From jsebesta@sunbird.usd.edu Wed Mar 31 11:20:43 1999 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.02/8.9.3+UW99.01) with ESMTP id LAA46200 for ; Wed, 31 Mar 1999 11:20:43 -0800 Received: from sunburst.usd.edu (sunburst.usd.edu [192.55.228.48]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.02/8.9.3+UW99.01) with ESMTP id LAA26584 for ; Wed, 31 Mar 1999 11:20:41 -0800 Received: from [192.236.43.33] (sebesta.pols.usd.edu [192.236.43.33]) by sunburst.usd.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with ESMTP id NAA26915 for ; Wed, 31 Mar 1999 13:20:40 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: jsebesta@sunflowr.usd.edu Message-Id: In-Reply-To: <37023C00.3F8@cloud9.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 14:33:05 -0500 To: classics@u.washington.edu From: judith sebesta Subject: Re: colors and color words Those who are interested in color terms should also consult the latest edition of Berlin and Kaye, Basic Color Terms reprinted by U Cal Berkeley ca. 1991. In 1979 or so, these two anthropologists discovered that color terms are acquired/invented by speakers of languages in a particular order. There is more to their theory than that, but they do analyze ancient Greek. This edition also has a lengthy bibliog. up to ca. 1991. Appropos of the theoretical differences of sensory apparatus--you may recall the theory proposed earlier this century that Homer called the sea wine-dark because Greek eyes had not yet evolved to perceive most color differences! Judith Sebesta, Chair Dept. of History 414 East Clark St. U of South Dakota Vermillion SD 57069 FAX: 605-677-5568 Phone: 605-677-5218 e-mail: jsebesta@sunbird.usd.edu .