Are Oranges Yellow? Appelsínugulur as a Basic Color Term in Icelandic

Abstract

In Basic Color Terms (1969), Brent Berlin and Paul Kay argue that basic color terms (black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, purple, pink, orange, grey) enter languages in a specific order in seven stages. Kirsten Wolf (2006; 2010) has argued that Modern Icelandic is a stage VII language with nine basic color terms, lacking basic color terms for purple and orange. This article gives an overview of the development of terms for the fruit and color orange in Icelandic and explores reasons why Icelanders have not, like other Scandinavian languages, adopted a variation of the basic color term orange and instead predominantly utilize a compound associated with yellow (appelsínugulur). Moreover, the author argues that while appelsínugulur may originally have been perceived of as a shade of yellow, it is now psychologically salient and not necessarily considered a sub-class of yellow. Appelsínugulur should, therefore, be considered a basic color term despite its compound nature. Correspondingly, Modern Icelandic should be considered a Stage VII language with at least ten basic color terms: svartur, hvítur, rauður, grænn, gulur, blár, brúnn, grár, bleikur, and appelsínugulur.