Abstract
Colour terms divide the colour spectrum differently across languages. The cross linguistic differences in the number of basic colour terms have been suggested to influence speakers’ colour perception (Whorf, 1956), therefore challenging the universal nature of perceptual colour categories (Berlin & Kay, 1991). Previous study by Winawer et al. (2007) has reported that speakers of languages that have different words for light and dark blue (e.g., Russian siniy and goluboy) discriminate colour chips sampled from these two linguistic categories faster than speakers of languages that use one basic colour term for blue (e.g., English blue). Lithuanian is another language that has two blue categories: žydra for lighter blues and mėlyna for darker blues, while Norwegian has one: blå. This indicates that Lithuanians may be faster to discriminate between shades of blue when one shade is light and the other is dark and slower when shades are both light or dark, but Norwegians are likely to discriminate all blue shades at similar speed.
The faster discrimination between blues sampled from two Russian categories has been reported to be disrupted when participants engaged in a verbal interference task, suggesting that active language use can modulate the linguistic category effect (Winawer et al. 2007). Our study provided a stringent test of this hypothesis by examining colour discrimination under verbal interference in bilinguals speaking Lithuanian and Norwegian.
The results revealed that the language activated during verbal interference had a significant impact on bilinguals’ colour discrimination. By comparing Lithuanian and Norwegian monolinguals with Lithuanian–Norwegian bilinguals, we showed that actively using a language during colour discrimination modulates colour perception within the same individuals. Crucially, bilinguals seemed to perceive colours as Lithuanians or as Norwegians depending on the language activated in any moment. These findings offer insights on the impact of language on cognitive processes and perception.
Bio
Akvile is a first-year PhD candidate in Computer Science at Northeastern University London specialising in intergenerational colour communication. She holds an MPhil in Linguistics and Language Acquisition from NTNU. For her MPhil thesis project, in collaboration with Julien Mayor and Natalia Kartushina she examined how language can affect colour perception in Lithuanian-Norwegian bilinguals. Her research interests include colour perception, linguistics, and the cognitive basis of communication, aiming to understand the dynamics of intergenerational colour communication and devise practical solutions for improving communication about colour across different age groups. Her first PhD's study on colour naming is actively collecting data through a web-based experiment. To contribute to research on Norwegian colour names, visit www.colornaming.net/lang/no. For any other inquiries, feel free to reach out to her at as3508phd@students.nulondon.ac.uk.