The Linguistic Significance of the Meanings of Basic Color Terms

Kay, Paul; McDaniel, Chad K.

doi:10.2307/412789

Cited by 299 publications

(230 citation statements)

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“…Neurophysiological explanations tie the Basic Colours to the form of the cone spectral-sensitivity functions (Griffin, 2001;Buchsbaum and Bloch, 2002), to some later processing stage such as opponent channels (Kay and McDaniel, 1978;DeValois et al, 1966;Hering, 1920;Hurvich and Jameson, 1957;Kay and Maffi, 1999) or to dedicated neural mechanisms (Steels and Belpaeme, 2005). Neurophysiology may also limit what categories are possible, for example we may lack cognitive structures capable of representing disconnected or non-convex regions of colour space (Gärdenfors, 2000).…”

Section: Featuresmentioning

confidence: 97%

Hypotheses for Image Features, Icons and Textons

Griffin

Lillholm

2006

Int J Comput Vision

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We review ideas about the relationship between qualitative description of local image structure and quantitative description based on responses to a family of linear filters. We propose a sequence of three linking hypotheses. The first, the Feature Hypothesis, is that qualitative descriptions arise from a category system on filterresponse space. The second, the Icon Hypothesis, is that the partitioning into categories of filter response space is determined by a system of iconic images, one associated with each point of the space. The third, the Texton Hypothesis, is that the correct images to play the role of icons are those that are the most likely explanations of a vector of filter responses. We present results in support of these three hypotheses, including new results on 2-D 1st order structure.

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Section: Featuresmentioning

confidence: 97%

Hypotheses for Image Features, Icons and Textons

Griffin

Lillholm

2006

Int J Comput Vision

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“…(De Valois et al 1966;De Valois and De Valois 1975.) The physiological primacy of four (or six, including also white and black 1 ) unique hues was subsequently adopted as a powerful explanatory principle R. Ocelák (&) Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Charles University in Prague -Faculty of Arts, náměstí Jana Palacha 2, 116 38 Prague 1, Czech Republic e-mail: radioc@seznam.cz in color categorization (or color naming) research (Hardin 1988; Kay and McDaniel 1978; in a more restrained form Kay and Maffi 1999;and even Kay et al 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Myth of Unique Hues

Ocelák

2014

Topoi

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The paper examines the notion, widespread in the contemporary color science, that there are certain hues, specifically focal red, yellow, green and blue (RYGB), that are unique or privileged in human prelinguistic color perception, all other chromatic hues being perceptually composed of these. I successively consider and reject all motivations that have been provided for this opinion; namely the linguistic (unique hues as referents of necessary and sufficient color descriptors), ''phenomenological'' (unique hues as phenomenologically pure color experiences), and some minor or historical motivations. I conclude that, contrary to the standard opinion, there is no solid reason to claim that the RYGB hues are unique among colors in a sense that would allow for direct neurophysiological explanation. The notion also has no relevance for the construction of perceptual color spaces and is not defensible as an explanatory principle with respect to the existing crosslinguistic patterns of color categorization.

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“…The universal view has, at least until recently, become the established position in the field with the implication that there are innate physiological mechanisms underlying color categories. In support of the universalist view, Kay and McDaniel (1978) suggested that primary categories (red, green, yellow and blue) derive from the output of opponent-process cells. These cells selectively respond to different ranges of wavelength, and produce the well-known phenomenon of colored after-images.…”

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confidence: 99%

Cross-species Assessment of the Linguistic Origins of Color Categories.

Davidoff¹,

Fagot²

2010

CCBR

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This article considers the relation between language and categorical perception (CP) of color. Two opposite theories are reviewed, the universalist position arguing that categories are universal with an essentially biological origin, and the relativist position that holds that color categories are essentially arbitrary and derive from color terms of the speaker's language. A review of the human literature presents developmental, neuropsychological, cross-cultural, neuro-imaging and computer simulation evidence that CP of colors has at least partly linguistic origins. As animal studies also contribute to this debate, we then review evidence of CP in the visual and auditory domains, and pinpoint the inconsistencies of the literature. To make a direct comparison between humans and monkeys, experimental studies compared humans and baboons for their color thresholds and in a recognition memory task designed to assess CP of colors. Only humans showed better betweencategory than within-category discrimination performance, suggesting species differences in the processing of a color continuum. That study along with some of our previous research supports the theory of a linguistic origin for color categories in humans.

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The Linguistic Significance of the Meanings of Basic Color Terms

Cited by 299 publications

References 0 publications

Hypotheses for Image Features, Icons and Textons

Hypotheses for Image Features, Icons and Textons

The Myth of Unique Hues

Cross-species Assessment of the Linguistic Origins of Color Categories.

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