Boje na rubovima hrvatskog jezika
The Colors at the Margins of Croatian Language

Author(s): Zrinka Jelaska
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, South Slavic Languages
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: color names; Croatian language; marginal members
Summary/Abstract: The group of words used to denote colors is one of the most open lexical areas of Croatian, and probably other languages of Western civilization, perhaps even the most open because in this area the names are multiplied almost monthly, if not more often. The paper discusses whether all words, i.e. units, which in the Croatian language and culture denote colors in the extralinguistic world, belong to the category of ‘Croatian color names’. In order to determine the boundaries of that lexical area, several features of the color names that can be considered marginal are listed. Some colors are marginal as they are words of languages that are simply taken into Croatian, temporarily or in a certain context, e.g. aubergine. Others are intercultural, but also interlingual phenomena, such as bianca white. Given today’s marketing and the presence of global trade, this whole category is possibly marginal. Are the colors on the margins of the Croatian language along with all future words marked on products offered to Croatian speakers, regardless of which language they belong to, or will this belong to code switching, making the switching a margin, or beyond the margin of Croatian color names? Are (all) words denoting color in the Croatian language names of colors in Croatian, Croatian color names or Croatian color terms?

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