A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Symbolic Meanings of Color

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to extend the scope of English knowledge about color so as to arouse the interest of students in learning English through the use of color terms. Color not only fills our world with beauty but provides a source of inspirations, which would stimulate the fancy of students to increase the interest of their life. Color serves as a means of communication. The communicative qualities of a color can be defined in terms of natural and psychological associations. Occurrences of colors in nature are universal and timeless. However, color may generate another level of meaning in the mind. This color symbolism arises from cultural, mythical, historical, religious, political, and linguistic associations. The symbolic meanings of color words reveal wide-ranging connotations in cultures including positive and negative meanings. The paper will examine human cognition of colors, explore the origin of primary colors, and analyze the meaning of color in different cultures. The awareness of how and why colors communicate meaning will be explained. Finally, an approach to teaching students how to use color terms in different situations will be presented.

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