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Colors

第161課: Colors　色の表現

Learning how to say the basic color words in any language isn't particularly difficult, but it may come as a surprise to you that the languages of the world don't all express colors in the same way. Speakers of English are accustomed to a plethora of color names at their disposal. Without exposure to other languages, conceptualizing the visual spectrum any differently would seem unreal. 

To begin, we will learn how to say the basic colors to English speakers. Each color will have both a nominal and an adjectival form. Once these color words have been introduced, we will then learn about "colors" form the Japanese perspective. Just as is the case in English, there are far too many specific color names to discuss in one go. In addition to this, many compound words are created with one or more color-related Kanji. You are not expected to learn all there is to know about color in this lesson, but with the information provided, you will at least have the Kanji knowledge as well as a firm understanding of what color means to Japanese speakers. 

Note: Ideally, all unique color names will be accompanied with a representation of that color. Due to time restraints, I have prioritized writing up the body of the lesson first. 

The Basic Color Words to English Speakers　英語圏での基本色名

English is characterized as having 11 basic color words: black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, pink, grey, brown, orange, and purple. Japanese has unique words for all of these colors as well, but as you will see below, two of these colors come from English, indicating that the traditional means of referring to those colors must be different. You will also notice that the majority of the colors have the word 色 in them. This is a reflection of how those words started out as non-color words but became color words in association with their own colors. 

 Color (ENG)
基本色名（英語）
 Nominal Form
名詞形
 Adjectival Form
形容詞形
Black
 黒
 黒い
 White
 白
 白い
 Red
 赤
 赤い
 Green
 緑色
 緑色の
 Yellow
 黄色
 黄色い・黄色の
 Blue
 青
 青い
 Pink
 ピンク色
 ピンク色の
 Grey
 灰色
 灰色の
 Brown
 茶色
 茶色い・茶色の
 Orange
 オレンジ色
 オレンジ色の
 Purple
 紫色
 紫色の

The Basic Color Words to Japanese Speakers　日本語圏での基本色名

Though somewhat repetitive, it's just as important to know what the basic color words are to Modern Japanese speakers. In Japanese, the basic color words are separated into 10 chromatic (有彩色) and 3 achromatic (無彩色) colors for a total of 13 colors. Notice how unlike English, transition colors are considered basic whereas colors like pink and orange are not represented. 

The Basic Chromatic Colors
基本の有彩色
Adjectival Forms
 形容詞形
English Translation 
英訳
 赤
 赤い・赤の
  Red
 黄赤
 黄赤の
  Yellowish red
 黄
 黄の・黄色の・黄色い
  Yellow
 黄緑
 黄緑の
  Yellow-green
 緑
 緑の・緑色の
  Green
 青緑
 青緑の
  Blue-green
 青
 青の・青い
  Blue
 青紫
 青紫の
  Bluish purple
 紫
 紫の・紫色の
  Purple
 赤紫
 赤紫の
  Purplish red
The Basic Achromatic Colors
基本の無彩色
Adjectival Forms 
形容詞形
 英訳
白
 白い・白の
  White
灰
 灰色の
  Grey
黒
 黒い・黒の
  Black
■[白・黒・赤・青] + の + N vs [白・黒・赤・青] + い + N 
Colors that are created by adding 色 are used as adjectives by means of the particle の out of necessity, but for colors who are made adjectives by adding い--of which there are only four: 白, 黒, 赤, and 青--they too may be seen used as adjectives with の, but those additional no-adjective forms are highly restricted. 

To use them, at least two criteria must always be met. The item described must be representative of that color. In other words, the item/depiction being described can't be varied in color. Secondly, the color of that item is in contrast to some norm or expectation. For instance, consider this example sentence. 

1. プリントへの記入は、必ず赤のボールペンで行うようにしてください。

Proofreading work often requires color-coding. This sentence emphasizes that a red ballpoint pen be used as opposed to a black or blue pen. 

Grammatically, these forms behave as no-adjectives. In the example below, though, you wouldn't say 赤で青の as the speaker is not trying to modify the same 水仙 with both colors. Remember that this would be a mix of colors, which isn't allowed when using these forms. Therefore, "の水仙" is simply eclipsed out of the sentence after 赤, allowing for the use of the particle と to function as "and."

2. 赤と青の水仙の花が咲けばいい。

It also must be noted that the colors 赤, 白, and 黒 have additional meanings in which their use as no-adjectives is highly prolific. 赤の can be used to mean "clear/obvious" in highly used phrases such as 赤の他人 (complete stranger) and 赤の嘘 (absolute lie). 

3. 通りがかりの赤の他人に話しかけてみた。

4. シロの容疑者
An innocent suspect 

Spelling Note: These idiomatic meanings are often spelled in カタカナ. 

5. 黒の組織
Black Organization

Culture Note: This is the name of a crime syndicate in the popular anime series "Case Closed," but it's important to note that the official translation fails to capture the actual meaning behind the name. The use of 黒の is meant to mean guilt in relation to crime. A free translation of the name would have been more appropriate as the word "black" in English doesn't have this added meaning.

The same restrictions governing the use of these no-adjectives can still be said to function for these additional meanings. The lie is "flat-out obvious," the criminal is "guilty without a doubt," etc. 

6. その絵はなんと、小学生４年生の男子に描かれたもので、表には赤（色）の恒星が２個、裏には巨大な青（色）の恒星 で構成された太陽系が美しく映っていた。


The Word 'Color'　「色」の語源

The word 色 itself has a complex history. Originally, [iro] was a noun meaning blood relationship and was present in the archaic words いろせ (brother) and いろね (older brother/sister) respectively. Now, before you get upset about archaic Japanese appearing, it's from this point that the word's meaning became more complicated, and those changes have lasted ever since. 


Later on, it denoted the beauty of courtship and women. This then became extended to beauty in general before ultimately referring to color. To this day, 色 can be still seen used with these meanings as well as other nuances such as “facial expression,” “sensuality,” etc. For instance, the word 色気 means "shade of color" just as much as it means "sex appeal."

The 4 Primary 'Colors'　古代からの四原色

Originally, Japanese was void of concrete color names. The first four expressions referring to color that evolved did so from existing vocabulary. These expressions, however, did not refer to any specific color, and it was only thanks to the passing of time that they referred to their current colors. The four words are none other than 赤, 黒, 白, and 青. Let's take a look at their history and see how their ancient origins tell us a lot about how these words are used to this day.

1. The word [aka] comes from the verb [aku] meaning "to dawn" (Mod. 明ける). Although it often referred to the color "red" even in ancient times, its primary meaning was "bright." It is because of this that the "Sun" is often described as 赤い even though other colors may more accurately describe how the naked eye perceives it. Eventually, the meaning of "bright" was taken over by the adjective 明るい, which comes from the verb form 明かる, further demonstrating the original meaning of [aka]. 

2. The word [kuro] shares the same origin as the word 暗い. At the early onset, they would have been different renditions of the same word, and over time [kuro] specifically referred to "black" whereas [kurai] retaining its meaning of "dark." Looking further back in time, it is apparent that both adjectives originate from the verb [kuru] meaning "to get dark" (Mod. 暮れる). 

3. The word [shiro] comes from the verb しるす. Putting aside the various Kanji used to write the verb, its general meaning is "to make clear." Even in ancient times, it was frequently used to mean "white," but confusingly, it retained this literal meaning of "clear/deep" colors. Eventually, this meaning was lost and now [shiro] just means "white." 

4. The word [ao] may be related to the adjective 淡い meaning "light (hue)," but it may also be related to the word 間 (between) to be the intermediary word between 白 and 黒 in the minds of the ancient Japanese. This would explain why it still often means "grey" such as in the expression 蒼い月 (Kanji difference to be explained later). Until the word became fixated to mean "blue," it also became associated with freshness/immaturity, which led to its meaning of "green" in many expressions related to green goods such as 青りんご (green apples).  

The Five 'Colors'　五色（ごしき）

Based in Wuxing (Five Phases) philosophy (陰陽五行説), which is a five-fold scheme used in traditional Chinese fields to explain many phenomena in the world, there are five colors that have held major cultural significance in Japanese as a result. The five colors of this philosophy are 青 (associated with the element 木 = wood)・赤 (associated with the element 火 = fire)・黄 (associated with the element 土 = earth)・白 (associated with the element 金 = metal)・黒 (associated with the element 水 = water) in that order. 


Depending on the religious organization or particular customs involved, one or more of these colors may differ, but learning more about the role color plays in Asian philosophies can create a greater understanding of the cultures involved.  In Shintoist contexts, at least, the 五色 are described as above. 

The Seven 'Colors' of the Rainbow　虹の七色

The concept of there being seven colors in the rainbow is a direct borrowing from the West. Although one could make the argument that 橙色 is either the Japanese equivalent of "orange" or specifically refers to Mandarin orange as opposed to standard orange expressed by オレンジ色, naming specifications aside, the seven colors of the rainbow have been borrowed verbatim with no alteration: 赤 (red)・橙 (orange)・黄 (yellow)・緑 (green)・青 (blue)・藍 (indigo)・紫 (purple).


Color Words by Category　色系統別の色名一覧

From a physics standpoint, there are three primary colors: 赤 (red), 緑 (green), and 青 (blue). Although there are languages that reflect this fact, Japanese is not one of them, and many other cultural innovations and influences have shaped how Japanese speakers conceptualize and form color expressions. Modern Japanese, of course, possesses just as many color words as English does, heavily utilizing clothing, plant, and dye terminology to expand the language's color word repertoire. 

Unless you are an artist who has reason to memorize the individual names of as many hues in Japanese as possible, the most that you would want to master to become an efficient speaker, you will need to memorize color phrases that follow under these three categories:

1. Colors with unique Kanji. All Japanese speakers will be familiar with any color Kanji that is within the top 3,500 used Kanji, or at the very least be familiar with the words made with them. 
2. The names of specific hues that bare some sort of cultural significance. Take for instance, 菫, which is both the plant and color "violet."
3. Compound words composed of color Kanji: 赤信号，黄海，

By focusing your learning on these three categories, you will have a better understanding of colors through the lens of Japanese culture. The third category will be the hardest to properly master, but this will be best alleviated by making sure you are reading plenty of Japanese literature. 

"Red" Color Kanji & Names　赤系統の漢字およびその色名

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赤
 The word [aka] is the basic word for "red" in Japanese. However, the basic hue of "red" defined by [aka] is darker than the English red. [aka] may also be seen as 赤色. The reading セキショク is strictly formal and literary in nature. 
Compound Words:
赤道
赤外線
赤銅
紅
 The color defined by the Kanji 紅 itself is a purplish red and is frequently translated as "crimson." The character has two commonly used ON readings (コウ・ク) and two commonly used KUN readings (くれない・べに).  
Compound Words:
紅葉 (コウヨウ) = red leaves
紅海 (コウカイ) = Red Sea
紅白 (コウハク) = red and white*
深紅・真紅 (シンク) = deep crimson
紅色 (くれないいろ・べにいろ・コウショク) = crimson 
朱
When read as シュ, this Kanji refers to a slightly orange red. When read as あけ, it refers to "scarlet."
丹
The Kanji 丹 refers to a red earth color. Its ON reading is タン and its KUN reading is に. The ON reading is used in compounds such as 丹砂 (cinnabar) and 丹青 (painting (lit. red and blue)). The KUN reading is present in 丹色 (にいろ). 
緋
 緋色(ヒいろ) is a "brilliant red."It too can be read as あけ to refer to a vibrant red with minor yellow. 
赭
This Kanji is incredibly rare, but its KUN reading is そほ, which refers to a yellowish red earth color similar to that of 丹. This word is so old, in fact, that it existed in compounds such as 赭土(そほに) meaning "red ocher" before writing. However, it would not become a color name until much later. In Modern Japanese, the color is only ever identified in Sino-Japanese compounds with the ON reading シャ.
茜 
 Read as あかね, this is both the name of the dye and of the color "madder."
纁 
 Read as そひ・そび, it is an antiquated color name, referring to bright red-orange produced by madder being mixed with lye. 

※紅白 is a very important color pairing referring to festive/auspicious colors, which is why they are the colors of the Japanese flag. 

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深紅
薔薇色
躑躅色
柿色
桃色
 桜色
 曙色
 柘榴色
 撫子色
 鴇色
苺色
 栗色
 海老色

"Blue" Color Kanji & Names　青系統の漢字およびその色名

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青
 
蒼
 
碧
 
藍 
 
紺 
 
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縹色
水色
群青色 
瑠璃色 
浅葱色 
空色 

"Green" Color Kanji & Names　緑系統の漢字およびその色名

The overlap between [ao] and [midori] for "green" is relatively new in origin. This is because for the longest, what westerners would interpret as "blue" was being described with descriptive names such as 縹色. 
The word [ao], itself, has been used historically to refer to a range of colors including even yellow and purple, adding to the confusion of its origin mentioned earlier. 

The current overlap in meaning is largely due to the idiomatic use of [ao], but putting that aside, there are still unique Kanji for both "blue" and "green" that have made their mark on Japanese vocabulary. 
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緑
 
翠
翠色
碧
 
 
 
翠色
 
 
 柳色
 
 
 草色
 
 
 苗色
 
 
 萌葱色
 
 
 萌黄色
 
 
 萌木色
 
 
 山葵色
 
 
深碧
 
 
 若葉色
 
 
 緑青
 
 
 蒼色
 
 
 碧色
 
 
 
 
 

"Blue Light" vs "Green Light"「青信号」対「緑信号」

Use of English Color Words　　英語の色名の使用

Colors

There is a noun and an adjectival form to each color. Also, there are additional Sino-Japanese variants for many colors, which can be made adjectival by adding の.

 Color Native Adjective Non-native Adjective Kango
 Blue 青（あお） 青い   青色（せいしょく）
 Red 赤（あか） 赤い   赤色（せきしょく）
 Yellow 黄（き） 黄色（きいろ）い
 黄（色）の		  
 黄色（こうしょく）
 Green 緑（みどり） 緑の   緑色（みどりいろ・りょくしょく）
 Black 黒（くろ） 黒い   黒色（こくしょく）
 Brown     茶色（ちゃいろ） 茶色（ちゃいろ）い
 茶色（ちゃいろ）の
 White 白（しろ） 白い   白色（はくしょく）
 Purple 紫（むらさき） 紫の   紫色（むらさきいろ）
 Grey     灰色（はいいろ・かいしょく）
 Pink   ピンク ピンクの 
 Orange   オレンジ オレンジの 
 Gold 金色（かねいろ）    金色(きんいろ・こんじき・きんしょく）
 Silver 銀色（しろがねいろ）    銀色（ぎんいろ・ぎんしょく）
 Beige   ベージュ ベージュの 
 Tan 渋色（しぶいろ）   渋色の 
 Turquoise   ターコイズ ターコイズの 
 Vermilion     朱色（しゅいろ・しゅしょく）
 Indigo   インディゴ
 インジゴ
  藍色（あいいろ・らんしょく）

Usage Notes:

1. All colors of native or foreign origin may be followed by 色. Certain colors should be used with 色. For example, 灰 just means "ashes". Gold and silver must have 色 in order to not be confused with the actual elements. Words such as ターコイズ and オレンジ can be understood to mean the color, but they really refer to the objects. Without 色, 緑 may mean "greenery". 紫 as a noun may refer to soy sauce in sushi restaurants.

2. The native versions of gold and silver are rare. In fact, the one for gold is never used but in 白銀色, 銅色, and the like.

3. Most of the Sino-Japanese readings are rare.

4. 青, not 緑, is the color used for streetlights for "green". 青 may also mean "greens" in expressions like 青物市場あおものいちば meaning "vegetable market". It is also the color for pale face, youth, and freshness in plants, coolness, the sea, and even the color of moonlight and evening mist. It may also refer to black as in a horse's coat.

5. 茶色 is "brown" instead of "green" because when tea was first introduced to Japan, it would be shipped to elites in hardened, steamed form. From then, it would be cut up and boiled in hot water and drank. As "green tea" variants would come later, the color of the original tea drinks became the Japanese word for brown. 

Light and Dark Colors

     Light colors are expressed by using 薄うすい or 薄うす～. For dark colors, use 濃こい. Now, there will be colors that are light or dark variants of a general color. 淡い is "light/faint" and its antonym is also 濃い.

1. 淡い黄色の葉っぱがありますよね。
    There are light yellow flowers, aren't there?

2. この花の色が薄い。
    This flower's color is pale/weak/thin.

3. 高橋さんの車はその濃い緑色のですね。
    Mr. Takahashi's car is that dark green one, right? 

4. 梅うめの薄紅うすべに
     The light crimson of a plum

Mixed Colors

     Colors may be put together to make things such as "white-black" and "yellow-green". The resultant expressions may be read with either 訓読み or 音読み. 音読み are rarer and reserved for the spoken language with exception to #8.

5. 黄緑（きみどり・おうりょく）
    Yellow-green

6. 黒白（くろしろ・こくはく）
    Black and white

7. 青緑（あおみどり・せいりょく）
    Blue-green/aqua 

8. 金茶（きんちゃ）
     Golden brown 

Interesting Phrases

赤字   and 黒字 are deficit and surplus respectfully. They are words that typically confuse students, although there are similar expressions in English. For example, you can say "to be in the red". When you get a failing grade, you can say you got an 赤点あかてん. However, 黒点こくてん refers to sunspots. So, it is not the opposite of 赤点. Instead, the antonym for 赤点 is either 及第点きゅうだいてん or 合格点ごうかくてん.

It is also important to note that the phrases 肌が｛白い・黒い｝ are NOT used for nationality/race. Rather, they refer to someone's complexion. 

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