Blue: the color that didn't exist until someone invented a word for it
Language Log 2026-05-12
Summary:
Keywords Homer; Berlin and Kay; Jules Davidoff; Himba; Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity); pigment synthesis; lapis lazuli; Russian; goluboy, siniy; time; space; emotions; William Gladstone; κύανος > κυανός > cyan "Got the blues"? Selected readings "Was Homer (color)blind?" (5/3/26) "Sacré bleu! — the synesthesia of Walmart cyan" (10/8/22) "Color vocabulary and pre-attentive color perception" (2/23/09) […]