Colour and colour naming: crosslinguistic approaches

Abstract

Colour terms behave quite differently across languages, similar to the way in which our psychological interpretation varies in response to reflected visible light. Indeed, from a linguistic perspective, a definitive explanation of basic colour terms still eludes many researchers of different disciplines, posing both cognitive and lexical issues. The Colour and Colour Naming conference, held in 2015 at the University of Lisbon, offered a chance to explore colour naming processes from a cross-linguistic approach. Scholars were invited to present and submit their own research for discussion, covering a wide range of fields, notably that of lexicology, lexicography, comparative linguistics (especially from a Pan-European perspective), morphology, historical linguistics and cultural studies.