern of naming colors by appending the suffix "po", as in "mar po" (red); "ser po" (yellow); "nag po" (black); and "dkar po" (white). Conspicuously, the term for "green" is "ljang khu", likely related to "ljang bu", and defined as—"the grue (sngon po) sprout of wheat or barley".

Vietnamese

Vietnamese used to not use separate words for green and blue, with both blue and green being denoted as ''xanh''. This is a colloquial rendering of ''thanh'' (靑), as with Chinese and Japanese. In modern usage, blue and green are distinguished. Shades of blue are specifically described as ''xanh da trời (''light blue skin of sky), or ''xanh dương, xanh nước biển'', (deep blue of ocean). Green is described as ''xanh lá cây (''color of leaves).

Vietnamese occasionally employs the terms ''xanh lam'' (blue) and ''xanh lục'' (green) in which the second syllables is derived from the Chinese: 藍 and 綠 respectively, sometimes skipping the syllable ''xanh'', for ''blue'' and ''green'', respectively, in formal or scientific speech. ''Xanh'' can also be used singularly for any color that is the shade in between blue and green inclusively.

Mongolian

In Mongolian, the word for green is ногоон (''nogoon''). Mongolian distinguishes between dark and light blue. The word for light blue is цэнхэр (''tsenher''), and the word for dark blue is хөх (''höh'').

Indo-European

Albanian

Albanian has two major words for "blue": ''kaltër'' refers to a light blue, such as that of the sky, but it is derived from Vulgar Latin ''calthinus'', itself derived from ''caltha'', a loan from Ancient Greek that meant "marigold" a small and in fact yellow flower. The other word, ''blu'', refers to a darker shade of blue, and like many similar words across many European languages, derives ultimately from Germanic (see also: Italian ''blu''). There is a separate word for green, ''gjelbër'', which derives from the Latin ''galbinus'', which originally meant "yellow" (cf. German ''gelb''); the original Latin word for green on the other hand, ''viridis'', is the source of the Albanian word for "yellow", ''verdhë''. Albanian also has a borrowed word for green, ''jeshil'', from Turkish ''yeşil''; it tends to be used for non-natural greens (such as traffic signals) in contrast to ''gjelbër''.

Baltic

There are separate words for green (''zaļš'') and blue (''zils'') in Latvian. Both ''zils'' and ''zaļš'' stem from the same Proto-Indo-European word for yellow (''*ghel''). Several other words in Latvian have been derived from these colors, namely grass is called ''zāle'' (from ''zaļš''), while the name for iris is ''zīlīte'' (from ''zils'').

The now archaic word ''mēļš'' was used to describe both dark blue and black (probably indicating that previously ''zils'' was used only for lighter shades of blue). For instance, blueberries and blackberries are called ''mellenes''.

In Latvian black is "melns" (in some local dialects "mells").

In Lithuanian ''žalias'' is green, ''mėlynas'' is blue and ''žilas'' is gray (hair), grizzled.

Slavic

Bulgarian, a South Slavic language, makes a clear distinction between blue (синьо, ''sinyo''), green (зелено, ''zeleno''), and black (черно, ''cherno'').

In the Polish language, blue (''niebieski'' from ''niebo'' – sky) and green (''zielony'') are treated as separate colors. The word for sky blue or azure—''błękitny''—might be considered either a basic color or a shade of blue by different speakers. Similarly dark blue or navy blue (''granatowy''—deriving from the name of pomegranate (granat), some cultivars of which are dark purplish blue in color) can be considered by some speakers as a separate basic color. Black (''czarny'') is completely distinguished from blue. As in English, Polish distinguishes pink ("różowy") from red ("czerwony").

The word ''siwy'' means blue-gray in Polish (literally: "color of gray hair"). The word ''siny'' refers to violet-blue and is used to describe the color of bruises ("siniaki"), hematoma, and the blue skin discoloration that can result from moderate hypothermia.

Russian does not have a single word referring to the whole range of colors denoted by the English term "blue". Instead, it traditionally treats light blue (голубой, ''goluboy'') as a separate color independent from plain or dark blue (синий, ''siniy''), with all seven "basic" colors of the spectrum (red–orange–yellow–green– голубой / ''goluboy'' (sky blue, light azure, but ''does not equal'' cyan)– синий / ''siniy'' ("true" deep blue, like synthetic ultramarine)–violet) while in English the light blues like azure and cyan are considered mere shades of "blue" and not different colors. The Russian word for "green" is зелёный, ''zielioniy''. To better understand this, consider that English makes a similar distinction between " red" and light red (pink, which is considered a different color and not merely a kind of red), but such a distinction is unknown in several other languages; for example, both "red" ( , ''hóng'', traditionally called ), and "pink" (, ''fěn hóng'', lit. "powder red") have traditionally been considered varieties of a single color in Chinese. The Russian language also distinguishes between red (красный, krasniy) and pink (розовый, rozoviy).

Similarly, English language descriptions of rainbows have often distinguished between blue or turquoise and indigo, the latter of which is often described as dark blue or ultramarine.

The Serbo-Croatian color system makes a distinction between blue, green and black:

*Blue: ''plav'' (indicates any blue) and ''modar''; in the eastern speaking areas ''modar'' indicates dark blue, in some of the western areas it may indicate any blue
**Navy blue: ''teget'' (mainly in the eastern speaking areas)
**Ash blue: ''sinj(i)'' (espetially in Dalmatia to describe sea in stormy weather: ''sinje more'')
*Green: ''zelen''
*Black: ''crn''

''Modar'' may also mean dark blue and dark purple that are used to describe colours of a bruise, ''modrica''. Native speakers cannot pinpoint a color on the spectrum which would correspond to ''modra''.

''Sinj'', cognate to Bulgarian синьо, ''sinyo''/Russian синий, ''siniy'', is archaic, and denotes blue-gray, usually used to describe dark seas.

Turquoise is usually described as ''tirkizan'', and similarly, azure will use a loan word ''azuran''. There is no specific word for cyan. Blond hair is called ''plava'' ('blue'), reflecting likely the archaic use of "plav" for any bright white/blue colors (like the sky).

''Mrk'' "dusky" can refer either dark brown, less often dark gray, or even black. It is etymologically derived from the word for "darkness" (''mrak''), but is distinct from "dark" (''taman''). For instance, it is used to describe the brown bear (''mrki medved/medvjed''). ''Smeđ'' and ''kestenjast'' refer brown, ''crven'' means red, ''ružičast'' is for pink and ''narandžast'' designates orange.

Shades are defined with a prefix (e.g. "tamno-" for dark, or "svetlo-/svijetlo-" for light), for example, dark blue = "tamnoplav".

The Slovene language distinguishes among blue, green and black

* Blue: ''moder (officially)'' or ''plav (vernacular)'' is used for any blue. Sometimes a word ''sinj (''adj. ''sinje)'' is also used to describe azure. The word ''akvamarin'' is sometimes used for navy-blue.
* Green: ''zelen'' is related to the word ''zel'', which is derived from Proto-Slavic word "''зель"'' for "herb" - which in turn is believed to be derived from Proto-Indo-European word for "to shine", which also described light shades of colors (gold, yellow and green).
* Black: ''Črn''

Although the blue and green color are not strictly defined, so Slovene speakers cannot point to a certain shade of blue or green, but rather the whole spectrum of blue and green shades, there is a distinction between light and dark hues of these colors, which is described with prefixes ''svetlo- (light)'' and ''temno- (dark)''.

Transient hues between blue and green are mostly described as ''zeleno moder'' or ''modro zelen'', sometimes as ''turkizen'' (turquoise). Transient hues between green and yellow (''rumena'') are described as ''rumeno zelen'' or ''zeleno rumen.''

Celtic

The Welsh and Cornish word ''glas'' is usually translated as "blue"; however, it can also refer, variously, to the color of the sea, of grass, or of silver (cf. Greek γλαυκός). The word ''gwyrdd'' (a borrowing from Latin ''viridis'') is the standard translation for "green". In traditional Welsh (and related languages), ''glas'' could refer to certain shades of green and gray as well as blue, and ''llwyd'' could refer to various shades of gray and brown. Perhaps under the influence of English, modern Welsh is trending toward the 11-color Western scheme, restricting ''glas'' to blue and using ''gwyrdd'' for green, ''llwyd'' for gray and ''brown'' for brown, respectively. However, the more traditional usage is still heard today in the Welsh for grass (''glaswellt'' or ''gwelltglas''), and in fossilized expressions such as ''caseg las'' (gray mare), ''tir glas'' (green land), ''papur llwyd'' (brown paper) and even red for brown in ''siwgwr coch'' (brown sugar).

In Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic the word for "blue" is ''gorm'' (whence the name Cairngorm mountains derives) – a borrowing of the now obsolete Early Welsh word ''gwrm'', meaning "dark blue" or "dusky". A relic of the original meaning ("dusky", "dark brown") survives in the Irish term ''daoine gorma'', meaning "Black people".

In Old and Middle Irish, like in Welsh, ''glas'' was a blanket term for colors ranging from green to blue to various shades of gray (e.g. the ''glas'' of a sword, the ''glas'' of stone, etc.). In Modern Irish, it has come to mean both various shades of green, with specific reference to plant hues, and gray (like the sea), respectively; other shades of green would be referred to in Modern Irish as ''uaine'' or ''uaithne'', while ''liath'' is gray proper (like a stone).

Scottish Gaelic uses the term ''uaine'' for "green". However, the dividing line between it and ''gorm'' is somewhat different than between the English "green" and "blue", with ''uaine'' signifying a light green or yellow-green, and ''gorm'' extending from dark blue (what in English might be navy blue) to include the dark green or blue-green of vegetation. Grass, for instance, is ''gorm'', rather than ''uaine''. In addition, ''liath'' covers a range from light blue to light gray. However, the term for a green apple, such as a Granny Smith, would be ''ubhal glas''.

The boundary between colors varies much more than the "focal point": e.g. an island known in Breton as ''Enez c'hlas ("the blue island")'' is ''l'Île Verte ("the green island")'' in French, in both cases referring to the grayish-green color of its bushes, even though both languages distinguish green from blue.

Romance

The Romance terms for "green" (Catalan ', French ', Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish ') are all from Latin '. The terms for "blue", on the other hand, vary: Catalan ', Occitan ', French ' and Italian ' come from a Germanic root, whereas the Spanish and Portuguese ''azul'' is likely to come from Arabic. French ''bleu'' was in turn loaned into many other languages, including English. Latin itself did not have a word covering all shades of blue, which may help explain these borrowings. It did, however, recognise ' (dark blue, sometimes greenish), and ' (grayish blue, like lead).

French, as most Romance languages, makes roughly the same distinctions as English and has a specific term for each of blue (""), green ("") and gray (""). For all three, different shades can be indicated with different (compound) terms, none of them being considered as basic color terms: "bleu " (light blue), "bleu " (sky blue), "bleu " (Navy blue), "bleu " (royal blue); "vert clair" (light green), "vert " (literally: apple green); "gris " (deep gray), "gris " (literally: "mouse gray"). French also uses "" for the lighter shade of blue of the sunny sky, that was in turn loaned to English as "azure".

Catalan distinguishes blue (') from green (') and gray ('). Other basic or common colors by its own right are ' "purple", ' "yellow", ' or ' "orange", ' "red", ' "pink", ' "brown", ' "gray", ' "black" and ' "white". For all these colors except black and white it is possible to indicate different shades using ' "light" and ' "dark"; for blue, though, it generally is ''blau cel'' "sky blue" and ''blau marí'' "sea blue". Other words and compounds are common to indicate more elaborated shades (''verd llimona'' "lemon green", ''rosa pàl·lid'' "pale pink", ''lila'' "lilac", ''granat'' "carmine", ''ocre'' "ocher", ''verd oliva'' "olive green", etc.). Catalan actually distinguishes two reds with different and common words: while ' refers to the color of blood, ' is a red tending towards yellow or the color of clay.

Italian distinguishes blue ('), green (') and gray ('). There are also common words for light blue (e.g. the color of the cloudless sky): ' and ', and other for darker shades, e.g. ', indigo. ', the equivalent of the English azure, is usually considered a separate basic color rather than a shade of ''blu'' (similar to the distinction in English between red and pink). Some sources even go to the point of defining ''blu'' as a darker shade of ''azzurro''. ''Celeste'' literally means '(the color) of the sky' and can be used as synonym of ''azzurro'', although it will more often be considered a less saturated hue. ' (aquamarine) literally "sea water", indicates an even lighter, almost transparent, shade of blue. To indicate a mix of green and blue, Italians might say ''verde '', literally ''water green''. The term ', not common in standard Italian and perceived as a literary term, is used in scientific contexts (esp. botany) to indicate a mix of blue, green and gray. Other similar terms are ' and ' (turquoise/teal); they are more saturated hues (especially turchese) and differ in context of use: the first is a literary or bureaucratic term (used for example to indicate light green eyes in identity cards); the second is more common in any informal speech, along with the variant ''turchino'' (for instance, the fairy of ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' is called ''fata turchina'').

In Portuguese, the word "" means blue and the word "" means green. Furthermore, "azul-" means light-blue, and "azul-" means dark-blue. More distinctions can be made between several hues of blue. For instance, "azul-" means sky blue, "azul-" means navy-blue and "azul-" means turquoise-blue. One can also make the distinction between "verde-claro" and "verde-escuro", meaning light and dark-green respectively, and more distinctions between several qualities of green: for instance, "verde-" means olive-green and "verde-" means emerald-green. Cyan is usually called "azul-celeste" (sky blue) and "verde-", meaning water green.

Romanian clearly distinguishes between the colors green (') and blue ('). It also uses separate words for different hues of the same color, e.g. light blue ('), blue (''albastru''), dark-blue (''bleu-'' or '), along with a word for turquoise (') and azure (' or ').

Similarly to French, Romanian, Italian and Portuguese, Spanish distinguishes blue (') and green (') and has an additional term for the tone of blue visible in the sky, namely "", which is nonetheless considered a shade of blue.

Germanic

In Old Norse, the word ' "blue" (from proto-Germanic ) was also used to describe black (and the common word for people of African descent was thus ' 'blue/black men'). In Swedish, ', the modern word for blue, was used this way until the early 20th century, and it still is to a limited extent in modern Faroese.

German and Dutch distinguish blue (respectively ' and ') and green (' and ') very similarly to English. There are (compound) terms for light blue (' and ') and darker shades of blue (' and '). In addition, adjective forms of most traditional color names are inflected to match the corresponding noun's case and gender.

Greek

The words for “blue” and “green” completely changed in the transition from Ancient Greek to Modern Greek.

Ancient Greek had () “clear light blue” contrasting with () “bright green”; for darker shades of both colors, and were replaced by (), meaning either a “dark blue or green”. The words had more than one modern meaning: in addition to “clear light blue”, also meant “turquoise” and “teal-green” – it was the typical description of the color of the goddess Athena’s eyes, portrayed as either gray or light blue. As well as “bright green”, was also used for “acid yellow” (compare “chlorophyll”). Furthermore, not only meant “turquoise” and “teal-green”, but could mean either a “dark blue” or “dark green” or just “blue” (adopted into English as “cyan” for light sky-blue).

Those terms changed in Byzantine Greek as seen from the insignia colors of two of Constantinople’s rival popular factions: (, “the Greens”) and (, “the Blues”). It is not known if those groups’ names influenced the word change or if they were named using the new color terms, but whichever way it went, () is a Modern Greek word for “green”.

The ancient term for blue () has become an archaic term in Modern Greek, replaced by () or (, “sea colored”) for light blue / sea blue, and the recent indeclinable loan-word (, from French ''bleu''; μπ = ''b'') is used for blue.

In the Modern Greek language, there are names for light and dark blues and greens in ''addition'' to those discussed above:

As a rule, the first two words of the list are accepted as shades of blue, and the rest as shades of green. Also () / () for violet blue (which is, however, usually considered as a shade of purple, rather than blue).

Iranian

Ossetian has only one word for blue, light blue and green—цъæх (tsəh), which also means "gray" and "glaucous"—but it also has a separate word for green, кæрдæгхуыз (kərdəghuɨz), literally "grassy" (from кæрдæг "grass"). The latter derives from кæрдын (kərdɨn) "to mow" (like in German ''Heu'' (''hau'') < ''hauen'' (to mow)).

Ossetian also has separate words for the following colors:
* light blue: æрвхуыз (ərvhuɨz) from æрвон "sky"
* glaucous: бæлонхуыз (bəlonhuɨz) from бæлон "pigeon" (a calque from Russian, cf. голубой (light blue) < голубь (pigeon)); also фæздæгхуыз (fəzdəghuɨz) from ''fazdag'' "smoke", from Old Persian *pazdaka-, cognate of Latin ''pedis'' (louse)
* blue: копрадзхуыз (kopradzhuɨz), from копрадз (kopradz) - bluing for laundering, transliteration of Russian купорос (kuporos) "vitriol" from Latin ''cuprum'' "copper"
* gray: фæныкхуыз (fənykhuɨz), from фæнык (fənyk) "ashes", originating from Persian *pa(s)nu-ka, or Russian cognate песок (pesok) "sand"

Pashto uses the word ''shīn'' to denote blue as well as green. ''Shinkay'', a word derived from ''shīn'', means 'greenery' but ''shīn āsmān'' means 'blue sky'. One way to disambiguate is to ask "''Shīn'' like the sky? Or ''shīn'' like plants?" (Blue and green are however distinguished using different words in the eastern parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, due to contact with other languages.)

Persian words for blue include ''ābi'' (literally the color of water, from ''āb'' 'water'), for blue generally; ''nili'' (from ''nil'', 'indigo dye'), for deeper shades of blue such as the color of rain clouds; ''fayruzeh'' 'turquoise stone', used to describe the color of blue eyes; ''lājvardi'' or ''lāzhvardi'' 'lapis lazuli color', source of the words ''lazuli'' and ''azure''; ''nilufari'' 'water lily color'; and ''kabud'', an old literary word for 'blue'.

The Persian word for green is ''sabz''. As in Sudan, dark-skinned people may be described as "green".

The color of the sky is variously described in Persian poetry using the words ''sabz'', ''fayruzeh'', ''nil'', ''lājvardi'', or ''nilufari''— literally "green", "indigo", "turquoise", "azure" or "the color of water lilies". For example, ''sabz-ākhor'' "green stable", ''sabz-āshyāneh'' "green ceiling", ''sabz-ayvān'' "green balcony", ''sabz-bādbān'' "green sail", ''sabz-bāgh'' "green garden", ''sabz-farsh'' "green carpet", ''sabz-golshan'' "green flower-garden", ''sabz-kārgāh'' "green workshop", ''sabz-kh''^''v''''ān'' "green table", ''sabz-manzareh'' "green panorama", ''sabz-maydān'' "green field" ''sabz-pol'' "green bridge", ''sabz-tāq'' "green arch", ''sabz-tasht'' "green bowl", and ''sabz-tā'us'' "green peacock" are poetic epithets for the sky—in addition to similar compounds using the words for blue, e.g. ''lājvardi-saqf'' "lapis lazuli-colored roof" or ''fayruzeh-tasht'' "turquoise bowl". Moreover, the words for green of Arabic origin ''akhzar'' and ''khazrā'' are used for epithets of the sky or heaven, such as ''charkh-e akhzar'' "green wheel".

Indo-Aryan

Chinalbashe (an unclassified Indo-Aryan language) & Chambyali (a Western Pahari language) have the same term for blue & green i.e. Takri: ISO: .

Other Indo-Aryan languages distinguish blue from green. In Urdu, blue is نیلا (''nīlā'') and green is سبز (''sabz''). There are some names of shades of blue as well, like فیروزی (''ferozī'') "turquoise".
In Hindi, blue is नीला (''nīlā'') and green is हरा (''harā'').
In Marathi, blue is निळा (''niḽā'') and green is हिरवा (''hiravā'').

Niger-Congo A

In Yoruba, there are only three fundamental terms for colors, one of them, the word "dúdú," is used for the word black and colors such as blue, green, purple, and grey. In modern times, unique terms for the colors are formed based on descriptive markers or English loan words, àwọ̀ ewé, (meaning colors of the leaves), is used for green, while búlùú (from English "blue") or àwọ̀ aró (color of dye), is used for blue.

Niger-Congo B (Bantu)

isiZulu and isiXhosa

Zulu and Xhosa use the word ''-luhlaza'' (the prefix changes according to the class of the noun) for ''blue/green''. Speakers of the two mutually intelligible languages can add a descriptive word after the colour term to differentiate between the two colours i.e. "(lu)hlaza okwesibhakabhaka" meaning - 'like the sky' or (lu)hlaza okwotshani meaning -'like grass'.

Kiswahili

The Swahili word for blue is ''buluu'', which is derived directly from English and has been in the language for a relatively short time. For other colors, Swahili uses either ''rangi ya ___'' (''the color of ___'') or a shortened version, ''-a ___''. For example, green is ''rangi ya kijani'' or ''rangi ya majani'', which means ''the color of grass/leaves''. Sky blue is ''rangi ya samawati'', or ''the color of the sky'' from the Arabic word for sky. (Note: all of these can be written as ''-a kijani'', ''-a majani'', ''-a samwati'', etc.)

OtjiHimba

The Himba people use a single word for shades of green and blue: ''buru''. They curiously have only three other color names; thus, their limited color perception has both aroused interest in anthropologists, who have studied this phenomenon.

Setswana

Tswana uses the same word ''tala'' to refer to both blue and green. One has to deduce from the context and prior knowledge, of what is being talked about, to be able to pinpoint exactly the color in question.

Northern Caucusus languages

In the language Tsakhur, not only are blue and green distinguished, but also turquoise.

Other European languages

Basque

The Basque language has three native color words derived from ''ur'' (water). ''Urdin'', is nowadays used in most cases for blue. ''Ubel'' originally meant "flash flood" and, with respect to colors, refers to bruises. ''Begi ubela'' would be translated into English by "a black and blue eye". But in Basque, unlike English, ''ubel'' remains in use after the hit skin has lost its purple color and become pale, why this word is used for both "purple" in particular and "pale hue" in general. ''Uher'' originally meant "dirty", "still water" or "rusty"; it is used for gray or sienna tones, and more generally for dark colors. Green is usually expressed with the loan-word ''berde'' from Spanish "verde" / French "vert". The authenticity of the less common Basque terms for green ''(h)orlegi'' and ''musker'' is disputed.

Uralic

Finnish makes a distinction between ''vihreä'' (green) and ''sininen'' (blue). Turquoise or teal (''turkoosi'' or ''sinivihreä'') is considered to be a separate, intermediate color between green and blue, and black (''musta'') is also differentiated from blue.

The name for blue, ''sininen'', is shared with other Finnic languages and is thus dated to the era of the Proto-Finnic language (ca. 2000 years old). However, it is also shared with the Slavic languages (Russian синий, ''siniy''), suggesting that it could be a loanword (most probable from Indo-Iranian Scythian language; see Proto-Finnic *sini, Proto-Slavic *siňь). The word ''vihreä'' (''viher-'', archaic ''viheriä'', ''viheriäinen'') is related to ''vehreä'' "verdant" and ''vihanta'' "green", and ''viha'' "hate", originally "poison". It is not shared with Estonian, in which it is ''roheline'', probably related with the Estonian word ''rohi'' "grass". However, the form ''viha'' does have correspondences in related languages as far as Permic languages, where it means not only "poison" but "bile" or "green or yellow". It has been originally loaned from an Indo-Iranian protolanguage and is related to Latin ''virus'' "poison". Furthermore, the word ''musta'' "black" is also of Finnic origin.

The differentiation of several colors by hue is at least Finnic (a major subgroup of Uralic) in origin. Before this, only red (''punainen'') was clearly distinguished by hue, with other colors described in terms of brightness (''valkea'' vs. ''musta''), using non-color adjectives for further specificity. Alternatively, it appears that the distinction between ''valkea'' and ''musta'' was in fact "clean, shining" vs. "dirty, murky". The original meaning of ''sini'' was possibly either "black/dark" or "green". Mauno Koski's theory is that dark colors of high saturation—both blue and green—would be ''sini'', while shades of color with low saturation, such as dark brown or black, would be ''musta''. Although it is theorized that originally ''vihreä'' was not a true color name and was used to describe plants only, the occurrence of ''vihreä'' or ''viha'' as a name of a color in several related languages shows that it was probably polysemic (meaning both "green" and "verdant") already in early Baltic-Finnic. However, whatever the case with these theories, differentiation of blue and green must be at least as old as the Baltic-Finnic languages..

Hungarian makes the distinction between green (''zöld'') and blue (''kék''), and also distinguishes black (''fekete''). Intermediate colors between green and blue are commonly referred to as ''zöldeskék'' (literally greenish-blue) or ''kékeszöld'' (bluish-green), but names for specific colors in this continuum—like turquoise (''türkiz'')—also exist. Particular shades of a color can also have separate names, such as azure (''azúr'').

Turkic

Kazakh

The Kazakh language, like many Turkic languages, distinguishes between ''kök'' for blue and ''jasâl'' for green. In Kazakh, many adjectival variations can be found referring to perceived gradations in saturation level of "blue", such as ''kögildir'', ''kökshil'', and ''kökboz'', which respectively denominate the gradual decrease in the intensity, ''kökboz'' being often used as a color referent in its own right. ''Kök'' is occasionally used to denote green plants (e.g. 'kök' shöp'), but such usage is mostly confined to poetic utterances or certain localized dialects.

Turkish

Turkish treats dark or navy blue (''lacivert'', from the same Persian root as English ''azure'' and ''lapis lazuli'') as a separate color from plain or light blue (''mavi''). ''Mavi'' is derived from the Arabic word مائي ''mā'ī'' 'like water' (ماء ''mā'' being the Arabic word for water) and ''lacivert'' is derived from Persian لاجورد ''lājvard'' 'lapis lazuli', a semiprecious stone with the color of navy blue. In the pre-Islamic religion of the Turks, blue is the color that represented the east, as well as the zodiac sign Aquarius (the Water Bearer). A characteristic tone of blue, turquoise, was much used by the Turks for their traditional decorations and jewelry.

In traditional pre-Islamic Turkic culture, both blue and green were represented by the same name, ''gök'' 'sky'. The name is still in use in many rural areas. For instance, in many regions of Turkey, when mold is formed on cheese, the phenomenon is called ''göğermek'' 'turning into the color of sky (''gök'')'.

See also

References

Sources

Etymological Dictionary of Basque
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