Linguistics

A tribe with only five color words sees color boundaries English speakers miss

The Himba language of northern Namibia groups all colors into just five broad categories rather than English's eleven or so. Researchers found Himba speakers spot a shade change instantly when it crosses one of their own category boundaries, even between colors English speakers lump together as identical greens — and struggle with distinctions English speakers find obvious, like blue versus green.

Debi Roberson, Jules Davidoff, Ian Davies & Laura Shapiro, Colour categories and category acquisition in Himba and English — Progress in Colour Studies, 2006

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