Roses are Blue?

Roses are red, violets are blue. But if I called a rose blue, what colour would it really be? How we label something affects how we perceive them, and although there is much evidence suggesting that we all see colour in a similar way, there is evidence to suggest we see colour through cultural lenses.

Linguists believe that culture and language are inextricably linked, with some going as far as saying that language is a verbal expression of culture (Kim & Sherman, 2007). It is believed that culture and language evolved synchronously which creates a complicated relationship between the two. The customs of a culture are expressed by having language to discuss them.

Within psychology, the view that language reveals thought is held by many. A study by Kay (2005) of two languages spoken in Papua New Guinea found that tribes saw the same colour spectrum as people from the West, however they only had labels for 5 colours – compared to 11 spoken in English. However, one tribe had two separate colour words for what in English is labelled as ‘green’. As this was a hunter-gather tribe, it suggests that it was culturally more important to differentiate between differing vegetations than to differentiate between a wider range of colours.

Therefore, learning the language of a culture should allow an insight into what is important in that culture. Language is a natural tool that maintains culture, exchanges culture and reflects culture, and escaping that is something that would be almost impossible (Geng, 2010). This brings to question, if a tribe was moved to a new culture, would new words begin to appear? A new word is added to the English dictionary every 2 hours, so it appears likely. Afterall, language is inextricably connected to the culture of the nation.

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References

Geng, X. (2010). Cultural Differences Influence on Language. Review Of European Studies, 2(2). doi: 10.5539/res.v2n2p219

Kay, P. (2005). Color Categories Are Not Arbitrary. Cross-Cultural Research, 39(1), 39-55. doi: 10.1177/1069397104267889

Kim, H. S., & Sherman, D. K. (2007). “Express Yourself”: Culture and the Effect of Self-Expression on Choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.1