In one of Cecil’s columns ( http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_168b.html ) there is a discussion about the order of color words appearing in a language. The classical Greeks are said to have only had words for four colors: black, white, red, and yellow. I don’t read Greek, but I have read translations of the Homeric sagas, and I clearly remember that the goddess Athene was often described as gray-eyed. But as gray isn’t supposed to come up until the seventh color, at the earliest, this seems to be a counter-example to the theory. Does anyone who can actually read the Greek care to enlighten me as to whether that is an accurante translation from The Iliad and/or The Odessey?
Well, no one’s come up with an answer in 18 years, so I think speculation is in order.
The color words Cecil was talking about are general words. That is, they can be applied to just about any object. My speculation is that the grey-word used in the Iliad was specific for eye color and not anything else. Much like the color word hazel in English, which is used almost exclusively for eyes.
Good theory. But note that if true it would still imply that the reality of color word progression may be a bit more complex than the way it’s popularly conceived.
It would be an example of naming another color, even if only in one context. And it might make us wonder whether some of the times they used the “wrong” color descriptor for something they actually were using the word in some contextual way.
Also, I can’t believe this zombie is old enough to vote…
I expect some general color words started out as specialized colors. That may have been the case for pink and orange, and perhaps for others if you go back far enough. Not that this would necessarily apply to Athena’s grey eyes, but note that Homer also mentioned the wine-dark sea since he didn’t have a word for blue.
It was near the top of the FQ list but without any recent post, so no doubt some spam got cornfielded.
There is, of course, an order for adjectives in English: with few exceptions, multiple adjectives are ranked accordingly: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose.
Well known exceptions are: Big Bad Wolf and To Boldly Go. Both follow the rule of ablaut reduplication.
FYI, nine years ago, the public radio program Radiolab ran a story (the link is to the transcript) about this subject, including the involvement of the nineteenth century British politician William Gladstone.