Re: Homing Pigeons? Try Homing Crocodiles...

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Andreas Johansson writes: 

> A great many of the world's languages don't bother with different
> words for "blue" and "green". To speakers of such languages there
> apparently *is* no category difference between them, suggesting that
> "red", "green", and "blue" are particularities not of human vision but
> of some culturally conditioned ways of thinking about colour. I'll try
> and hound down a reference tomorrow.

Some pacific islander languages don't have separate words for 'blue' and 
'green', but instead differentiate shades of the two. Dark blue and dark 
green are considered the same thing, while there is a separate word that 
describes light green and light blue collectively. No doubt it's a result of 
strong sea-faring traditions (I imagine the same stretch of water can look 
blue or green depending on the time of day, whereas the shade differences 
probably reflect depth or currents which are more important for sea faring). 

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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              geo cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             heretichides.soffiles.com
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