A Study Of Basic Color Words In Yi Language

Color terms means the kind of vocabulary used to describe colors in the natural world.In our language,those basic color words not only are frequently used but also an important part of essential vocabulary.The essay analyzes as well as compares the pronunciation and cultural meaning of the color words in Yi language,studying the analogue phenomenon of basic color words in various branches of Yi language,analyzing the phonology of basic color words in Yi language and exploring the cultural meaning of basic color words in Yi language.General description,synchronic comparison and historical comparison are applied synthetically in the essay.On the basis of searching the materials on the basic color words in Yi language and its branches,this essay analyses the formation of basic color words and mainly compares the Yi dialects.Meanwhile,the basic color words in Yi language are compared with other branches in pronunciation and cultural meaning.Through the comparison,the regularity of transformation of basic color words in Yi language can be deducted.Furthermore,the essay tries to explore the phonetic transformation of Yi branches and demonstrate the cultural meaning of basic color words.The whole essay is composed of fours parts,seven chapters exactly.The first part or the introduction generally presents the significance and meaning of the study as well as relative research activities,and research methods and the corpus's source of the study.The second part is Chapter I.In this part,all the terms relating to color words in The Yi-Chinese Dictionary are analyzed so that the formation of color words in Yi language can be summarized.Thus,according to the theory of basic color terms put forward by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay,five basic color words in Yi language can be certain referring to the classical documents on the source of colors in Yi culture,and they are black,white,red,yellow and blue or green,which are also the objects of following study.The third part is the core of this essay,including Chapter II to Chapter VI.The phonetic features and cultural meaning of the five color words are studied and compared with those in Yi language's branches.The fourth part is conclusion.The transformation of basic color words in Yi language is generalized and the connection between those words and the Yi branches,the dimensional orientation,the Bimo culture,as well as literature and art is expounded.Thus,the understanding of basic color words in Yi language can be deepened.Through the above analysis,we can understand that the production and differentiation of basic color words in Yi language can partly support the phonetic transformation of Yi language branches.