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Semantics versus pragmatics in colour categorization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2019

Nick Braisby
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, London Guildhall University, London, E1 7NT, [email protected]
Bradley Franks
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, London School of Economics, London, WC2A 2AE, [email protected]

Abstract

We argue that the confusing pattern of evidence concerning colour categorization reported by Saunders & van Brakel is unsurprising. On a perspectival view, categorization may follow semantic or pragmatic attributes. Colour lacks clear semantic attributes; as a result categorization is necessarily pragmatic and context-sensitive. This view of colour categorization helps explain the developmental delay in colour naming.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
1997 Cambridge University Press

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