| The studies of color terms, which are very important in learning of the cognitive categories, can help people know and understand the concept of categorization. The classical theory of categories claims the reality that humans live in is a continuum from the studies of color. And categories, as one of the most important and basic classification of human’s cognitive activities, are the products of language and culture. The color categorization can be acquired by studying. But people soon found that there were some insurmountable defects, when the classical theory of categories was used to analyze the specific language phenomena. In order to explain these defects the researchers began to find another new categorization. Although a language has color terms rarely corresponding to the other color terms, their focal points will be in the same area, that is, the focal colors. The color categorization is anchored in focal colors. These results encourage scientists to extend the notion of focal colors to a new concept, namely, the theory of prototypes and basic-level structures. However the prototype is not changeless but variable with the change of context. It is impossible to separate the language from the culture. The culture models influence the language cognition. In terms of the intercultural communication the different color terms used in the different languages can show the different cultures. In the perspectives of language and culture and language in culture, English and Chinese have their own usages and understandings about color terms because of their different cultural and historical background information. On the one hand, the comprehension of the different cultures that influences on the meaning and use of focal colors explain the reason why the same color word has the different understandings in English and Chinese; on the other hand, with the aid of the theory of color categories, people can understand the intercultural communication better. |
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