The World Color Survey

The 1969 publication of Brent Berlin and Paul Kay's "Basic Color Terms" proved explosive. Contrary to the then-popular doctrine of random language variation, Berlin and Kay's multilingual study of color nomenclature indicated a cross-cultural and almost universal pattern in the selection of colors that received abstract names in each language. After four decades in print, "Basic Color Terms" now has a sequel: in this book, the authors authoritatively extend the original survey, studying 110 additional unwritten languages in detail and in situ. The results are presented with charts showing the overall palette of color terms within each language, as well as the levels of agreement among speakers.