8.5. Colours
First of all, please note that the colours you see on your computer screen are highly dependent on your particular system. Different systems often display different colours. The colour files used here are adjusted for my system.8.5.1. Basic colour names
All Japanese colour names are nouns, but the six basic colour names shown below have corresponding adjectives. The basic Japanese colours are a system based on colour warmth/coolness and lightness/darkness. The adjective of a basic colour is a combination of the colour noun and the adjective suffix い "i". In this chart, the upper words are nouns, and the lower words are adjectives.[/SIZE]
It is interesting that brown seems more important than green in Japanese. Since green is not a basic colour, the word あお is often used for it in old compound words, such as あおやさい "aoyasai" (green vegetables).
Remember Japanese adjectives contain tense. あか means the colour red, while あかい means something is red. Its past form is あかかった "akakatta" (something was red).
8.5.2. Important colour names
Colours other than the basic colours only have nouns. Use a copula to make a colour noun predicator. Most colour names have the suffix いる "iro", which means colour. You can add it after a colour name if it is not there.| Color | Hiragana | Description |
|---|---|---|
| みどり midori | Green |
| むらさき murasaki | Purple |
| はいいろ haiiro | Gray. The word はい "hai" means ash. The imported word グレー "gurê", which came from gray, is also common. |
| ももいろ momoiro | Pink. The word もも "momo" means peach. The imported word ビンク "pinku", which came from pink, is common too. |
| だいだい daidai | Orange. It is the name of a kind of orange, but it is not well known. The common name for Japanese oranges are みかん "mikan". Western oranges are called オレンジ "orenji", and it is also used for the color orange. |
| みずいろ mizuiro | Light blue. The word みず "mizu" means water. |
8.5.3. Additional colour names
Colour names shown here are not so common, but they should be understood by any native Japanese speaker. Japanese has hundreds of colour names, but to my regret, many of them are being lost, as Japanese traditions are being lost.| Color | Hiragana | Description |
|---|---|---|
| さくらいろ sakurairo | Pale pink |
| あかねいろ akaneiro | Crimson. The word あかね "akane" is a plant whose root is used to dye cloth deep red. |
| しゅいろ syuiro | Vermilion |
| やまぶきいろ yamabukiiro | Orange yellow. The word やまぶき "yamabuki" means a kind of yellow flower. |
| うぐいすいろ uguisuiro | Olive green. The word (うぐいす "uguisu" refers to the Japanese bush warbler, a kind of bird. |
| きみどり kimidori | Yellow green |
| ふかみどり hukamidori | Deep green. The prefix ふか comes from the adjective ふかい "hukai", which means deep. |
| あいいろ aiiro | Dark blue. The word あい "ai" means Japanese indigo. |
| こんいろ kon'iro | Dark purplish blue |
| ふじいろ huziiro | Lavender |
| だいだい ôdoiro | Yellow ochre |
| みずいろ kogetya | Dark brown |
Further reading:
- colors (was Re: adjective help!)
- Re: colors
- Re: aoi
- Iro Mihon no Yakata (in Japanese)
- Nippon no Dentô-shoku (in Japanese)
- Next article in the series 'Teach Yourself Japanese': Space-time in Japanese
- Previous article in the series 'Teach Yourself Japanese': Kinship expressions in Japanese
