Linguistic categorisation of colours and their prototypes in Serbian

Maja Savić; Milena Jakić Šimšić; Darinka Anđelković

doi:10.19090/pp.v19i3.2766

Authors

Maja Savić Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3442-6021
Milena Jakić Šimšić Institute for the Serbian Language of SASA, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0795-9073
Darinka Anđelković Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8238-4460

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.v19i3.2766

Keywords:

focal colours, colour category prototype, basic colour terms, pointing task, entropy

Abstract

This research is part of a larger international study conducted across various languages, aimed at examining cross-linguistic differences in the segmentation of semantic domains. It reports a subset of findings for Serbian, focusing on the domain of colour. The primary objective was to identify focal colours in Serbian, defined as the prototypical representatives of 13 colour terms previously elicited through a listing task. The sample was a convenience sample comprising 24 students. Participants were asked to indicate the best exemplar of each colour term within the Munsell colour system, using a palette of 84 colour chips. Entropy values were calculated for each term, enabling both intra-set comparisons and comparisons with results from a previous study in which a naming task was administered to the same participants. The findings indicate high intersubjective agreement for achromatic and warm colours, whereas agreement was less pronounced for cool colours. The most stable terms, exhibiting zero entropy, were bela 'white', crna 'black', and crvena 'red', while roze 'pink', ljubičasta 'purple', and oker 'ochre' showed the lowest stability. Comparison with the naming data reported in a previous study involving the same participants revealed a high degree of consistency in participants' responses. Finally, the status of the colour terms braon 'brown', teget 'navy blue', and oker 'ochre', which have been debated in previous studies in Serbian, is also discussed. The collected data will serve as a basis for comparison with data from other languages gathered using the same methodology in future research.

Author Biographies

Maja Savić, Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, Serbia

Associate Professor, Seminar for Humanities

Milena Jakić Šimšić , Institute for the Serbian Language of SASA, Serbia

Senior Research Associate

Darinka Anđelković, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Serbia

Institute of Psychology, Senior Research Associate

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