Colors

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/color.html

8.5. Colors
First of all, please note that the colors you see on your computer screen are highly dependent on your particular system. Different systems often display different colors. The color files used here are adjusted for my system.

8.5.1. Basic color names

All Japanese color names are nouns, but the six basic color names shown below have corresponding adjectives. The Japanese basic colors are a system based on color warmth/coolness and lightness/darkness. The adjective of a basic color is a combination of the color noun and the adjective suffix "i". In this chart, the upper words are nouns and the lower words are adjectives. Warm colors Yellow White Cool colors

Light colors

Red ki i ro si ro

Blue

ki

ro

si

ro Black

Brown a ka

Dark colors

ka

tya

ro

ku

ro

tya

ro

ku

ro

It is interesting that brown seems more important than green in Japanese. Since green is not a basic color, the word is often used for it in old compound words, such as "aoyasai" (green vegitables). Remember Japanese adjectives contain tense. means the color red, while is red. Its past form is "akakatta" (something was red). means something

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Colors

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/color.html

8.5.2. Important color names

Colors other than the basic colors only have nouns. Use a copula to make a color noun predicator. Most color names have the suffix "iro", which means color. You can add it after a color name if it is not there. Color Word Green. mi do ri Description

Purple. mu ra sa ki Gray. ha i i ro The word "hai" means ash. The imported word "gur", which came from gray, is also common. Pink. The word mo mo i ro "momo" means peach. The imported word "pinku", which came from pink, is common too. Orange. It is the name of a kind of orange, but it is not well known. The common name for Japanese oranges is "mikan". Western oranges are called "orenji", and it's also used for the color orange. Light blue. The word

da

da

mi

zu

ro

"mizu" means water.

8.5.3. Additional color names

Color names shown here are not so common, but they should be understood by any native Japanese speaker. Japanese has hundreds of color names, but to my regret many of them are being lost, as Japanese traditions are being lost. Color Word Pale pink. sa ku ra i ro Description

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http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/color.html

ka

ne

ro

Crimson. The word "akane" is a plant whose root is used to dye cloth deep red.

Vermilion. syu i ro Orange yellow. The word of yellow flower. Olive green. The word bird.

"yamabuki" means a kind

ya

ma

bu

ki

ro

"uguisu" means a kind of

gu

su

ro

Yellow green. ki mi do ri Deep green. The prefix comes from the adjective "hukai", which means deep.

hu

ka

mi

do

ri

ro

Dark blue. The word

"ai" means Japanese indigo.

Dark purplish blue. ko n' i ro

Lavender. hu zi i ro

Yellow ochre. do i ro

Dark brown. ko ge tya

Further readings: colors (was Re: adjective help!)

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Colors

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/color.html

Re: colors Re: aoi Iro Mihon no Yakata (written in Japanese) Nippon no Dent-shoku (written in Japanese)

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