LITHUANIAN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
FACULTY OF PHILOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY
ALISA STUNŽAITĖ
MANIFESTATION OF COLOR IDIOMS IN THE ENGLISH,
LITHUANIAN AND RUSSIAN LANGUAGES
MA THESIS
Academic Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Teresa Jane McCarthy
Vilnius, 2015
LIETUVOS EDUKOLOGIJOS UNIVERSITETAS
FILOLOGIJOS FAKULTETAS
ANGLŲ FILOLOGIJOS KATEDRA
FRAZEOLOGIZMŲ SU SPALVOS ELEMENTU APRAIŠKA
ANGLŲ, LIETUVIŲ IR RUSŲ KALBOSE
Magistro darbas
Magistro darbo autorė Alisa Stunžaitė
Patvirtinu, kad darbas atliktas savarankiškai,
naudojant tik darbe nurodytus šaltinius
_______________________
(parašas, data)
Vadovas doc.dr. Teresa Jane McCarthy
_______________________
(parašas, data)
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 5
1. ON THE CONCEPT OF IDIOM........................................................................................ 7
1.1. Theoretical background of idiomaticity ....................................................................... 8
1.2. Nature of idioms........................................................................................................ 10
1. 3. Features of idioms .................................................................................................... 12
1.3.1. Semantic properties of idioms............................................................................. 12
1.3.2. Syntactic properties of idioms............................................................................. 14
1.4 Idioms and culture...................................................................................................... 16
2. COLOR AND CULTURE ............................................................................................... 18
2.1 Color universals ......................................................................................................... 21
3. MANIFESTATION OF COLOR IDIOMS IN THE ENGLISH, LITHUANIAN AND
RUSSIAN LANGUAGES ................................................................................................... 23
3.1. Idioms that comprise the constituent of black color ................................................... 24
3.2. Idioms that comprise the constituent of white color ................................................... 31
3.3. Idioms that comprise the constituent of red color....................................................... 37
3.4. Idioms that comprise the constituent of green color ................................................... 42
3.5. Idioms that comprise the constituent of yellow color ................................................. 45
3.6. Idioms that comprise the constituent of blue color ..................................................... 47
3.7. Idioms that comprise the constituent of brown color.................................................. 50
3.8. Idioms that comprise the constituent of pink, purple and grey colors ......................... 51
4. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COLOR IDIOMS IN THE ENGLISH, LITHUANIAN
AND RUSSIAN LANGUAGES .......................................................................................... 55
5. INVESTIGATION OF ASPECTS EXPRESSED THROUGH ENGLISH, LITHUANIAN
AND RUSSIAN COLOR IDIOMS...................................................................................... 60
SUMMARY IN LITHUANIAN .......................................................................................... 80
LIST OF REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 81
ABSTRACT
The aim of the current research was to investigate color idioms across English,
Lithuanian and Russian languages. To carry out the research 300 of color idioms were
collected: 100 of idioms per each language under investigation. The selection of color element
was based on the theory of color universals presented by Berlin and Kay (1969).Qualitative,
semantic, descriptive and quantitative research methods were employed to analyze the
collected data. The analysis revealed that all of the colors except for the color orange are
present in three languages‘color idioms. Therefore, the most widely used colors in the idioms
were black (81 cases in total), white (60 cases in total) and red (56 cases in total). The idioms
were arranged into 15 semantic groups, the largest groups were: emotions (55), personal traits
(47) and quality (33). The research proved that particular colors could be used to denote
particular phenomenon. Therefore, the analysis stated that the same color may possess a
different meaning across the cultures and in that sense stressed the differences between three
cultures.
4
INTRODUCTION
The evidence of presence of color element in every language is indefeasible. Therefore,
words denoting colors are used not only to refer to the color itself but also are used in
idiomatic expressions and obtain a figurative meaning. Idioms are one of the elements of
figurative language they denote a group of words which possess a particular meaning which is
lost if each word is analyzed independently (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: 2011).
Thus, acquisition of idioms is a challenging activity for foreign language speakers. Therefore,
not all the languages provide the equivalents for the idioms widely used in another language
and in that sense idioms become even more complicated to deal with.
Color idioms have always been an issue under linguistic investigation. However, an
approach to the investigation of color idioms differs across schools. Scholars tend to analyze
color idioms in regard with various approaches. Vaclavikova (2010) investigated color idioms
relying on corpus-based analysis, Ahmadi & Ketabi (2011) analyzed problems of color idiom
translation, Xin (2012) focused on semantic composition of color idioms, Dordevic (2009)
studied color idioms in the economic discourse. A comparative study on color idioms was
conducted in 2010 by Piezculis in Lithuanian comparing English, Lithuanian and Polish color
idioms. However, there are no studies comparing and contrasting color idioms across three
languages: English, Lithuanian and Russian.
Thus, the attempt to shed a light on the similarities and differences of color idiomatic
expressions across English, Lithuanian and Russian languages had been made. Therefore, the
research question is: What is the interdependence between color idioms and phenomenon they
denote in English, Lithuanian and Russian languages. The aim of the present research is to
investigate color idioms in English, Lithuanian and Russian languages. In order to achieve the
aim, the following objectives were set:

To collect corpus of 300 idioms (100 of idioms per language);

To determine the meanings of color idioms across three languages;

To categorize color idioms according to the phenomenon they denote;

To identify similarities and differences of color idiom meanings in English,
Lithuanian and Russian languages.
The data of the current research was analyzed both: qualitatively and quantitatively. The
qualitative part of the research is brought out by the means of semantic analysis which deals
with the meaning of linguistic units, in this case – color idioms. The comparative and
contrastive data analysis is applied as the thesis aims at the identification of similarities and
differences among color idioms across the three languages. The quantitative part of the
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research is brought out by the means of calculations of relative frequency of occurrence in
English, Lithuanian and Russian.
As the semantic field of color is under the investigation, the thesis focuses on the
typology of colors and color universal terms suggested by Berlin and Kay (1969). Therefore,
eleven colors, mainly black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, orange, pink, purple and
grey were analyzed. The data for the research analysis was extracted from the dictionaries of
idioms. English color idioms were extracted from the Collins COBUILD Dictionary of
Idioms; Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learner‘s of English, Oxford Dictionary of Idioms 2nd
edition, and English in Color; Lithuanian color idioms were selected from two dictionaries:
Frazeologijos žodynas and Lietuvių kalbos frazeologijos; and Russian color idioms were
selected from: Фразеологический словарь современного русского литературного языкa.
The results of the current study could be applied in ESL teaching color idiomatic
expressions. The study could also contribute to translation studies as the similarities and
differences of color idioms across English, Lithuanian and Russian languages are identified.
The results could be used in the field of lexicography for compiling a multilingual dictionary
of color idioms. The findings would help to avoid ambiguities and add to the development of
positive and effective intercultural communicative competences. Finally, the results could be
beneficial for the students of linguistics in general and semantics in particular.
The thesis consists of two parts. The first part comprises two chapters on literature
review. The first one describes the nature of idioms, provides definitions coined by the
scholars across different school, points out an overview of semantic and syntactic properties
of idioms. The second introduces cultural background. The typology of color acquisition is
provided. The chapter also focuses on the meanings of colors across the cultures.
The research part comprises three chapters. The first subchapter of the research
introduces the semantic analysis of color idioms collected from three languages under
investigation. The second subchapter introduces to the similarities and differences among
color idioms of three languages. The last chapter provides a classification of idioms collected
into the semantic groups.
6
1. ON THE CONCEPT OF IDIOM
Evidence of the presence of
idiomatic expressions in every language is obvious.
However, a thorough investigation of idiomatic units has not been presented yet. According to
Gvozdariov (2009) in Russia the first attempt to include idiomatic expressions into the
dictionaries was made back in the 18th century when it was stated that not only separate words
may mean something but also the units of words may posses a certain meaning. According to
the data provided by the Institute of Lithuanian Language (2011-2013) the first dictionary of
Lithuanian idioms was released only in 1977. There is no evidence that the Lithuanian
linguists lags behind the Russians. One of the reasons could be related to the harsh history of
Lithuania and the occupying government which tried to eradicate the Lithuanian language and
cultural distinctive. For this reason perhaps Lithuanian linguists focused on idiomatic
expressions much later in history. Referring to Lynch (2006) the first dictionaries in the
English language were compiled back in the 17th – 18th centuries. Unfortunately there is no
evidence in the first dictionaries of idiomatic expressions. However, relying on the list
provided by Wood (1907) attempt to organize already existing idiomatic units was made at
the end of 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Also, relying on Bally (1951) it
could be implied that he was the first scholar to distinguish an idiom from other
phraseological units.
Aleshkina (1982) notes that the most active investigation of the field of idiomaticity
started in 1963 which brought numerous excellent works related to the topic to the field. It is
obvious from other works such as Kavka & Zibert (n.d) that idioms as an object of
investigation started to intrigue scholars and bring a greater focus on only in 20th century.
Even though the scholars in the past did not manage to shed much light on the topic of
idiomatic expressions, there were still prominent studies conducted which add to the field of
idiom investigation. Perhaps the lack of interest in the topic could be related to the rejection of
meaning analysis and could be related to early Chomsky (2002) as he stated that the sentences
do not need meaning analysis to be recognized and generally, the focus of linguistic
investigation was structure not the meaning. However, Chomsky did challenge structuralism
view and the distinction between syntax and semantics was established.
As idioms are used in everyday life and people use them unconsciously they cause a lot
of misunderstandings between the speakers of different languages. As Liu (2012) notes
idioms are part of culture-specific elements, hence relying on Yoko (1993) idioms constantly
cause communication breakdowns. Perhaps the problem of understanding and using idioms
with non-native speakers lies in the definition of an idiom.
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1.1. Theoretical background of idiomaticity
The problem of defining an idiom has been an object of discussions among many
scholars. The root of the problem lies not only in its ambiguous nature but also in the
distinction between the praseological unit and an idiom. Referring to Glaser (1988:265) the
terms idiomaticity and phraseology could be used interchangeably, as phraseology is a
common term used among Eastern European linguists. Indeed, idiom analysis might be
ambiguous at this point in the Lithuanian and Russian languages. In fact, the term idioma is
hardly used in either languages and linguists actually use the term phraseologism
(frazeologizmas, фразеологизм).
Unfortunately, linguists still have not reached a consensus on the topic of idiomaticity.
In the present study three languages are investigated, yet it is hardly possible to provide a
clear definition of an idiom which would suit all of them. Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary (2010:771) provides a definition of the primary meaning of an idiom as,: “a group
of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words”.
Relying on Gepner (1964:57) an idiom is a unit of phraseology which includes set
phrases of not free related word sets which should be eliminated from proverbs, sayings and
aphorisms. Another characteristic feature according to Gepner (1964:57) is a specific
bounding which is not related to grammatical rules or lexical combinability.
Usually each linguist tends to add an additional feature to the concept of idiomaticity.
Whereas, Gvozdariov (2009:205) managed to collect various features and present them as a
whole. He states that idioms could be distinguished from other linguistic units according to
the following criteria:
1) It is impossible to translate idioms to other languages;
2) The whole unit possesses one meaning;
3) It is impossible to understand the meaning from the separate words within an
idiom;
4) There is an inner interdependence among words;
5) Lexical content is always the same;
6) Idioms are constant elements of everyday speech;
7) The presence of particular environment.
Following Gvozdariov (2009:205) it becomes clear that not all the features could be
applicable nowadays. It is obvious that idioms could be translated to different languages with
particular techniques. Such scholars as Strakšienė (2009), Amineh (2011), Balfaqeec (2011),
Salim & Mehavesh (2013) focused on the topic and suggested techniques and possibilities for
8
idiom translation. Moreover, it is proved that each language possesses a certain number of
borrowed linguistic units, including idioms. Gvozdariov (2009:206) questions all the features,
however he agrees that the words within idiomatic expressions are interdependent and that a
set of words could be considered as an idiom only when there is a complex of features,
including types of phraseological units as well as a semantics evaluation of the unit.
Relying on Seidl and McMordi (1983:4) it is important to stress the fact that idioms
could be defined according to other criteria such as:
1)
Idioms appear in formal as well as in the colloquial styles;
2)
A whole unit possesses one meaning rather than words taken separately;
3)
Parts of idioms are not interchangeable;
4)
Some idioms may be characterized as illogical and ungrammatical;
5)
Long usage defines the phrase as an idiom.
Nunberg, Sag and Wasow (1994:494) suggest identifying an idiom with the help of
conventionality, inflexibility, figuration, provability, informality and affect, providing clear
information how each of the preceding principles would employ the idea that a set of words is
an idiom. On the other hand, they argue that all these properties are applicable to the idioms.
However, the scholars (1994:494) have an explanation why it is hardly possible to denote an
idiom.
“Standard categorical assumptions about what makes idioms have constrained the forms
of argument available to explain their behavior, and have colored the way the properties of
idioms are invoked in general grammatical argumentation. The problem with these accounts,
in our view, is that they have tended to overgrammaticize the phenomena – to ask the
syntactic and semantic apparatus of the grammar to explain regularities that are in fact the
consequences of independent rhetorical and discursive functions of the expressions.”
Differently from the linguists assuming that there must be many features to define an
idiom Hongyong (n.d.) tend to characterize idioms according to three criteria. He states that
idioms must represent semantic unity – as the whole unit possesses only one meaning;
structural stability – as the lexis within idioms is not interchangeable (only in rare cases when
the author wants to sound novel he may employ new words instead of familiar ones to the
society); ungrammaticality of some idioms – the author dwells on the idea that some idioms
may reject all grammar rules but still be recognizable and usable.
Finally, Marcinkevičienė (2001:81) provides an overall picture of the features of idioms
in regard with the ideas suggested by lithuanian linguists. She states that idioms could be
described in the respect of expression, as stable grammatical units which are learnt once and
for all and used without reinvention. Regarding semantic properties idioms could be
paraphrased in one word. Taking into account the usage of idioms, they could be used in a
9
particular lexical environment without which they cannot function as idioms. Finally, she
states that stylistically, idioms perform an expressive function of the language and could be
considered as manage to make abstract phenomena seem as concrete.
Taking into account all the definitions and properties of an idiom, the current paper
considers a set of words as an idiom when that particular set possesses one meaning which is
lost if words are taken separately, the expressions must be set syntactically and must have a
particular linguistic environment to function as idioms.
1.2. Nature of idioms
Defining an idiom is a challenging task to do, however it is rather difficult to decide on
the nature of idioms as well. Coming back to Srydl and McMordi (1983:4) a phrase has to be
used for a long period of time to be called an idiom therefore possible ways for the idiom to
enter the language should be discussed. Referring to Jack (2004:7) in many cases it is possible
to recognize the roots of idioms, in some cases idioms originate from the historical events, in
others idioms originate from unbelievable events but in most of the cases there is an
explanation how one or another idiom ended up in the language use. Whereas Garcia
(2010:410) stresses the fact that the major sources for the idiom formation are: literature,
mythology, religion, folklore, and culture diversity.
The formation of idioms just like the formation of new words show that the language
still functions. Referring to Gvozdariov (2009:340) newly coined idioms have a special name
– phraseological neologisms. He states that in most of the cases new idioms are coined by one
person and are considered as phraseological units only when people start actively using it. The
drawback of this phenomenon is that the authors of the idioms usually remain in the dark.
However, relying on Shanskij and Ivanov (1987:79) this may not be true if we refer to the
famous authors who also take part in the creation of phraseology, just like in the Russian
language Pushkin, Krylov, Chehov and Gorky are considered as a great source for
phraseological neologisms. Following Kuznecova (cited in Gvozdariov, 2009) it is essentially
important for the language to reflect everything what is significant for the culture and it is the
task of a language to free the users of it from everything what is no longer useful. In that
sense, language is obliged to introduce new units and Gvozdariov (2009: 341) specifies on the
tendencies in new idiom formation in the Russian language:
1)
Idioms related to everyday life;
2)
Idioms related to the body parts;
3)
Idioms related to the professional fields;
10
4)
Borrowings from the English language.
The latter is not a surprising fact, as the English language becomes lingua franca the
youth considers it fashionable to use foreign idioms instead of those which are known to
everyone. The same phenomenon could be observed in the Lithuanian language as well.
Gvozdariov (2009: 342) also states that it is hardly possible to track the etymology of newly
coined idioms.
Though going back to Shanskij and Ivanov (1987:79) the major factors for the
linguistic units to become idioms are the following:
1)
The usage of the phrases in the figurative meaning;
2)
Phraseologically restricted usage of new words;
3)
Phraseological units possessing one meaning which is common to a particular
epoch.
In that sense, the situation represented in Russia of the USSR times was highly
productive for the new idiom coining. Authors (1987) elaborated on that idea and stressed the
fact that back to Soviet Russia a separate set of phraseological units had been created which
carried a particular name of sovietisms. The term refers to the most significant phenomena
representing specific peculiarities of Soviet activity.
The footprint of Latin and Greek is obvious in every language. Garcia (2010) stresses
that in his work where he provides a clear picture of etymology of idioms which are widely
used by the users of English but which reflect the signs of Roman and Greek cultures.
The birth of an idiom is considerable a clear phenomena, but just as any other lexical
item, idioms tend to disappear from the linguistic system once and for all. Gvozdariov
(2009:335) stresses the fact that there are two major reasons for that, those of inner and outer
nature. Regarding the inner reasons why the language rejects idioms used all over the time is
related to the obstacles in use, many words are changed by the new ones, hence the idioms
with such an element become unfamiliar to the new generations and in that sense lose their
meaning, the usage of such idioms does not make sense anymore. The outer reasons for the
idiom death are concerned with various social processes. There is no point in functioning if
the phenomenon which was reflected with the help of an idiom does not exist anymore. At the
same time the appearance of new phenomenon requires a new name and the circle of
disappearance and appearance of new idioms is unstoppable.
As idioms are the units which possess one meaning, the same rules of emerging and
disappearing could be applied either to the idiom or to the word. In some cases etymology of
an idiom may contribute to the successful communication (if it is a borrowing) in some the
same etymology of an idiom helps to comprehend them better.
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1. 3. Features of idioms
The amount of possible idiom classification is considerably big however most of the
linguists across various schools agree that idioms could be classified into two big groups:
according to their semantic properties and according to their syntactic properties. Linguists
also suggest classifying idioms according to compositionality, the level of transparency,
encoding and decoding.
1.3.1. Semantic properties of idioms
Majority of the linguists rely on the classification provided by Vinogradov. Indeed, his
input into the investigation of phraseology is significant and valid until nowadays. According
to Gvozdariov (2009:212) the basis for Vinogradov’s classification was the relationship
between separate components of the phraseological unit with the overall meaning of an idiom,
whereas such a relationship may vary. The latter observations led to the distinguishing of
three major types of idioms.
1)
Analytical – the meaning of each component could be distinguished;
2)
Synthetic – idioms possessing one synthetic meaning;
2.1) Motivated by the direct meaning of the elements (phraseological unities);
2.2) Not motivated by the direct meaning of the elements (phraseological fusions).
Gvozdariov (2009:214) also stresses that the names given to the phenomena of semantic
classification depend on the level of motivation between the elements. Therefore, those three
types of semantic classification are: phraseological collocations, phraseological unities and
phraseological fusions.
Vinogradov presented the features of each type, thus Gvozdariov (2009:214) grouped
them and presented. Regarding phraseological collocations they could be characterized
according to such features as presence of the word which has a phraseological meaning,
presence of the word with the literal meaning, possibility to change the word with the
phraseological (figurative) meaning with the synonym which would preserve the primary
meaning of the idiom, absence of homonyms and the presence of absolute duality, where one
of the components possesses a figurative meaning and the other is used in its direct meaning.
An overall meaning could be predicted from the entities present in the idiom, an
overall figurativeness is preserved due to the metaphorical or metonymical change, the
presence of homonyms influences the figurativeness of an idiom, idioms are syntactically
12
unite (it is impossible to divide them) – all these features are common to the phraseological
unities.
Considering phraseological fusions it should be stressed that their meanings are not
motivated by the elements, in many cases it is not clear why people use such idioms. In the
sentences such idioms perform the function as one participant. Archaic words are common
elements in such idioms; they do not include homonyms and sometimes may posses
themselves an archaic meaning.
According to Fernando according to the semantic criteria idioms could also be divided
into three major groups, whereas it is possible to find parallels between the classification
provided by Vinogradov and Fernando. Hence, Fernando (1996:60) specifies that pure idioms
are idioms which tend to function as one semantic unit and possesses one meaning which
cannot be predicted from the separate elements of an idiom. In that sense, pure idioms may
correspond to phraseological fusions. Semi-idioms proposed by Fernando are idioms in which
one element preserves its literal meaning, whereas the other element possesses a figurative.
The description could be related to the phraseological collocations. Finally, literal idioms
could be easily understood just due to the elements presented there as the direct meaning
could be perceived through the literal meanings of the words; which is similar to the
description of praseological unities.
However, such a system may not be applicable to all the languages, for instance the
school of Lithuanian linguists suggest to divide idioms semantically only into two major subtypes proposed by Jakaitienė (2009). She suggests distinguishing motivated idioms from nonmotivated.
Motivated idioms according to Jakaitienė (2009:288) are the idioms which meaning
depends on the separate words present and could be easily restored from the overall meaning
of an idiom. Moreover, a further subdivision of this type is available. They could fall into
tropical, comparative and simplistic. According to Butkutė (2008:49) tropical idioms - are
common phraseological units possessing figurative meaning used by the speakers of a
language. They also may be stratified into metaphorical and metonymical nature types.
Comparative idioms – have a comparative element within the structure and are close to
metaphorical phrases. Finally, phraseological simplicities posses the meaning which is
common to the direct meanings of the elements present in idioms.
Coming back to Jakaitienė (2009:286), the meaning of non-motivated idioms cannot
be predicted from the separate words, thus such phraseological units cannot be altered usually
the lexis present in such idioms has lost its primary meaning and is used with new acquired
meanings.
13
Taking into account the features presented by Lithuanian linguists it is also possible to
find similarities with the system suggested by Vinogradov. For instance, non-motivated
idioms have a lot in common with phraseological fusions, as both types stress the importance
of an unpredictable meaning. Motivated idioms may correspond with phraseological unities,
as both focus on the meaning which could be extracted from the words’ primary meaning.
The names for the types may vary across languages, however the idea remains the same and
generally, considering either system it is possible to classify idioms according to semantic
criteria.
1.3.2. Syntactic properties of idioms
Taking into account that the semantic structure of idioms has been discussed it is
essentially important to focus on the structural classification of idioms. Referring to Yusifova
(2013:133) combinability of words in a sentence depends on the syntax though in many cases
it does not help to learn the language as a whole. The reason for that is a huge amount of
idiomatic constructions which language posses and these constructions should be analyzed
from the theoretical and practical point of view.
McCarthy and O’Dell (2008:6) provide a classification of idioms according to the
syntactic/grammatical criteria. They distinguish seven various types:
1) Verb + object/compliment (or/and adverbial);
2) Prepositional phrase;
3) Compound;
4) Simile;
5) Binominal;
6) Trinominal;
7) Whole clause/ sentence.
McCarthy and O’Dell (2010:22) provide a clear picture of syntactic properties of
idioms, they specify on simile, according to the authors such idioms have an element of
comparison which is usually represented by as and like. They also stress that such idioms are
set and change of elements within them may cause dramatic misunderstandings. Binominals
tend to include two words which most commonly are joined by the conjunction and,
moreover the order of words in binominals is fixed and if the words are changed the idiom
loses its figurative meaning. Binominals include such sets of words as synonyms, opposites,
repetitions of the same word; words which rhyme, alliterative and combinations of words
which are joined with the help of some other conjunctions.
14
The authors dwell on the fixed aspects of idioms (2008:6), they stress the fact that the
majority of idioms are fixed however there are idioms which may have some space for the
user’s creativity. These cases include: the change from active to passive voice, verb-based
idioms may be altered by noun-compound forms and one or more words could be replaced by
their synonyms.
Referring to Antrushina, Afanasieva and Morozova (1999: 248) a structural principle
of classification includes slightly different criteria. Russian scholars tend stratify idioms into:
verbal, substantive, adjectival, adverbial and interjectional. The classification is based on the
syntactic functions.
Taking all the features mentioned above it is significant to specify on the possible
syntactic restrictions. Baker (1992:163) distinguished six restrictions which may affect the
degree of idiomaticity. He dwells on addition – as in some of the cases it may affect the
meaning of the idiom; deletion – as the process of elimination of a word affects the whole
structure dramatically; substitution – altering the idiom by replacing a word with its synonym
influences the meaning and may alter it to non-recognizable; modification – the grammatical
structure of an idiom must be preserved as any changes influence the meaning; comparative –
change of degree of an adjective evokes the change in a meaning; passivization – changing
the active voice into a passive may affect the whole construction and influence the meaning
dramatically.
Focusing on the Lithuanian language it is worth mentioning that scholars subdivide
structural properties into two groups. According to Kalinauskas (1962: 20) the first group
includes the presence of rhythm, rhyme and alliteration in the phraseological units, while the
second focuses on the syntactic roles of the words.
Speaking explicitly about the elements of rhythm, rhyme and alliteration in the idioms
it helps to connect not only the notions belonging to the same semantic field but also it helps
to connect the opposites. Phonemic elements may also contribute to preserving the constant
structure of the idiom. Kalinauskas (1962:22) also adds synonyms, antonyms and repetitions
to this group. On the other hand, he stresses the fact that the presence of the same phoneme in
the phraseological units is not the key fact however regarding the semantic classification these
elements are common to simplistic idioms.
As the second group of structural classification focuses on the syntactic roles of
idioms, Kalinauskas (1962: 23) subdivides them into the idioms compiled from notional and
functional words, idioms with the comparative element, nominal idioms, verbal idioms and
idioms which form a whole sentence whole sentence.
15
The principles of syntactic classification in the Lithuanian language at some level
correspond to those which are common for the English and the Russian languages. Linguists
stress the importance of syntactic roles and the restrictions on altering the idioms syntactically
could be successfully applied to all three languages.
1.4 Idioms and culture
Nowadays scholars do not argue about the fact that language is a specific element
representing a particular culture. As idioms are a significant part of a linguistic system they
must reflect culture and be characterized as culture specific. As the evidence for that may be
numerous articles about the idiom translation problems as the idiom may suit one culture
perfectly, whereas it may lose its figurativeness in the other culture.
Referring to Boers (2008) idioms correspond to our schemas in our brain and usually
may be associated with cognitive linguistics as he is sure that idioms derive from our physical
experiences. Whereas each culture (even each individual!) experiences the same phenomena
in a different way idiom comprehension may vary from one culture to another. Boers (2008)
also stresses that there are basic physical experiences which humanity experiences in the same
manner, therefore comprehension of some idioms may appear not as a challenging task.
According to Yang (2010: 148) the geographical location of a culture plays a crucial
role in idiom formation. People use language to speak about their daily life, Yang elaborates
on the eating habits and hence he stresses that the representatives of western cultures tend to
consume food which is rich in calories and is nutritious to keep the level of energy and make
people feel warm, whereas those who represent eastern cultures consume more light food and
that is reflected in the linguistic system.
Differently from the linguists mentioned above Guineng (2012:108) argues the view it
is essential to focus on the differences among cultures, he claims that all cultures have a
common ground and that analysis of idioms as representatives of culture-specific elements
should start with the analysis of similarities across the cultures.
Guineng (2012:109) also focuses on the factors which influence cultural differences.
Geographical location, historical background and religion are the main elements to consider
idioms as culture specific elements. Specifying on geographical location the type of the
country plays an important role, whether the country is famous for sailing, agriculture or
manufacture the more idioms related to the phenomenon will appear in the dictionaries and
users’ lexicons. The historical events the author means the customs of a particular culture, the
presence of royal family will influence the language to reflect it in the idiomatic use, the type
16
of country government will be reflected in the language. The people of former Soviet Union
are familiar with such a phenomenon as such an epoch provided a numerous examples of the
idioms which even have a special name – sovietisms. Coming back to Guineng (2012:111)
religious views of a culture tend also to appear in phraseological units and as there is none
such a religion which would suit all of the cultures misunderstandings will be present.
The importance of theory on conceptual metaphor is extremely important while
talking about idioms and their relationship with the culture. Dobrovol’skij and Piirainen
(2006) state that each culture comprehend the same phenomenon in a different manner. They
carried out an analysis of number perception in the English, Lithuanian and German
languages. The same phenomenon was brought out by the means of a different number, even
though the cultures are not so extremely diverse. Scholars suggest the idea that all the idioms
were based on one conceptual metaphor HAPPY IS UP, however the number were chosen
differently as different numbers have a historical significance in different cultures, for
instance number seven is more characteristic to Western cultures, whereas number nine is
common to North-Europeans.
Bespontovaja (2010) stresses the fact that idioms not only reflect the culture but also
determine it. She provides a clear example of a borrowed idiom from the Spanish language.
The scholar speaks, that previously idiom which belonged only to Spanish culture found its
place in the Russian. La sangre azul which has a meaning of a blue blood is accepted in the
Russian language and culture, moreover, the idiom determines the value of having a type of
royal blood, which would distinguish a person from other people.
Idioms as culture specific elements cause numerous problems not only in intercultural
communication but also in translation. Language acquisition is usually related to the
acquisition of foreign culture as in many cases it helps to perceive the linguistic system in a
better way. Even though each language possesses its individual traits, all language have
common elements, thus idioms as culture specific elements could be perceived in an easier
way if the acquisition starts from common and comes to specific.
17
2. COLOR AND CULTURE
For a long time it was set that culture should be related to a particular area. The
definition of culture used to focus on people belonging to a particular culture if they shared a
land together today the concept of culture is understood in a broader sense. Anthropologists
put a lot of effort to define culture, yet new studies still add new features which would help to
identify what is a culture? Referring to Mead (2002) a clear picture the term culture was
provided, she refers to it as a complex of behavior which was developed by the generation and
successfully put into the following generations. Birukou, Blanzieri, Georgini and Giunchiglia
(n. d.) collected a number of definitions of culture and provided their own; they conclude that
culture must include such entities as behavior specific to a particular group of people,
knowledge facts, ideas, believes and norms. Segall, Campbell and Herskovit (1996:1)
concluded that social scientists no longer doubt whether human perception is a culturally
specific element. Relying on that it could be claimed that cultures perceive various
phenomena in a different manner.
Element of color could be considered as part of visual perception, hence relying on
Segall, Campbell and Herskovits (1996) it could be presupposed that representatives of
different cultures perceive colors differently. The current study focuses on three languages:
the English language, the Lithuanian and the Russian language, however it is possible to
speak of two cultures only. The culture of Western world is addressed through the English
language, whereas relying on the geographical location the Lithuanian and the Russian
language may belong to the Eastern culture.
The idea presupposed by Zetl (1999) is a powerful explanation of the role of color in
everyday life. He stresses that color is a strong visual code which helps us in everyday
situations; it is hardly possible to imagine a map in black and white whereas colors may guide
us. Therefore colors may tell a lot about the culture we belong to.
King (2005) looks at the color perception from a different angle, he tries to explain he
perception of a visual spectrum referring back to the genetics, presupposing that with the
development of human race the perception of color had changed. Speaking of a culture, he
stresses the importance of going back to the times of ancestors when the distinction of colors
was comparatively small in numbers. However, referring to Turner (n.d.) the color distinction
represented by human ancestors cannot be related to culture. He specifies that color
perception of human beings could be grouped into three classes: those which come from our
ancestors, culture-specific perception of color and location/time-specific perception.
18
The evidence that color is a culture-specific element could be supported by simple
explanation of the same color across different geographical locations. Turner (n.d.) in the
study focused on non-European understanding of a color, he described the meanings the
colors posses in the Middle East, including Pacific Rim countries and India. Dunn (n.d.)
elaborated on the topic and provided a full picture of color perception comparing various
cultures. Both scholars provide the explanation of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and
brown. Dunn (n.d.) also speaks of black and white colors. Moreover, speaking of the colors it
is impossible to illuminate color perception from the psychology point of view. Hence, the
explanation provides not only the meanings of color perception from cultural point of view
but also includes a psychological explanation provided by Wright (2004).
Both Turner and Dunn agree that red color in most of the cultures is associated with
positive emotions such as love, luck, triumph, success or passion. However, it is impossible to
argue that the cultures of South Africa relate red to mourning for Jews red may be related not
only to the positive phenomena such as sacrifice but red is usually led by the meaning of sin.
Red also serves as a warning in Western cultures. Taking a look at description provided by
Wright it comes clear that red color could be characterized from both angles. The positive
side includes courage, strength, warmth, energy or survival. Whereas, the negative features
the color may bring are related to defiance, aggression and strain.
According to Dunn (n.d.) orange, in Europe is usually associated with harvest and
creativity, it may also be a specific color of a religion, just like it is in Ireland. Turner (n.d.)
stresses that orange is also related to the religious movements in Asia as many monks prefer
this color for their robes. In the Middle East orange is associated to the positive phenomena
mostly to happiness, health or even immortality. In psychology, orange is associated with all
type of comfort. However, if the color is used in many details it may be related to frustration,
immaturity and deprivation. (Wright, 2004: 4).
Dunn and Turner stress that yellow is mostly a positive color. It may denote joy,
royalty, courage and wisdom, but at the same time it is associated with weakness in European
cultures, in Egypt the color is related to mourning. Wright (2004:3) refers to yellow color as
an emotional color. The description provided by the psychologist includes such positive
phenomena as optimism, self-esteem, emotional strength and friendliness. The scholar also
stresses the fact that yellow color is considered to be the strongest color psychologically.
However, it should be mentioned that it may also be related to fear, depression and even
suicide.
Green described by Dunn (n.d.) in most of the cultures represents positive concepts. It
may be related to life, hope, virtue, new birth and money. However, it should be noted that
19
green in China sometimes could be associated with a betrayal. In China men who were caught
cheating on their wives were obliged to wear green hats. Wright (2004:4) has own opinion on
the meanings green color may posses. She stresses that at first it is a color of balance. It brings
harmony, refreshment and peace. On the other hand, it is a color of blindness, boredom and
stagnation.
An interesting fact provided by Turner (n.d.) about the blue color. He indicates that the
word for blue entered the language later than for the other colors. He also stresses that in India
blue is linked to heaven, mercy, mystery and love. Referring to Dunn (n.d.) the color has a
universal meaning and worldwide is understood as a safe color, however, the meaning of it
varies from culture to culture. In Europe it may have a meaning of depression, in Iran it is
related to mourning. For the representatives of Judaism the color means holiness, for the
Middle East – protection. Wright (2004:3) categorizes the color as intellectual. In psychology
it is associated with communication, trust, calm or duty. Most probably, this meaning could
be related to the one accepted worldwide the meaning of safety, as it includes all the features
related to blue color in psychology. Wright (2004:3) also indicates that blue is the most
favorite color of the world, yet it may linked to unfriendliness, coldness and lack of emotion.
Purple in regard to the religion is related to death or mourning. Most prominently it is
represented in Catholicism and in the religions spread in Thailand, there purple is also
associated with the color widows should wear while mourning (Dunn, n.d.). However,
according to Dunn (n.d.) in Europe the color is related to royalty, Turner (n.d.) indicates that
the same could be observed in Japan and China. In psychology according to Wright (2004:4)
purple is also addressed as violet. It is related to luxury, quality, vision, truth and spiritual
awareness. However, it may also be related to something cheap and nasty as well as
decadence, suppression and inferiority.
Turner (n.d) indicates that brown in European cultures was viewed as drab, whereas in
Japan it is linked to a particular beauty. In Arabic languages brown is elated to coffee, as it
has the same root. Wright (2004:5) relates brown seriousness, reliability and support. She
indicates that it may also refer to lack of humor, sophistication as well as to heaviness.
According to Dunn (n.d.) white color is always related to the purity. It denotes
marriage, angels and peace. However, this description is applicable to the Western cultures
mostly. If we refer to the Eastern white acquires a new meaning, the meaning of death,
funerals, unhappiness and mourning. In psychology white as well as black color is believed to
be an extreme, hence psychologists do not tend to describe them either in a positive or in a
negative manner. Wright (2004:5) stresses that white refers to purity and hence, the concept
of sterility may be negative as it is cold, unfriendly and independent.
20
Finally, speaking of a black color, it is another extreme. In European cultures it is
always related to death, mourning, loss. However, it is not only European cultures which see
black as a negative color, people of Thailand and representatives of Judaism associate it with
bad luck, evil and unhappiness. Wright (2004:5) stresses that in psychology black has a
meaning of glamour, sophistication, security. Even though in the culture perception of black it
is possible to observe mostly negative phenomena in psychology it is not truly so. Black may
refer to depression, coldness and heaviness.
All the colors mentioned above are chosen for the analysis by many scholars. However
the choice is not random. The researchers base their findings on the classification provided by
Berlin and Kay (1969) as they indicated the presence of basic color terms. Generally, there are
11 basic color terms, pink and grey are illuminated from the description above. Berlin and
Kay identified the characteristics the color term should possess in order to be named as a
color term. They stressed the importance of:
1)
The meaning, as it should be easily recoverable from the meaning of its part
(e.g. grayish);
2)
the absence of signification in any other color term;
3)
the term could be applied to an unlimited number of objects;
4)
it must be psychologically easy recognizable.
Taking into account all the features the same color terms posses it is possible to draw a
conclusion that the same color denotes a different phenomena across different cultures, hence
term culture should include not only traditions but also a geographical location as well as
religious representation.
2.1 Color universals
In the previous chapter it was stated that Berlin and Kay (1969) did a great job
identifying basic color terms. In their description they refer to 11 basic colors: red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black and white. They also state, that these colors or color
terms exist in the majority of the languages. As well as they presupposed such a set possible
to exist due to perceptual physiology of a human race. Scholars as well presupposed a
possible way for a language to acquire basic color terms. The Figure 1 represents the order of
color acquisition by a language.
21
1.
Black
and white
colors
2.
Red
3.
Green
and yellow
4.
Yello
w and green
5.
6.
Blue
Brow
n
7.
Orang
e and/or pink
and/or
purple
and/or grey
Figure 1. The order of Basic Color Terms presupposed by Berlin and Kay (1969)
According to the theory presupposed by Berlin and Kay (1969) all languages and
cultures at the initial stage recognize black and white colors. If the third color is to enter the
system it is always red. In most of the cases it is followed by green and yellow or by yellow
and green. The following color universal is believed to be blue. On the pre-final stage brown
color enters the system and finally four more colors such as orange, pink, purple and grey
enter the system to make the total of eleven universal colors.
Recently, the theory presupposed by Berlin and Kay (1969) had been questioned. Kay
and Regier (2003:9085) stated the fact that previous studies focused on color universals which
may be universal only to industrialized cultures, whereas non-industrialized societies may not
possess names for color universals. The research tested both kinds of societies and still it was
proved that both industrialized and non-industrialized cultures share a set of colors which
could be referred to as color universals.
The current study relies on the color terms which are considered to be color universals.
The theory presupposed the presence of 11 basic color terms in most of the linguistic systems.
The linguistic systems of the Lithuanian, Russian and English languages posses the means to
realize basic color terms.
22
3. MANIFESTATION OF COLOR IDIOMS IN THE ENGLISH, LITHUANIAN
AND RUSSIAN LANGUAGES
The current thesis focuses on the analysis of color terms used within color idioms across
three languages: the English, Lithuanian and Russian. However, not all existing colors and
their shades were included into the analysis. Relying on the presupposition made by Berlin
and Kay (1969) regarding color terms eleven color terms were selected, they include the
following colors: black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, orange, pink, purple and grey.
There are 300 idioms collected in the English, Lithuanian and Russian languages. The
number of 100 per each language was set due to the limited scope of the research. Idioms with
the transparent meaning and in many cases idioms directly referring to the color they denote
were illuminated in order to receive the results related to other phenomenon color idioms may
express.
All the colors mentioned above were taken into consideration, no shades of the colors
were included into the analysis except for the synonymous names, hence in the English
language into the analysis of pink color idioms rose color idioms were included and in the
Russian language a shade of blue – light blue was taken into account while presenting the
results of the study. The color idioms which were not found in the dictionaries were
illuminated form the research e.g. due to absence of yellow color idioms in the dictionaries of
the Lithuanian language, yellow color was abandoned from the analysis.
Each language is analyzed separately in order to get a clear picture of the phenomenon
color idioms may denote in a particular language, later on an analytical chapter on the
comparison and contrast of all three languages is presented.
Idioms for the study were collected from 4 dictionaries of the English language:
Collins COBUILD dictionary of Idioms, Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learner‘s of English,
Oxford Dictionary of Idioms 2nd edition and English in Color. The Lithuanian idioms were
selected from the dictionaries Frazeologijos žodynas and Lietuvių kalbos frazeologijos
žodynas, whereas the Russian idioms came from Фразеологический словарь современного
русского литературного языкa.
The current thesis relies on the qualitative method providing the description of the
color idioms under the investigation as well as it analyzes data from the comparative point of
view, quantitatively data is analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics and presents the
relative frequency of color idiom occurrence across three languages.
23
3.1. Idioms that comprise the constituent of black color
According to the theory presupposed by Berlin and Kay (1969) the black color is one of
the first colors which is recognized by various cultures, therefore the speakers of the English
language possess idioms with the element of black color in them.
(1)A black mark against someone
Something that someone has done that
is disliked/ disapproved by other people;
(2)A black spot
A notorious place;
(3)Beaten black and blue
Physically attached and badly bruised;
(4)Be in someone‘s black books
Be in disfavor with someone;
(5)Beyond the black stump
Remote uncivilized country
(6)Black and blue
Badly bruised;
(7)Black and white
Ability to see complex issues in a
simple terms of right and wrong;
(8)Black box
Apparatus, internal operations which
are mysterious;
(9)Black cheque
Freedom/permission to act as one
wishes/ thinks necessary;
(10)Black humor
Morbid, bizarre form of humor;
(11)Black market
Selling of goods at illegal prices;
(12)Black out
Temporary loss of consciousness;
(13)Black sheep (of the family)
A member who is unsatisfactory or not
up to standards;
(14)Black tie
Formal evening dress;
(15)In black and white
To have written proof;
(16)In the black
Do not owe anybody any money;
(17)Not as black as you are painted
Not as bad as other people say;
The amount of the idioms selected from the dictionaries, indicates that the presence of
the black color in the linguistic system of the English language is obvious. Therefore, the
black color is used to indicate various phenomena.
24
Generally, as the black color is related to bad luck, it is reflected in the idioms,
examples (1), (4), (5) and (13) indicate that the person is not accepted by the others or is not
good enough to be a part of a particular community.
Another group of idioms with the element of the black color could be formed with
regard to the physical appearance, idioms (3) and (6) indicate that the person has been abused
physically. Moreover, the black is also related to the physical state of a human, idiom (12) is
related to the loss of consciousness.
As the black color is descried as an extreme, it possesses negative aspects and those
aspects are reflected in the linguistic system. Black color in the English language reflects
illegal, mysterious and extraordinaire phenomenon; the idioms (2), (10) and (11) prove the
fact that the black color is associated with something what cannot be recognized at first sight.
However, it could not be claimed that the black color is related to the negative
phenomenon only. It could express a wealthy financial state just like in the example (16),
personal abilities to understand complex things in a simple manner (7) it can also express
permission (9). The black color could be related to the phenomenon related to justice as in
some cases it may express the possession of written evidence (15) as well as it may reveal the
unknown phenomena (8) but in a mysterious way.
The combination of the black and white color is the most probably the one which could
be claimed as one of the most traditional ones, therefore the white color makes the effect of
the black softer and as a result that combination has a meaning of not being as bad as it is
presented by the others (17).
Finally, idiom with black color may be related to the clothes style which could be
accepted at particular events and the traditional black tie (14) style is accepted at the official
events.
All in all, the collection of the color idioms indicates that the role of the black color is
truly important for the speakers of English. It could express a variety of phenomenon. It could
be related to the negative aspects of a situation as well as to the positive ones. In combination
with white color the black acquires a new meaning which could be applied to those of neutral.
It could be claimed, that black color idioms are common for the Lithuanian language as
37 instances were found in the dictionaries.
(18)Ir juoda ir balta
Visaip;
(19)Į juodus purvus
Smarkiai (iškeikti);
(20)Juodas ant balto
Raštiškai, aiškiai;
25
(21)Juodasis auksas
Nafta; durpės;
(22)Juodu ant balto
Raštiškai;
(23)Juoda balta neatskirti
Būti naiviam;
(24)Juodas baltas
Bet kas;
(25)Juoda burna
Įtempus visas jėgas;
(26)Juodas darbas
Nusikaltimas, nuostolinga veikla;
(27)Juoda diena
Ateityje galinti būti bėda;
(28)Juodos dienos
Vargas;
(29)Juodą duoną valgyti
Prastai maitintis;
(30)Juodos duonos plutą graužti
Prastai gyventi;
(31)Juodas gomurys
Tamsus, nekultūringas;
(32)Juodo grūdo neužmesti
Neapkalbėti;
(33)Juoda ir balta matyti
Daug išgyventi, vargti;
(34)Juodos ir baltos matyti
Daug išgyventi, vargti;
(35)Juodų jaučių mindžiotas
Daug vargo matęs; niūrus, užsidaręs;
(36)Juoda katė perbėgo [taką]
Sakoma nesisekant;
(37)Juodasis kaulas
Prastos kilmės žmogus;
(38)Juodai mėlynas
Labai išsigandęs; labai blogas;
(39)Juodoji mirtis
Maras;
(40)Juoda naktis
Vėluma, tamsa; blogas gyvenimas;
(41)Juoda nugara
Apie sunkų darbą;
(42)Juodas vakaras
Tamsa, vėluma;
(43)Juodas žmogus
Juodadarbis;
(44)Juodžemis kvepia
Neilgai givens;
(45)Kaip [juodas] jautis
Apie daug ir sunkiai dirbantį;
(46)Net juoda
Labai daug;
(47)Nė juodo nė balto
Nieko;
(48)Nė nago juodumu
Nė kiek, visai (ne);
(49)Per nago juodumą
Kad kiek; vos;
(50)Prie juodos ir prie baltos
Visaip;
(51)Prie juodžemio traukia
Norisi miego;
(52)Su juodu dumblu maišyti
Nugalėti; iškeikti;
(53)Už juodą arklį
Sunkiai dirbti;
(54)Už žeme juodesnis
Blogai atrodantis.
26
In the Lithuanian culture black color is closely related to either hard life or hard work.
The concept of difficult wellbeing is expressed through number of idioms and the examples
(28), (30), (33), (34) and (40) indicate that. The example (29) could also be ascribed to the
group of bad living conditions as it expresses the idea of poor nutrition. The concept of hard
work is expressed through idioms (41), (43), (45) and (53).
Along with the hard life, black color is used to express danger or bad luck. The
example (26) is related to the illegal actions which are dangerous, the example (27) predict a
bad coming day, whereas a black cat in the example (36) indicate the presence of bad luck.
The names of illnessess could also be expressed via black color (39) as well as the prediction
of the upcoming death (44). Moreover, the physical need for sleep is expressed via black color
in the idiom (51).
Black color idioms could be used for a character building describing negative aspects
of a person. The description may start with the representation of a social class, black color is
used to describe people who belong to the lowest social strata (37), and physical appearance
which involves such description as poorly-looking could be expressed with the help of the
idiom (54). Personal characteristics such as being an extremely bad person (38), being naive
(23), being not educated and dark (31) and being poor, gloomy and unsociable (35) could be
expressed with the help of the Lithuanian black color idioms. Therefore the actions of
winning or cursing others could be expressed by the idiom (19) and (52) and the emotion of
fear (38) could be presented with the contribution of black color as well. However, black
color could also be related to the positive phenomenon as it reflects the action of not
spreading rumors (32).
Black color is usually associated with darkness, therefore such idioms as (40) and (42)
help to figuratively describe the dark time of the day. On the other hand black color is also
related to the clarity, hence idioms (20) and (22) express the idea of clear and grammatical
writing.
Black color in the Lithuanian language is special for its ability to express three totally
different concepts. It has the idioms which possess the meaning of everything: idiom (46)
expresses the idea of something which is a lot of; idiom (25) expresses the idea of giving
someone‘s all. On the other hand, black color is related to the concept of nothing, therefore
the idiom (47) possesses the direct meaning of nothing; the idiom (48) has the meaning of
absolutely nothing. The idea of something is expressed via idiom (49). Moreover, black color
27
is used to express the indifference towards the amount of something, the example (24) has the
meaning of anything, (18) and (50) in any way.
Black color idioms could also be used to express the blackness of the concept, for
instance petroleum is black and the idiom black gold (21) reflects it.
In conclusion, black color in the Lithuanian culture is mostly associated with the
negative concepts, it reflects the temper of the Lithuanian culture, the culture where people
work hard and still live hard, with the help of black color idioms it is possible to create a
personality who belongs to the lowest social class, is bad looking, possesses a number of
negative personal traits. Contrary concepts of darkness and clearness are expressed via black
color idioms, however those are not the only contradictions of the black color idioms, as they
also express the concepts of everything, nothing and anything.
Russian language is also rich in black color idioms; the total number of idioms with
the element of black color in the Russian language is 27.
(55) Быть, стать чернее ночи, тучи
Cтать очень мрачным;
(56) Видеть всё в чёрном цвете; всё
Bсё представляется очень мрачным;
кажется в чёрном цвете и т.п.
(57) Держать кого-нибудь в чёрном
теле
Плохо кормить и одевать, сурово
обращятся;
(58) Держать кого-нибудь в черноте
Плохо кормить и одевать, сурово
обращятся;
(59) Называть чёрное белым;
принимать чёрное за белое и т.п
Называть дурное хорошим,
принимать дурное за хорошее;
(60) Представлять, показывать,
выставлять и т.д. кого-, что-
Представлять кого-, что-нибудь в
неприглядном виде;
нибудь в (самом) чёрном виде, свете
(61) Рисовать чёрными
красками кого-, что-нибудь; наводить
Представлять кого-, что-нибудь в
неприглядном свете;
чёрную краску на кого-, что-нибуд
(62) Чернота под глазами
Tемные круги, синяки под глазами
(от нездоровья, усталости);
(63) Черным-чёрен (-черна, -черно)
Oчень чёрен;
(64) Чёрная буря
Cильный сухой ветер, развевающий
поверхностный слой чернозема или иных
28
почв;
(65) Чёрная дорога
Aвтогужевая дорога, покрытая
смолистыми веществами;
(66) Чёрная книга
В старой школе: книга, куда
записывались имена провинившихся и их
проступки;
колдовская, волшебная книга;
(67) Чёрная кость
O лицах недворянского
происхождения;
(68) Чёрная кошка пробежала,
O конфликте, вздоре;
проскочила между кем-нибудь
(69) Чёрная меланхолия
Подавленное настроение;
(70) Чёрная неблагодарность,
Oчень большая, вопиющая
несправедливость
неблагодарность, несправедливость;
(71) Чёрная сила
Нечистая сила;
(72) Чёрная сотня
Название реакционномонархических банд погромщиков,
возникших в период революции 1905—
1907 гг;
(73) Чёрная тропа
Tо же, что чернотроп (в речи
охотников: осенние холода до выпадения
снега; дороги в этот период, а также
летний путь по чёрной земле, в отличие от
санного по снегу);
(74) Чёрный двор
Задний двор, предназначенный для
скота, птицы;
(75) Чёрные люди
Cельское население;
(76) Чёрные ноги
Oчень мрачный, угрюмый;
(77) Чёрный от загара
Посмуглевший на солнце;
(78) Чёрным по белому (написано,
Cо всей очевидностью, чётко, ясно;
напечатано)
(79) Чёрный рынок, чёрная биржа
B капиталистических странах —
нелегальный рынок, на котором
совершаются валютные сделки,
29
спекуляции;
(80) Чёрные списки
B царской России и других странах с
реакционным режимом: а) списки
революционно настроенных рабочих,
нигде не принимаемых на работу по
общему уговору владельцев;
(81) Чёрный-пречёрный
Oчень чёрный;
The biggest group which could be formed out of black color idioms in the Russian
language is related to negative personal behavior and negative feelings or emotions. Negative
aspect of black is related to poor living conditions in the examples (57) and (58). Black is
used to denote the acceptance of bad as good (59). It is also used to denote the act of rumor
spreading (56), (60), (61). Speaking of behavior, black color is also used to express
ingratitude (70). Considering the emotions and feelings black color is used to express fatigue
and illness (55), sadness (62), (68), (69) and arguments (76).
Another aspect black color brings into light is activity related to punishment or which
is considered as illegal. Such black color idioms as (79) involve illegal activity, (72) are used
to describe criminal band. Whereas the punishment for inappropriate activity is also expressed
by the means of black color, however it does not always include the punishment for the
criminals. Such idioms as black books (66) and black list (80) are related to the list of people
who misbehaved or were useless in regard to the government.
Black color in the Russian phraseology is also a sign of insignificance. It is used to
describe not important people of bad origin in sense that they are not noble (67), (75). The
place which is considered to be not significant such as backyard is also described via black
color idiom (74).
Finally, black color expresses clarity (78), mystery in regard to unexplainable forces
(71) and magic books (66) and the concept of blackness itself. Idioms (63) and (81) possess
the meaning of very black, idioms (64), (65) and (73) are related to the black ground and
idiom (77) is related to black as it expresses the description of a very tanned body.
All in all, black color idioms in the Russian language could be used to express
negative traits including inappropriate behavior towards the others, rumor spreading and
ingratitude. It is also used to express emotions; however the emotions are also negative such
as fear, anger or sadness. Black color in the Russian language is associated with the crime and
punishment. It could be used to express insignificance, clarity, ambiguity and the concept of
blackness as such.
30
3.2. Idioms that comprise the constituent of white color
The first level of color recognition by the cultures also includes a white color. White
color in many situations is presented as an opposition to the black. However, in the idiom
analysis this could not be accepted as fully true.
(1)A white knight
A company making a welcome bid for
another company facing unwelcome
takeover;
(2)A whited sepulchere
Hypocrite;
a person who is inwardly evil but
outwardly professes to be virtuous;
(3)Big white chief
Important person boss leader;
(4)Bleed someone white
To take all of someone‘s money;
(5)Mark something with a white stone
Regard something as especially
fortunate or happy;
(6)Show the white feather
Appear cowardly;
(7)White as a ghost
To look very pale and frightened;
(8)White as a sheet
To look very pale and frightened;
(9)White as snow
Very white in color;
(10) White collar worker
People whose work does not involve
manual labor;
(11)White elephant
Something useless;
(12) White flag
Sign of surrender;
(13)White heat
Extremely great heat; state of great
activity, excitement or feeling;
(14)White lie
Diplomatic untruth, told with good
intensions;
(15)White paper
A paper issued by the government to
justify its position in some matter of
international interests;
(16)White tie
Formal evening clothes;
(17)Whiter than white
Actions are always honest and moral;
31
The thesis had discussed the meanings of the colors from the ethnographical point of
view as well as from the psychological perspective. It was claimed that white color is in most
of the situations is related to the purity and cleanness. The association is reflected in the
idioms as well. Examples (9), (10), (14) and (15) indicate the cleanness in various spheres; the
purity in color is reflected in the example (9), (10) indicates the cleanness of the office
workers who do the clean work with the paper, example (14) indicates the purity of the
intentional lie and the example (15) stresses the purity of political matters.
White color could also be related to the emotion expression. It is obvious that not in all
of the cases it is related to the positive emotions. Examples (7) and (8) express the idea of
fear, whereas the example (5) is associated with a positive emotion of happiness as well as the
example (13). It could also stress the personal traits of a person as it is used to describe
coward actions (6) or even evil intensions as in the example (2) and (4). The example (7) is
used to describe the planned intensions and evil actions such as taking all the financial means
from someone.
White color is also related to honesty and support. The support is expressed in the
example (1) as the company gives another company in trouble a hand in order to save it and
honesty is expressed in the example (17) and is usually used to describe a person whose
actions could be considered not only as honest but also moral.
Social status could also be expressed with the help of color idioms with the element of
white color. The example (3) stresses the importance of an individual social position. At the
same time it could be related to something which is not important at all, as the idiom white
elephant (11) is usually used to describe things or possessions which are useless.
Traditionally, in the battles the white color was always related to the surrender and it is
reflected in the idiom (12).
Finally, as the black and white are considered to be the oppositions of one another and
as there is an idiom related to the clothing style as black tie, as an opposition there is an idiom
white tie (16) which is related to the formal clothing of a particular event.
Considering all the examples with the element of white color, the conclusion could be
made. White color is used to express a variety of phenomena; however, in most of the cases it
expresses purity, cleanness, happiness, honesty, high social rank. On the other hand, in many
cultures white color is related to the negative phenomena; and in the English language white
color possesses negative characteristics as well. It may denote bad intensions, fear or useless.
(18)Akis balinti
Pyktai žiūrėti, baltakiuoti;
(19)Akys bąla
Girtauja;
32
(20)Akis pabalinęs
Įpykęs, įsiutęs;
(21)Akys pabalo
Net silpna pasidarė;
(22)Balta duona
Lengvas gyvenimas;
(23)Balta galva
Moteris (nuometuota);
(24)Balta varna
Kuo nors labai išsiskiriantis iš savo
aplinkos žmogus;
(25)Baltą akį turėti
Pykti;
(26)Baltais pirštais nukaišyti
Išjuokti;
(27)Baltasis auksas
Medvilnė;
(28)Baltasis badas
Žiemos laikas, kai gyvūnai negali rasti
maisto;
(29)Balti pyragai
Lengvas gyvenimas;
(30)Balti raudonuoti
Gėdytis;
(31)Baltoji kiaulė
Utelė;
(32)Baltoji naktis
Laikas kai vasarą visai nesutemsta;
(33)Baltomis veizėti
Šnairuoti, pykti;
(34)Baltomis veizėtis
Šnairuoti, pykti;
(35)Du baltus trečią kaip sniegą
Nieko;
(36)Iš baltos veizėti
Šnairuoti, pykti;
(37)Kaip balta vilna
Nuolankus, meilus;
(38)ligi baltų musių
Negreit (padarys);
(39)Nei balto nei juodo
Apie nieko nepalaikantį;
(40)Prie balto sieto buvo
Apie nepastabų;
(41)[Visų] dantys balti
Apie išorinį panašumą, vienodumą;
Considerably big amount (24) of white color idioms was identified; therefore the
meaning of white color in the Lithuanian culture is related to a limited number of meanings.
In the Lithuanian language white color is closely related to the expression of emotions.
In majority of the cases the emotions are negative such as anger (18), (20), (25), (33), (34),
(36), shame (30) or jealousy (21).
White color is also specific for the character description. The example (19) stresses
that the person may be an alcohol addict, the example (26) indicates that the person may make
fun of the others, the idiom (40) stress the fact that the person under the description is not
aware of details and may not be focused, the example (24) indicate that an individual differs
33
from the other dramatically and the example (21) is related to the loss of consciousness.
Finally the example (38) is related to the postponed performance of a particular action. All
these examples stress the negative characteristics of a person and provide white color with the
meaning of negative characteristics.
White color also possesses a neutral meaning, as it may express the concept neither
related to one or another object. The example (39) expresses the meaning of not supporting
any of the sides, whereas the example (35) has the meaning of nothing.
White color traditionally is related to the purity and in the Lithuanian culture it
obviously acquired a positive meaning. It is closely related to good and easy life (22), (29),
white color is used to pint out the positive characteristics of a person who submissive and
sweet (37), moreover white color idiom (41) stresses the fact that all people are equal.
White color idioms are also used to denote whiteness. The example (32) is related to
the concept of white nights, speaking of those nights when it hardly gets dark, the example
(28) is used in the meaning of snowy winter when the animals in the woods fail to get food,
the example (23) indicates the color of a veil women tend to wear, the idiom (27) names
cotton as white gold. Louses possess a new name as white pigs as traditionally they are of
white color.
In addition white color in the Lithuanian language is used to denote parasites as in the
idiom (31).
Considering all the examples above it could be claimed that in the Lithuanian
language, white color is the color of negative emotions, only few examples express the idea
which could link white color to the positive characteristics or positive phenomenon. White
color expresses neutral concepts which are not surprising as even psychologists suggest that
white as well as black color could not be described as either positive or negative. Finally,
white color idioms express the concept of whiteness, naming the phenomenon in regard to the
color itself.
(42) Белая ворона; выглядеть, быть,
чувствовать себя белой вороной;
O том, кто выделяется чем-л. среди
окружающих людей, непохож на них;
(43) Белая горячка;
Психическое расстройство на почве
алкоголизма, сопровождающееся сильным
возбуждением и галлюцинациями;
O знатном происхождении;
(44) Белая кость, косточка;
(45) Белое пятно, белые места;
Неисследованная территория, район,
край.; неисследованный, неизученный,
34
(46) Белые мухи;
(47) Белые стихи;
(48) Белыми нитками шито, сшито,
шитый и т.п.;
нерешенный вопрос, неразрешенная
проблема;
O редко падающих снежинках,
первом снеге;
Нерифмованные стихи;
O чем-л. неумело, неискусно,
неловко скрываемом;
(49) Белый билет
свидетельство об освобождении от
военной службы
(50) Белый свет;
(51) Белый свет не мил (кому-л.);
Земля, мир со всем существующим
на нем;
O трагическим мироощущении;
(52) Белый флаг;
Флаг такого цвета, служащий знаком
прекращения огня, сдачи в плен и т.п;
O плохом состоянии дел, неудаче;
(53) Дела, как сажа бела;
(54)
Доводить/довести (доходить/дойти) до
Приводить или приходить в
состояние исступления, полной потери
самообладания;
белого каления;
Появитьмя как победитель;
(55)
На (белом) коне въезжать/въехать;
(56) На белый свет не глядел бы;
(57) Невзвидеть/ Не видеть белого
O состоянии гнетущей тоски, апатии
и т.п. ;
Oстро ощутить боль, страх, гнев;
света;
Cделать правильный вывод;
(58) Отличать/отличить чёрное от
белого;
Бесценное повторение одного и того
(59) Cказка про белого бычка;
же;
Никогда не бывало кого-, чего-л;
(60) (Такой,) какого белый свет не
видел, не производил;
The importance of white color in the Russian culture is reflected in the color idioms
with the element of white color. Due to the limited number of the research samples the
number of color idioms selected from the dictionary was reduced to 19, the left-out samples
would not add to the results of the research as they had formed two groups: the group of color
idioms which are no longer used in the Russian language and the second group possessed a
transparent meaning which could be easily derived from the idiom.
35
First of all, in the Russian culture white color in the idioms could be related to
something extraordinary. It is used to describe people who differ from the others dramatically
(42), it is used to describe phenomenon which had never happened before (60). In the
description of emotions, white color serves as an extreme, as each meaning possesses
intensifiers within the explanation. In cases where composure is described the intensifier
complete is used (54), the description of sadness is emphasized with the use of intensifier
oppressive (55) and the description of anger, fear and pain is intensified with the help of
sharp/acute (57). The extremes mentioned above are not the only ones as in case of repeating
the same thing the description has useless (59), the description of sad understanding of the
world includes the word tragic (51). Taking into account all the examples provided above the
belief of psychologists could be ruined as at least in the Russian language white color in the
idioms plays the role of extreme.
In the Russian language white color could also be linked to success. The example (55)
points out the success of winning and coming back as a hero, the example (58) stresses the
success of making the right choice. As the understanding of luck could be expanded, being of
a good origin (44) could be considered as success as well. Going into very deep analysis the
release from the army is also at some level success and it is illustrated in the example (49).
However, white color in the Russian culture still possesses the meanings which evoke
negative emotions. It is used to describe mental and physical state of being mentally ill
because of alcohol (43), stress the bad luck for writing prose (47), indicates that something is
hidden not well enough (48) and signifies about the bad course of the events (53).
White color also has an element of mystery as the idiom (45) is used to describe the
places which are new. It is a traditional sign of surrender and the Russian culture also
considers a white flag (52) as the symbol of capitulation. The concept of whiteness of the
snow is expressed in the idiom (46). Finally, the Russian culture provides white color with the
positive characteristics describing the world with the help of white color idiom (50).
All in all, white color in the Russian language is one of the most significant ones, it
serves as a source for many white color idioms, and therefore only a part of them was selected
for the detailed analysis. White color in the Russian culture is related to extreme as in every
description of an idiom it is possible to find the word which would intensify the meaning. In
most of the cases it is related to the phenomenon which evokes negative emotions. The most
prominent and positive aspect of white color idioms is their ability to express success in a
very broad sense. Generally, white color could be linked to many objects; however Russians
remain positive about the color and use it to describe the surrounding world.
36
3.3. Idioms that comprise the constituent of red color
The red color is located on the second stage of the color recognition. It is believed to
evoke positive emotions, however from the psychological point of view it could be related to
the phenomenon requiring a lot of energy, including survival and aggression. The number of
the selected idioms indicates that red color in the English language is crucial for the idiom
formation and it could express a variety of phenomenon.
(1)A red letter day
Day when something
important/exciting happens;
(2) A red cent
A cooper penny having little value;
(3)Better dead than red
The prospect of nuclear war is
preferable to that of Communist society;
(4)Catch someone red-handed
Caught while doing something illegal;
wrong
(5)In the red
Owe money to someone;
(6)Into the red
Owe money to someone;
(7)Like a red rag to a bull
Act which is certain to provoke anger
somebody;
(8)Out of the red
Owe money to someone;
(9) See red
Suddenly become very angry; annoyed;
(10)Paint the town red
Go on a spree;
(11)Red as a beet
Face going very red;
(12)Red as a beetroot
Face going very red;
(13)Red-eye
Strong cheap whiskey;
(14)Red flag
Sign of danger;
(15)Red herring
A piece of information/ suggestion
introduced to draw attention from the truth or
real facts;
(16)Red hot
Enthusiastic; excited; quite skillful;
(17)Red in tooth and claw
Involving savage, conflict or
competition;
(18)Red light district
A district containing sex business;
(19)Red tape
Overstrict attention to the wording and
37
details of rules and regulations;
(20)Reds under the bed
Feared presence/influence of
Communist sympathizers;
Generally speaking, the idioms with the element of red color could be grouped into
those expressing positive phenomenon and negative phenomenon. However, there is no
balance between those groups as the majority of idioms possess negative characteristics.
Red color in many cultures as well as in psychology signifies danger and it is reflected
in the idioms very clearly. The example (4) is related to the danger of action and the outcome
of the illegal action as in the result the participant is caught; the example (3) and (20) involved
the danger related to the communist actions. The thesis claimed that one of the sources of the
idioms is a political situation. The communist society influenced not only the languages
which were spoken by the locals but also had an impact on the western culture as it was
considered as one of the biggest threats, therefore red color is related not only to the
communists but also to the danger they may cause. Danger of conflicts is also reflected in the
idioms and is presented in the example (17). The general concept of danger is presented in a
very broad sense as red flag (14) and includes various types of danger.
Red color may also be related to the difficulties the individual may face in his life.
Danger of financial difficulties is expressed in the examples (2), (5), (6) and (8). The first
three examples possess a meaning of owing money to someone, whereas the example (2)
expresses a low value of the financial means. Therefore, the danger of bad habits is expressed
in the example (18) where the bad habit is related to the vulgar behavior and sex industry,
examples (10) and (13) illustrate the danger of being drunk and the alcohol itself.
Regarding the emotions, red color may express, the most prominent is anger. It is
illustrated in the examples (7) and (9) and these examples express a provoked anger. Whereas
examples (11) and (12) are related to the blushing and becoming red in face, in many
situations these expressions could be used to describe an angry person.
As the red color could be related to warning it may require the attention. Requirement
of the attention is also expressed through color idioms with the element of red color. The
example (1) requires to pay attention for the day when something important is about to
happen; the example (15) stresses the importance of drawing attention from the important
matters and the example (19) requires special attention to the rules.
In the positive light red may be used only in one idiom out of 20, the example (16)
possesses the meaning of enthusiastic character.
38
All in all, red color in the English idioms is used to describe negative phenomenon
mostly. It has a close tie with the concept of danger, anger and attention requirement. In the
positive aspect it expresses enthusiasm.
(21)Iš raudonio plyšti
Labai raudonuoti;
(22)Raudonuoja baluoja
Apie raustantį iš gėdos;
(23)Raudonas gaidys
Gaisras, padegant;
(24) Raudonas gaidys užgiedos
Bus padegta;
(25)Raudonas gaidys užgiedos ant
Sakoma grasinant padegti namus;
(26)Raudoną gaidį pakelti ant stogo
Sukelti gaisrą;
(27)Raudoną gaidį patupdyti ant stogo
Sukelti gaisrą;
(28)Raudonais gaideliais plyšoti
Skeldėti;
(29) Raudoni gaidžiai užgiedos
Bus padegta;
(30)Raudoni gaidžiukai
Apie suskirdusias kojas;
(31)Raudonį išmesti
Raudonuoti;
(32)Raudoniu plyšti
Apie gražuolę; labai raudonuoti;
(33)Raudonos kepurės reikia
Sakoma leidžiantiems ilgai prašytis;
(34)Su raudonu burbuliu
Apsikruvinęs;
stogo
Red color in the Lithuanian color idioms is less frequent than black and white, however,
the number of the color idioms with the red element is still considerably high and red color is
used to express a variety of phenomenon.
The most frequent usage of red color in the Lithuanian color idioms is related to fire.
A considerable number of idioms is used to express the same idea, idioms (23), (26) and (27)
are related to setting a fire; the threat to set something on fire is expressed with the help of
idioms (24), (25) and (29). A close relation between fire and red color may be explained due
to the color of it.
Another transparent tie between red color and the meaning of idioms is related to
blushing. In the Lithuanian culture such change in the color of face could be described in four
different ways with the help of idioms involving red color. Idioms (21), (31) and (32) express
the idea of blushing, whereas the example (22) stresses the importance of other element, as
the idiom express the idea of blushing because of shame.
39
Generally red color is closely related to danger; in the Lithuanian culture danger could
be understood in the terms of damaging oneself. The idiom (34) express the idea of bleeding
and the idiom (30) points out the fact that one‘s feet are damaged.
On the other hand, the Lithuanian red color idioms possess the examples which could
not be ascribed to any of the groups as red may be related to the rent as in the example (28)
and it can express the concept of asking for something as in the example (33).
Taking all of the red color idioms under investigation into account, the most frequent
usage of red color in idioms is related to danger involving fire or body damage. The direct
meaning of red color is expressed through idioms which stress the fact of blushing. Finally,
red color idioms may be related to hardly explainable phenomenon such as rent or asking.
(35) Проходит красной нитью
(Что-л.) выделяется, подчеркивается
в качестве основной идеи.
(36)Покраснеть до ушей
Cильно краснеть
(37) Красная армия
Aрмия Советского союза.
(38) Красная ассигнация, красная
Десятирублевый денежный знак
бумажка
(39) Красная гвардия
Гвардия СССР.
(40) Красная горка
Первая неделя после пасхи
(41) Красная девица
а) Красивая молодая девушка
б) (перен.) O застенчивом, скромном
молодом человеке.
(42) Красная дичь
Лучшая дичь
(43) Красная строка, строчка
Печатная строка с равными
отступами с обеих сторон страницы.
(44) Красная шапка
Cолдат
(45) Красная цена
Cамая высокая цена, которую можно
дать за что-л
(46)Краснеть/покраснеть до корней
Cильно краснеть
волос
(47) Красное словцо
Умело сказано
(48) Красный день, денёк
Ясный, погожий день, денёк.
(49) Красные дети
Двое единственных детей: сын и
дочь
40
(50) Красный зверь
Зверь, наиболее ценный для
охотников (медведь, волк, лисица и др.).
(51) Красный звон
Звон во все колокола, кроме
большого; пасхальный звон.
(52) Красный петух
Пожар
(53) Красный ряд
Tорговый ряд, в котором
продавалась мануфактура.
(54) Красный товар
Tкани, мануфактура.
(55) Красный уголок
Kультурно-просветительное
учреждение клубного типа; помещение,
занимаемое таким учреждением.
(56) Красный флот
Флот СССР.
The importance of red color for the Russian culture is definitely expressed via
phraseological units. The group of idioms with the meaning of being the best, the most
significant, the most prominent could be formed. The idiom (38) is related to the value of
money, back in to Soviet times 10 rubles were considered as a valuable banknote. The idiom
(43) indicates the importance of the first line even in the times when Russia was under the
rule of tsar all the writings were started with the red letter. The significance of having
extraordinary ideas is reflected in the idiom (35). Idioms (42), (45) and (50) indicate that the
object belongs to the group of the highest quality objects. Traditionally the family which had
two kids a daughter and a son were believed to be happy families and in that sense idiom (49)
perfectly fits into the group of phraseological units indicating that something is considered to
be the best. The place to be proud of could also be linked to red color as the idiom (55) has
the meaning of a place where all cultural events tend to happen. Red color is also used to
denote the notion of fabrics in the idioms (53) and (54).
In the Russian culture red color is also linked to the concept of beauty. The beauty of a
young woman is reflected in the idiom (10), the beauty of a sunny day is expressed in the
idiom (48), ability to speak in a beautiful manner is stressed in the idiom (47) and the beauty
of the bell tolling on the day of Easter is expressed in the idiom (51) and red is also used to
name the beauty of festive mood of Easter (40).
The Soviet Era could have not gone away without leaving the heritage in every sphere
of human life, phraseology was not left behind. Red color idioms are used to describe solders
41
(44) as back then they had to wear red hats, army and household troops (37),(39) and the fleet
(56).
Finally, the concept of redness could not be illuminated from red color idioms, for
instance idiom (52) is related to the color of fire and idiom (41) is related to a shy person who
most probably will blush at any occasion, the concept of blushing is also expressed in the
idioms (36) and (46).
Summing all up, red color in the Russian culture is a significant source for the idiom
formation. It has the meaning of something supreme, highest quality or the best origin. Red
color in the Russian culture is the color of beauty and color idioms reflect that in their
meanings. Finally, red is closely related to Russia‘s past and hence a number of idioms from
the Soviet Era could be identified. Finally, red is used in its direct meaning.
3.4. Idioms that comprise the constituent of green color
Green color idioms in comparison to those discussed in the previous chapters are not so
significant in numbers, however they reflect the phenomenon presented in earlier in the thesis.
(1)Green about the gills
Looking feeling ill or nauseous;
(2)Green around the gills
Looking feeling ill or nauseous;
(3)Green as grass
Inexperienced or naive;
(4)Green light
Permission;
(5)green thumb
Ability to grow healthy plants;
(6)Green with envy
Extremely envious;
(7)The green-eyed monster
Jealousy;
Generally speaking, green color in the English language is mostly related to the
expression of emotions, feelings or personal traits. Considering the emotions, green color is
associated with the negative emotions, such as jealousy, the examples (6) and (7) reflect that
meaning. Green color could also be related to feelings or states and therefore express the
concept of illness as it is pointed in the examples (1) and (2). Moreover, with the help of
green color it is possible to address an inexperienced person as in the example (3). This
should not come as a surprise as usually green is related to the meaning of blindness and if to
take a look at the concept of blindness figuratively it could be related to lack of experience.
Green is also related to birth and usually it is considered that the younger person is the less
experience he has.
42
On the other hand, green color is related to permission, in the present day world the
best example to prove that is to imagine a traffic light where the green color gives the
permission to cross the road or move forward. Therefore, the idiom (4) possesses the meaning
of permission in a broad sense.
Finally, the green color is also related to plants and it could not come as a surprise that
there are idioms expressing the idea that being a green thumb (5) is closely related to the
ability to grow plants.
All in all, green color in many situations is related to positive phenomenon, however if
to analyze the emotions, feelings or personal traits it may acquire a new meaning with a
negative shade, expressing jealousy, illness or lack of experience.
(8)Akys pažaliavo
Teko pavargti;
(9)Akys žaliuoja
Smarkiai, ką darant;
(10)Kaip žalias nedega
Apie tinginį;
(11)Kaip žalias nedegąs
Apie tinginį; apie lėtai dirbantį; apie
vargstantį;
(12)Rūta žalia
Netekėjusi ;
(13)Žalia diena
Geras gyvenimas ;
(14)Žalia šviesa
Laisvas kelias;
(15)Žalio dvaro ponaitis
Išdidus;
(16)Žalioji gatvė
Laisvas praėjimas;
(17)Žalio lapo neregėti
Visą laiką vargti;
(18)Žalio miško brolis
Partizanas;
(19)Žaliokais ir margokais krauti
Keikti ;
(20)Žalis verčia duris
Apie norintį laukinėtis;
(21)Žalias aguonas krėsti
Apkalbėti;
(22)Žalias mėlynas
Smarkiai sumuštas;
(23)Žalias ir raudonas
Bet kokių įsitikinimų;
(24)Žaliasis auksas
Miškas ;
For the Lithuanian culture green is a significant color, therefore it reflects two major
groups of the society: lazy bones and hardworking people. Green color idioms reflect such
division as well. The examples (10) and (11) are used to describe sluggards, whereas the
43
examples (8), (9) and (17) are related to very hard work which requires a lot of effort.
However, green color could denote easy life as well (13).
Personal traits are also emphasized via green color. However, in most of the cases the
traits could be considered as rather negative. Green color is used to express bruised physical
appearance (22), the people who are indifferent towards the phenomenon in question (23) or
proud people (15). Green color also signifies that the person has to go to the bathroom (20).
Along with this description it could be claimed that green color is related to such negative
actions as spreading rumors (21) and curse people (19).
As green color is also related to the permission giving, the Lithuanian culture is not left
behind. The permission is expressed through idioms (16) and (14). The other concept of
permission could be related to the idiom (12) as has the meaning of being a bride.
Finally, green color is related to the concept of greenness as such. Green woods are
referred to as green gold (10), whereas partisans who were hiding in the green woods
acquired a new name in the shape of idiom the green woods brothers (18).
To sum up, the concept of green color in the Lithuanian idioms may possess a number
of meanings; they include the opposites of hard work and laziness, the negative character
descriptors, permissions and greenness.
(25)B глазах зеленеет
Беспокойство, волнение, тревога,
усталость;
(26) Давать/дать зелёную улиц
Cоздавать особо благоприятные
условия для продвижения кого-, чего-л.,
осуществления чего-л.;
(27) До зелёного змия (пить,
напиваться и т.п.)
До сильной степени опьянения, до
бреда;
(28) Зелёная улица
а) O свободном пути без препятствий
и задержек для всех видов транспорта. б)
B доревол. России: наказание, при
котором наказываемый проходил между
двумя рядами солдат, наносивших ему
удары шпицрутенами (отменено при
Александре II);
(29) Зелёный змий
O водке, алкогольных напитках;
(30) Ёлки зелёные
Для выражения досады, удивления;
44
(31)Mолодо зелено
Неопытность;
(32) Тоска, скука зелёная
O томительной скуке, тоске;
As in most of the cultures, Russians relate green to the permission, the permission to
move forward is expressed in the idiom (28) whereas the idiom (26) involves not only the
permission but also good conditions to move forward.
Green in the Russian culture is also associated with the alcohol that may be explained
due to historical reasons as back to the past Russians made vodka out of the liquid which is
possible to get out of the tree. General name for the alcohol drinks is presented in the idiom
(29) and idiom (27) involves the high level of being drunk.
Green color is also used to describe feelings and emotions. In the Russian language
those emotions include sadness or surprise (30), boredom (32), tiredness (25) and lack of
experience (31).
All in all, green color as in most of the cultures is related to permission, specifically to
the Russian culture it is used to speak about alcohol. Moreover, in the Russian language green
is used to express emotional states as well as feelings.
3.5. Idioms that comprise the constituent of yellow color
Yellow color appears at the same stage on the color recognition level as the green.
However, comparing these two colors yellow serves as a source for even less color idioms
than green.
(1)(to) be yellow;
Cowardly;
(2)Have a yellow streak
Cowardly;
(3)Yellow dog
Cowardly;
(4)Yellow journalism
Exaggerated, sensational news;
The thesis had already discussed the meaning of yellow color, however it is vitally
important to point out that yellow is a sign of courage. In linguistic environment yellow color
seems to acquire a new meaning which is the opposite of courage – being coward. The
English language has three idioms (1), (2), and (3) to express the state of being a coward.
Some sources claim that yellow is also related to fear, therefore a link between two concepts
as fear and being coward could be found.
In a row of yellow color idioms, an idiom describing sensational press (4) appears.
45
The explanation for the usage of yellow color is provided by Campbell and Joseph
(2011) and it is pointed out that there is no clarification for such color usage. The authors
presuppose that the idiom may be linked to the comics which were popular among kids and
were called yellow kid journalism. In the course of time yellow journalism acquired a new
meaning.
The number of yellow color idioms is not impressive; however, it is significant to
point out that yellow color is a tool to express the concept of cowardness as well as to refer to
the scandals in the journalism.
(5) Жёлтый дом
Больница для страдающих
психическими заболеваниями;
(6) Жёлтый дьявол
O золоте, деньгах, порабощающих
людей; о власти капитала;
(7) Жёлтенькая жизнь, жёлтенькое
O нерадостной жизни;
житьё
(8) Жёлтая лихорадка
Bстречающаяся в тропических
странах острая инфекционная болезнь,
сопровождающаяся желтухой и
повышением температуры;
(9) Жёлтая пресса
O прессе, публикующей в погоне за
сенсацией дезинформацию, скандальные
сообщения, рассчитанные на
обывательские, мещанские вкусы;
(10)желторотый птенец
Неопытность;
(11)Жёлтый уголь
O солнце как источнике
электроэнергии;
Referring to Koshubarova (2003) in the Russian language yellow color is associated
with negative phenomenon mostly. The author stresses that yellow color for Russians is a
color of death. In the Russian proverbs yellow color is the sign of bad luck, illness and death.
Coming back to a specific description of yellow color in the Russian culture it could
be claimed that yellow is truly associated with phenomenon evoking negative emotions. Six
out of seven yellow color idioms are related to negative associations. For instance, the
example (8) is related to disease, the example (5) is used to name the hospital for mentally ill
people. Yellow devil (6) in the Russian language is associated with money which enslaves
46
people. Well known term for exaggerating journalism is present in the Russian language as
well and is presented in the example (9).
Describing people and their life, yellow color also symbolizes difficulties. The
example (7) is used to describe hard life and the example (10) is used to speak about
inexperienced people.
The only yellow color idiom evoking positive emotions was identified and is related to
solar energy, the confusing name as yellow coal (11) could be related to the color of sun.
The examples provided above illustrate that in the Russian culture yellow color is truly
related to negative emotions, in the idioms it is used to describe diseases, hospitals for
mentally ill, money and exaggeration. In the character building yellow color idioms could be
linked to hard life and lack of experience. On the bright side, yellow color could symbolize
warmth relating it to sun.
3.6. Idioms that comprise the constituent of blue color
Considering the number of blue color idioms, it could be claimed that blue color is a
great sorce for idiom formation. It comes not as a surprise as psychologists claim that blue
color is the most popular color around the world.
(1)A blue-eyed boy
The favorite of someone in authority
(2)Between the devil and the deep blue
To choose between two undesirable
sea
situations
(3)Blue blood
Noble; aristocratic;
(4)Blue collar worker
Person whose work involves manual
labour
(5)Blue funk
State of emotional depression
(6)Blue law
Very strict law regulating personal
conduct
(7)Blue Monday
Depressing day
(8)Blue-pencil
To edit; censor
(9)Blue print
Detailed plan for an interprise or
undertaking
(10)Blue ribbon
1st prize; highest honor
(11)Blue sky research
Not directed towards any commercial;
47
(12)Blue stocking
Woman who displays interest in
intellectual or literary subjects;
(13)Do something until you are blue in
the face
Persist in trying your hardest at an
activity but without success;
(14)Feel blue
To be gloomy, sad, depressed
(15)Have the blues
To be gloomy, sad, depressed
(16)Once in a blue moon
Rarely;
(17)Out of the blue
Unexpectedly;
(18)Scream blue murder
Complain shout loudly
(19)Sing the blues
To be gloomy, sad, depressed
(20)Talk a blue streak
Speak continuously at a great length
(21)The wide blue yonder
Sky and the sea; unknown area;
(22)To be blue
To be gloomy, sad, depressed
(23)True blue
Genuine;
The most prominent feature of blue color idioms is possession of meaning related to
depression. There are many ways to express the idea of feeling depressed or describe
phenomena which appear to be depressing. The examples (5), (7), (14), (15), (19) and (22)
express the idea of feeling low.
Blue color in the English color idioms also stresses human manners or their origin.
The examples (18) and (20) emphasize the manners of speaking, which is usually unpleasant
to listen and in that sense acquires a negative coloring. The usage of blue color in these
idioms is unpredictable as if to rely on the sources mentioned in the previous chapter about
the meanings of colors, it was stressed that blue color may express lack of emotions, however,
loud and constant speaking/complaining signifies the opposite.
As blue color involves a concept of mystery, in the English language idioms, the
mystery is preserved, hence it is expressed in the idioms related to making choices (2), and
unknown or little explored areas (21) or the phenomenon which happens unexpectedly (17).
Blue color in the English idioms also has a meaning of honesty. The examples (3) and
(23) focus on the meaning of such personal trait as honesty. Honesty in action is also reflected
with the help of blue color idiom (11) as stresses the importance of not seeking for the profit
or commercial. Therefore, the example (10) focuses on the reward and honors the addressee.
Speaking of honor expression through blue color idioms, it could be related to the idiom (1)
as it involves the aspect of being honored by the people in authority.
48
Blue color has also a meaning of precise and concrete phenomenon; hence in the
example (6) it expresses the idea of precise legislative system, the example (8) shows the
importance of editing or making corrections and the example (9) is related to precise plan
making.
The concept of hard work could be seen in the blue color idioms, as the example (13)
shows, blue color expresses the determination towards a particular goal even without success.
The example (4) focuses on the manual labor which is also considered as hard work.
Moreover, the example (12) involves hard intellectual work.
Finally, blue color may express a time spam which has a tendency to almost never
repeat. The example (16) expresses that idea and at some sense could acquire a negative
coloring.
Considering all the examples of color idioms with the element of blue color, it could be
claimed that English speaking cultures relate blue to depression and bad speaking manners.
On the other hand, they tend to see blue as a sign of honor and honesty, blue involves
definiteness and is related to hard work.
(24)Mėlynėmis sirgti
Būti primuštam;
(25)Mėlyno kraujo
Kas laikyta aukštos kilmės;
(26)Mėlynos dienos
Apie sunkų gyvenimą;
As almost every color idiom, blue color in the Lithuanian culture could be related to
hard life, it is used as a descriptor for bad living conditions (25), on the other hand the
difficulties of life could be reflected directly on one‘s face and in that sense blue color is
related to the bruised body (24). However, blue color possesses a positive meaning as well. It
may be related to the gentility of a person (26).
(27)Голубая кровь
Представитель высших классов;
(28)Hи синь пороха
Hичего;
(29)Синезелёные водоросли
Oдин из видов одноклеточных
водорослей;
(30)Синие мундиры
O жандармах, носивших в
дореволюционной России мундиры синего
цвета;
(31)Синий чулок
O сухой, черствой, утратившей
49
обаяние женщине, целиком поглощенной
научными интересами, книгами и т.п.;
(32)Синяя ассигнация, синяя
бумажка
B дореволюционной России:
пятирублевый денежный билет;
(33)Cиняя птица
Cимвол счастья;
In the Russian language there is more than one way to express the color of blue,
Russians have a specific name for a shade of a blue color which is referred to as голубой
[goluboj] and has the meaning of light blue. However, only one idiom was identified with the
element of light blue color in it.
Blue color in the Russian culture just like red could serve as a reminder for the
Russian people about the historical periods of the country. Blue is related to the period of prerevolutionary Russia, therefore such blue color idioms as (32) describing a banknote and (30)
describing solders could appear.
Blue is also considered as a symbol of luck. Every Russian is familiar with the idiom
blue bird (33) which possesses a general meaning of luck. Hence, luck in a broad sense could
be related to the noble origin and is expressed with the help of the idiom (27).
The meaning of nothing could be identified under the code of blue color in the
idiomatic units. The direct meaning of nothing is expressed in the idiom (28). On the other
had, blue in the idiom serves as a sign that women has nothing to attract other men (31).
The concept of blueness is also expressed via blue color idioms in the Russian
language. It is used to describe blue sea weed in the idiom (29).
To conclude, in the Russian culture blue is a reminder of an old governmental system.
It is related to luck as well as to emptiness. Finally, blue is used in its primary meaning.
3.7. Idioms that comprise the constituent of brown color
Brown color idioms are not common to the English language only three examples of the
idioms were selected out of four dictionaries.
(1)Brown as a berry
To be very tanned;
(2)Brownie point
Imaginary award for good deeds;
(3)in a brown study
Absorbed in thoughts;
50
Considering the small number of brown color idioms it should be noted, that it is hardly
possible to form particular meaning groups, therefore, brown color is related to seriousness
and it is reflected in the example (3), the direct meaning of the brown color is expressed in the
example (1), as naturally spending a lot of time outside on the hot day, the skin turns brown.
Finally, brown color is related to support, the indefinite support is expressed in the example
(2).
(4)Rudasis maras
Fašizmas;
(5)Rudinė raudonoji
Stebėjimuisi reikšti;
(6)Rudis verčia duris
Nori tuštintis;
(7)Sudie rudi per kalnelį
Viskas baigta;
Referring to the ironic article by Rabinovičius (2011) the brown color is the most
popular color in Lithuania. The author is sure that the only color which could conquer the
brown is colorless color. The popularity of brown color is not reflected in the Lithuanian color
idioms as only 4 instances were selected from the dictionaries.
Regarding the small number of brown color idioms in the Lithuanian language it
should be noted that it is impossible to form any groups as the meanings they possess differ
dramatically. Brown could be associated with wonder (5), wish to visit the bathroom (6),
indication that everything is over (7); or even it could be related to the color of Nazi (4).
3.8. Idioms that comprise the constituent of pink, purple and grey colors
Pink, purple and grey colors are located on the final stage of color recognition by the
cultures. Low number of the idioms with the colors mentioned above, signal that either these
colors entered the English language not in a very far future or they serve as a bad source for
the idiom formation.
Pink color has a synonym rose in the English language. Therefore, during the data
collection stage rose color idioms were also taken into account for the further analysis.
(1)In the pink
To be fit and healthy;
(2)In the pink of condition
To be fit and healthy;
(3)Pink slip
Discharge notice;
(4)Rose colored glasses
Cheerfully; enthusiastically;
(5)Tickled pink
Something you are extremely pleased
51
about;
As pink color is not a primary color, it may possess the characteristics of both red and
white. Therefore, the English language proves that pink color is mostly related to the positive
emotions; the example (4) is associated with enthusiasm and the example (5) is related to
pleasure. Moreover, it is significant to point out that pink color could be also associated with
good physical condition and the examples (1) and (2) prove that.
Pink color is used to denote a concrete notice (3), even though there are little links, the
explanation of he usage of pink color in such an idiom is explainable. According to Rocafella
(2004) pink was the color of the paper saying that the car belongs to a particular person.
All in all, in the English language pink color is related to the positive spirits and
cheerful mood, in the course of time pink color is included into the idiom which was formed
to name a definite note.
Ima gėda
(6)Plaukai rausta
In the Lithuanian language pin color serves as a bad source for idiom formation,
therefore only one idiom was identified.
Pink color, as very relative color to red expresses the same idea of shame (6).
(7) В розовом свете, цвете (видеть,
представлять и т.п.)
Идеализированно, в приятном для
себя виде (видеть, представлять и т.п.);
(8) Окрашивать в розовый цвет чтол
Представлять в приятном для себя,
идеализированном виде;
(9) Рисовать, расписывать розовыми
красками
Представлять в приятном для себя,
идеализированном виде;
(10) Розовый день, розовое утро
Безоблачный, ясный;
(11) Cмотреть на что-л. сквозь
Hе замечать недостатков, темных
розовые очки, стёкла, сквозь розовую
сторон; идеализировать;
призму
The idioms with the element of pink color in the Russian language surprisingly
express positive phenomenon only. Therefore, four out of five idioms are related to the
52
meaning white color may possess – purity. The innocence of idealizing people is represented
in idioms (7), (8), (9) and (11).
The only idiom with the different meaning could be related to the meaning of red color
in the Russian culture – beauty. Pink color expresses beauty of sunny and bright day (10).
Pink color idioms in the Russian language evoke positive emotions only, they are
linked to the concept of innocence and beauty.
The analysis of purple color idioms involves relatively small number of the samples.
Even more, color idioms with the constituent of purple color were found only in the English
language.
(1)Born to the purple
High rank imperial power
(2)Purple passion
Strong feeling
(3)purple prose
Elaborate and orient language
Generally, purple has a meaning of luxury and royalty. The example (1) stresses a high
position on the social hierarchy. In many cases a well-developed orient speech is considered
as a sign of a high social class, therefore the example (3) proves that. Finally, purple in the
English language could be related to the feelings and the example (2) stresses the importance
of strong passion.
The analysis of idioms with constituent part of grey color involves only two
languages: English and Russian. No Lithuanian idioms were found with the element of grey
color. Therefore, the number of English grey color idioms is extremely small as only one
idiom was identified.
(1)grey area
Ill defined situation
The example stresses the difficulty of defining a situation. Most probably it could be
related to the fact that grey color is not a primary color but rather a mix of black and white,
therefore in many situations it is related to something what could be defined not only in one
way.
(2) Серая бумага
бумага низкого качества.
(3) Серая скотинка
до революции: пренебрежительное
53
название солдат.
(4) Серое сукно; серая пряжа
суровое, небеленое сукно; суровая,
небеленая пряжа.
(5) Серый хлеб
хлеб, выпеченный из пшеничной
муки грубого помола.
(6) Серые щи
щи, приготовленные из верхних,
зеленых листов капусты.
The major meaning grey color is linked to in the Russian color idioms is bad quality.
Grey could express bad quality of paper (2), bad quality of cloth (4), bad quality of food (6)
and (5). Therefore, the bad attitude towards solders is also expressed in the idiom with the
element of grey color (3).
The central meaning grey color builds up the idioms is related to bad quality and it
could be associated with bad quality of various phenomenon.
54
4. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COLOR IDIOMS IN THE ENGLISH,
LITHUANIAN AND RUSSIAN LANGUAGES
The thesis had presented a corpus of 300 color idioms (100 of idioms per language).
The meanings of colors were linked to the ideas proposed by scholars. In many cases it was
proved that colors in the languages could be related to the phenomenon described by
representatives of ethnographical area or psychological. The most obvious links between the
Lithuanian and Russian languages could be drawn. Such conclusion does not surprise as
Russia and Lithuania shared their history for a long time and the same values, the same
governmental system influenced the language dramatically. On the other hand, the
phenomenon expressed by the color in the English language possesses a totally different
meaning from the phenomenon expressed in the Lithuanian or Russian language. Therefore,
the difference stresses the fact that cultures differ.
Further the comparative analysis of all analyzed color idioms is presented.
Color
Language/ Number of occurrences
Total
English
Lithuanian
Russian
Black
17
37
27
81
White
17
24
19
60
Red
20
14
22
56
Green
7
17
8
32
Yellow
4
0
7
11
Blue
23
3
7
33
Brown
3
4
0
7
Orange
0
0
0
0
Pink
5
1
5
11
Purple
3
0
0
3
Grey
1
0
5
6
number
Black
Black color idioms are prevailing in all three languages. The total number across the
English, Lithuanian and Russian languages makes up 81 occurrence of black color in idioms.
General conclusion could be made that in all three languages under the investigation black
color is related to negative phenomenon. In three languages black color idioms may possess
55
the meaning of bad physical appearance. However, the shades of meaning differ among the
languages: in the English language black is used to speak of physically abused person, in the
Lithuanian black describes poorly looking people, whereas in Russian black in appearance
description is associated with fatigue or illness.
The topic of bad luck prevails in three languages as well. Even though in the English
and Lithuanian languages it is used in a direct sense, in the Russian languages bad luck could
possibly be related to bad living conditions. However, speaking about bad living conditions
the Lithuanian language takes the first place in the provision of black color idioms expressing
the idea of hard live or hard work.
The English language is the only language out of three under the analysis which could
relate black color to justice; the Russian language black color idioms relate black color to the
opposite of justice – presenting people in a negative light.
Coming back to the description of black color provided by Wright (2004) it could be
claimed that three different cultures associate black color to negative phenomenon. The
examples of color idioms provided in three languages indicate that it is used to express
negative emotions, actions, personal traits. The fact that black color is associated with bad
luck was proved by the examples of black color idioms across three languages.
White
Even though it could be considered that white color is the opposite of black color in
linguistics it is not usually so. It had already been discussed that black color in the English,
Lithuanian and Russian languages is used to describe negative phenomenon, but so is white
color. All three languages include white into the category of a negative character building. In
the English language white color idioms express fear and being a coward, in the Lithuanian it
is used to express disrespect to others in terms of postponing the performance of particular
actions and being able to make fun of others and in the Russian language white is used to
express bad luck of a person.
However, the idea presupposed by the scholars (see chapter 2) that white color is used
to express purity is obvious only in the English and Lithuanian languages leaving the Russian
language behind.
The description of alcohol is broad out by the meanings of white color idioms in the
Lithuanian and Russian languages, whereas the English language does not possess such a
meaning.
Finally, it was claimed that white as well as black color could not be related to the
extremes, however the Russian language proves the opposite. The descriptions of the
meanings of white color idioms in the Russian languages usually include the descriptors
56
which could help to intensify the meaning and bring it to the extreme. Such tendency is not
observed in the Lithuanian or English languages.
Red
As red color is located on the second stage of color acquisition by the culture (see
Table 1), the number of red color idioms is considerably high and makes up 18.6% of all
color idioms under the investigation across three languages.
An interesting fact about red color is that in all three languages it could be related to
danger. Danger is seen as fire in all three languages. Red is also closely related to
Communism, however in the English language it is presented in the shade of danger, whereas
in the Russian language it is understood as a type of governing the country without causing
any threat. The reasons for such different worldview could be related to the era of cold war as
back then Western cultures had already known that the Communist rule is a utopia, whereas
the Russian people and the representatives of the USSR were brainwashed about the great
aspects of being under the communist rule.
The English and Lithuanian language mostly related red color to the negative
phenomenon, whereas the Russian culture sees red as something of a high quality, the status
of being the best and of course beauty.
Red color traditionally is related to blushing and it is reflected across all three
languages.
Green
The Lithuanian language possesses the highest number of green color idioms out of
three languages under investigation. Generally, the Lithuanian culture is closely related to
green color, it is one of the flag colors and Lithuanians adore green nature, therefore overseas
Lithuania is known as a country of woods (miškų kraštas). However, the Russian and the
English languages still possess a number of green color idioms. The total relative frequency of
occurrence of green color idioms in three languages is 10.66%.
Traditionally, the concept of green is related to permission in the three cultures under
the analysis green is associated with the permission to move forward, the reflection of it is
present in the green color idioms in the English, Lithuanian and Russian languages.
Different emotions across the cultures are related to green color in the idioms, for
instance in the English language green is jealousy, in the Lithuanian state of being physically
bruised, in the Russian – boredom.
Direct meaning of the green color is prevailed in the English and Lithuanian languages
as both possess the idioms which could be related to the nature. In English the ability is
57
reflected through the description of being a good gardener and in the Lithuanian it is a name
for the forests.
Yellow
Even though yellow color goes together with the green on the color perception scale it
could be claimed that not all languages accepted it on the level of phraseological units. No
instances were identified in the Lithuanian language, only 4 yellow color idioms were
selected from the dictionaries of the English language and the Russian language possesses 7
yellow color idioms. The total number of relative frequency of occurrences is 3.66%.
The absence of yellow color idioms is difficult to explain, yellow color does exist in
the Lithuanian language, it has its reflection in the national flag, due to the absence of yellow
color idioms in the Lithuanian language the relative frequency of occurrence is low.
In the English language yellow is definitely the color of cowardness, hence it provokes
the statement made by the scholars in the chapter 2 that yellow is related to courage. In the
Russian language it could be related to diseases and hospitals as well as to hard work. In both
languages a popular international phraseological unit referring to the exaggerated journalism
is found.
Blue
The relative frequency of blue color is relatively high and makes up 11%, the majority
of the blue color idioms are selected from the English language, whereas the Russian and
Lithuanian languages possess only few idioms with the element of blue color.
If depression is to be described in a color it is obviously blue, at least for the English
speaking cultures, this proves the meaning of blue color presented by the psychologists.
Generally, blue is related to negative phenomenon across the English and Lithuanian
languages, in the English language it is not only depression but also hard work,
unexpectedness, in the Lithuanian language it is physical abuse and hard life. However, the
Russian language does not express a negative meaning of blue color in the idioms; contrary
blue is a sign of luck.
Noble origin is also associated with blue across all three languages.
Even though blue color is considered to be the most popular color in the world it is
reflected only in the English language idioms, considering the Lithuanian and Russian idioms
with the element of a color, blue serves as rather poor source for the formation of idioms.
Brown
Brown color is located on the pre-last stage of color perception, low number with the
color idioms indicate that either cultures acquired the color not so long time ago or it is a bad
source for the formation of idioms. The relative frequency of occurrence makes up 2.33%.
58
The analysis of brown color idioms involves only two languages the English and the
Lithuanian. However, it is hardly possible to draw links among the meanings of the idioms
across these two languages. In the Lithuanian language brown indicates the final stage of
something, wondering or is also related to the color of Nazis. In the English language brown
is associated with the concept of seriousness and good imagination.
Orange
The last stage of color perception includes 4 colors, orange is included there, however
no idioms with such color term were identified in any of the languages under the
investigation. That may serve as a prove that the color entered the linguistic system relatively
recently. The cultures did not manage to create idioms with the element of orange color.
Pink
Pink color is also placed in the final stage of color perception, however it could be
claimed that it entered the language easier than orange as all three languages: the English and
the Russian languages have 5 idioms per each and the Lithuanian language has only one pink
color idiom. The total number of occurrences across three languages makes up 3.66%.
The positive meaning of pink color in the phraseology could be shared by the English
and Russian language. In the English language pink in the idioms is a sign of enthusiasm,
pleasure, cheerful mood and positive spirits, in the Russian language it is a sign of idealizing
and beauty. The only language which gives pink color a different shade is the Lithuanian
language, pink for Lithuanians is – shame.
Purple
The English language is the only language to possess idioms with the purple color
term. The Lithuanian and Russian languages do not possess purple color idioms therefore the
percentage of the relative frequency of occurrence is only 1.
Purple is traditionally a color of royalty and luxury, it is also considered as a color of
power, all these traits prevail in the meanings of the English purple color idioms, they are
used to express high social status, well-structured speech and powerful feelings.
Grey
Grey color serves as a source for color idioms only for the English and Russian color
idioms. The Lithuanian language does not possess any idioms with the element of grey. The
percentage of grey color idioms is equal to 2.
The nature of grey color has a negative shade in both the English and Russian idioms.
In the English language grey as a mixture of white and black expresses ambiguity and in the
Russian language that ambiguity is changed by the bad quality.
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5. INVESTIGATION OF ASPECTS EXPRESSED THROUGH ENGLISH,
LITHUANIAN AND RUSSIAN COLOR IDIOMS
The semantic analysis of color idioms across three languages: English, Lithuanian and
Russian revealed that certain semantic groups could be formed. Therefore, 15 semantic
groups of color idioms denoting a particular phenomenon were identified. These groups are:
1.
Emotions (positive, negative);
2.
Social status;
3.
Quality and conditions;
4.
Physical appearance;
5.
Physical state;
6.
Type of governmental regime;
7.
Anything, something, everything, nothing/ Never, rarely, soon, unexpectedly;
8.
Clarity/ Ambiguity;
9.
Personal traits (positive, negative);
10.
Weather conditions and parts of the day;
11.
Lack of moral behavior;
12.
Extraordinaire/ likeliness;
13.
Permission;
14.
Places;
15.
Miscellaneous.
Idioms collected from the dictionaries appear in the tables in alphabetical order. The
tables are divided into two columns where the column on the left represents a general
phenomenon the idioms denote and the column on the right represents color idioms
expressing the same idea. The arrangement of the idioms is as follows: firstly, English color
idioms are presented, they are followed by Lithuanian color idioms and the set is closed with
Russian color idioms.
1. Emotions
Anger
Like a red rag to a bull;
Red as a beet;
See red;
Akis balinti;
Akis pabalinęs;
Baltą akį turėti;
60
Baltomis veizėti;
Baltomis veizėtis;
Iš baltos veizėti;
Доводить/довести (доходить/дойти)
до белого каления ;
Невзвидеть/ Не видеть белого света;
Annoyance
B глазах зеленеет;
Дела, как сажа бела;
Ёлки зелёные;
Boredom
Тоска, скука зелёная;
Embarrassment
Red as a beet;
Red as beetroot;
Balti raudonuoti;
Iš raudonio plyšti;
Plaukai rausta;
Raudoniu plyšti;
Raudonį išmesti;
Raudonoja baluoja;
Красная девица;
Краснеть/покраснеть
волос;
покраснеть до ушей;
Fear
Have a yellow streak;
Show the white feather;
To be yellow;
White as a ghost;
White as a sheet;
Wave the white flag;
Yellow dog;
Juodai mėlynas;
Белый флаг ;
Jealosy
Green-eyed monster;
Green with envy;
Joy
White heat;
61
до
корней
Red hot;
Rose colored glasses;
Tickled pink;
Sadness
Blue funk;
Blue Monday;
Feel blue;
Have the blues;
Sing the blues;
To be blue;
Juodų jaučių mindžiotojas;
Белый свет не мил (кому-л.);
Быть, стать чернее ночи, тучи;
Видеть всё в чёрном цвете; всё
кажется в чёрном цвете и т.п.;
На белый свет не глядел бы;
Чёрные ноги;
Чёрная меланхолия;
Surprise
Rudinė raudonoji;
The semantic field of emotions is one of the largest groups. The group is made up of 55
color idioms from the three languages under investigation. Negative emotions such as anger,
annoyance, boredom, embarrassment, fear, jealousy and sadness are the core of the group as
there are 50 idioms expressing those emotions. The number of positive emotions is 10 times
smaller and consists only of five idioms where four of them are English idioms and only one
is a Russian idiom. Therefore, the majority (25)of idioms come from the English language.
The other idioms are distributed equally among the Lithuanian and Russian languages and
therefore each has 15 idioms expressing emotions.
Across the three languages, negative emotions are expressed with the help of black,
white, red, yellow, green and blue colors. However, the color pink is used only in the
Lithuanian language to express negative emotions. In the English language pink is related to
positive emotions only. Therefore, such colors as white, red, pink and brown are used to
express positive emotions.
2. Social status
62
People in power
Big white chief;
Blue blood;
Born to the purple; White collar
worker;
White collar worker;
Mėlyno kraujo;
Белая кость, косточка;
Голубая кровь;
Powerless
Blue collar worker;
Juodas kaulas;
Juodas žmogus;
Чёрная кость;
Чёрные люди;
Social status across these three languages can be expressed with the help of color
idioms. The group is divided into two sub-groups identifying those of powerful origin and
those which belong to the lower social strata. The total number of idioms in the group is 12.
The majority of them – seven denote high social class, the other five indicate the low social
class. Five of the idioms belong to the English language, therefore four of them indicate high
social class and one low social class. Four idioms are of the Russian origin, two are used to
indicate powerful origin and two powerless. The Lithuanian language possesses only three
idioms to identify the origin. Two of them indicate low social status and one is for a high
social class.
The dominant colors in this group are black, white, blue and purple. White color idioms
are used only in the English and Russian languages to express social status. The color blue
universally expresses high social class across three languages, however in the English
language it also indicates the presence of physical work. Purple is used only in the English
color idioms and black is used in both the Lithuanian and Russian languages.
3. Quality, conditions
Good
Blue ribbon;
In the black;
Balta duona;
Balti pyragai;
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Žalia diena;
Красная дичь;
Красное словцо;
Красная цена ;
Красный зверь ;
Bad
Grey area;
In the red;
Into the red;
out of the red;
Red cent;
Red eye;
Yellow journalism;
Белыми нитками шито, сшито,
шитый и т.п. ;
Белые стихи ;
Держать кого-нибудь в чёрном теле;
Держать кого-нибудь в черноте;
Жёлтая пресса;
Жёлтенькая жизнь, жёлтенькое
житьё;
Серая бумага ;
Серое сукно; серая пряжа ;
Серые щи ;
Серый хлеб ;
Juoda ir balta matyti;
Juodos ir baltos matyti;
Juodą duoną valgyti;
Juodos duonos plutą graužti;
Juoda naktis;
Mėlynos dienos;
Žalio lapo neregėti;
The group of quality and conditions consists of 33 color idioms. Conditions and quality
could be considered either as good or bad. The subdivision among color idioms is the
64
following, only nine idioms are used to express good conditions and high quality. The rest 24
idioms represent bad conditions and low quality. Russian color idioms are the dominant in
this semantic group as there are 14 of them; four related to good quality/conditions and 10
related ti bad quality/conditions. Lithuanian color idioms n the positive meaning three times
and seven times in the negative. English color idioms make up the smallest number of idioms
in this group as there are only nine of them, two used positively and seven negatively.
Either good or bad quality or conditions could be expressed via white, black, red, green,
yellow, blue and grey colors. White is used only in the Lithuanian and Russian color idioms.
In the Lithuanian language it is associated with high quality, whereas in Russian it is related
to low quality. Black is also used only in the Lithuanian and Russian color idioms. In the
Russian language, red is related to high quality, whereas in English it is mostly related to low
quality or negative conditions. Green is used only in the Lithuanian language and it could be
found in both cases - either in expression of good conditions and high quality or in the
expression of bad conditions and low quality. Yellow is found in English and Russian and it
denotes low quality. Blue in the English language indicates high quality, whereas in the
Lithuanian language – low. Grey is used in the English language to express low quality and in
Russian it denotes the same phenomenon, however more extensively as even four cases were
identified.
4. Physical appearance
Physically abused
Beaten black and blue;
Black and blue;
Mėlynėmis sirgti;
Su raudonu burbuliu;
Žalias mėlynas;
Looking badly
Už žemę juodesnis;
Чернота под глазами ;
Tan
Brown as berry;
Чёрный от загара;
Clothes
Black tie;
White tie;
The group of physical appearance includes such meanings as badly bruised, looking
badly, tanned and dress code. The group is made up out of 11 color idioms. Five of them are
65
of English origin, four of Lithuanian and two of Russian. The biggest number of color idioms
is related to the concept of physical abuse: two English and three Lithuanian.
The physical appearance could be describe with the help of such colors as black, white,
red, green, blue and brown. Black color is found in all of the categories in the semantic group
and is widely used across three languages as in total in this group black color idioms make up
six idioms. White color is only used to describe dress code and it is used in the English
language only. Red, brown, blue and green are common only for the Lithuanian language.
5. Physical states
Loss of consciousness
Black out;
Akys pabalo;
Feeling ill
Green about the gills;
Green around the gills;
Juodžemis kvepia;
Good health
In the pink;
In the pink of condition;
To bleed
Raudoni gaidžiukai;
Raudonais gaidiukais plyšauti;
Physical needs
Prie juodžemio traukia;
Rudis verčia duris;
Absorbed in thoughts
In a brown study;
The total number of idioms in the current group is 12. Such physical states as loss of
consciousness, illnesses, good health and bleeding are included. The dominant language in the
group is English as five idioms are introduced, the other four idioms belong to the Lithuanian
language and none of the Russian color idioms fit in this semantic group.
Physical states are expressed by black, white, red, green and pink colors. Loss of
consciousness is related to black color in the English language, however in the Lithuanian it is
expressed via white color.
6. Type of governmental regime
USSR
Better red than dead;
Reds under the bed;
Красная армия;
66
Красная гвардия;
Красный флот;
Красная шапка;
Revolution in Russia
Серая скотинка;
Синие мундиры;
Синяя ассигнация, синяя бумажка;
Чёрная сотня;
Чёрные списки ;
Money/ currancy
Жёлтый дьявол
Красная ассигнация, красная
бумажка ;
Lack of civilization
Beyond the black stump;
Documents
White paper;
Nazi
Rudasis maras;
The semantic group of political regime consists of 16 color idioms. The dominant
language in the current group is Russian (11) it is followed by the English language (4) and
the Lithuanian language (1). The majority of idioms are related to the political regime in
Russia. As the sum of idioms used to describe political regime of Soviet Era and
Revolutionary Russia equals 11.
The dominant color in the current group is red. It is used in seven idioms (2- English; 5Russian). The other colors such as black, white, yellow, brown and grey are also used in the
color idioms. However, it should be noted that the Lithuanian language is not rich in the
idioms related to political regime, as only one brown color idiom was identified.
7. Anything, something, everything, nothing, many/ Never, rarely, not soon,
unexpectedly;
Anything
Juodas baltas;
Something
Per nago juodumą;
Everything
Ir juoda ir balta;
Prie juodos ir prie baltos;
Nothing
Nė juodo nė balto;
Du baltus trečią kaip sniegą;
Nė nago juodumo ;
67
Ни синь пороха;
Many
Net juoda;
Never
(Такой,) какого белый свет не видел,
не производил ;
Rarely
Once in a blue moon;
Not soon
Ligi baltų musių;
Unexpectedly
Out of the blue;
The group of adverbs consists of 13 color idioms across three languages. The dominant
language is Lithuanian as even nine idioms were identified. The Russian language has two
idioms and the English language has two as well. The biggest subgroup is related to the
concept of nothing, however its‘ core group is Lithuanian idioms; one Russian idiom is placed
in this group as well, however the English language does not contribute to the expansion of
the group.
The dominant color within the group is black, as seven idioms with the element of black
color were identified, moreover all of them are Lithuanian. The color white is present in three
idioms and blue is used in three idioms as well, two of them are of English origin and one of
Russian.
8. Clarity/ ambiguity
Clarity
Blue law;
Blue pencil;
Blue print;
In black and white;
Juodas ant balto;
Juodu ant balto;
Чёрным
по
белому (написано,
напечатано) ;
Lack of clarity
Black box;
Black spot;
Red herring ;
The wide blue yonder;
White elephant;
Белое пятно, белые места ;
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The semantic field of clarity and the opposite ambiguity includes 13 color idioms. Nine
idioms used in the current group are of English origin, two of Lithuanian and two of Russian.
Clarity is expressed via color idioms with the help of four English color idioms, two
Lithuanian and one Russian. Ambiguity is expressed via English color idioms mostly as five
cases could be identified and with the help of the Russian language, one case was identified.
The colors black, white, blue and red are used to express clarity and the lack of clarity.
Clarity is expressed with the help of black and white colors across three languages as absolute
synonyms could be identified across three languages under the investigation. Blue color is
common for the English language only to express clarity. Lack of clarity is expressed via
wider range of colors, however white and black remain the core of the group. Absolute
synonyms in the English and Russian language are expressed via opposite colors in the
English it is black and in the Russian it is white.
9. Personal traits (positive, negative)
Lack of experience
Green as grass;
Juoda balta neatskirti;
Rūta žalia;
В розовом свете, цвете (видеть,
представлять и т.п.) ;
Желторотый птенец;
Молодо зелено ;
Называть чёрное белым; принимать
чёрное за белое и т.п;
Окрашивать в розовый цвет что-л ;
Рисовать, расписывать розовыми
красками;
Cмотреть на что-л. сквозь розовые
очки, стёкла, сквозь розовую призму;
Hard work
Do something until you are blue in the
face;
Akys žaliuoja;
Juoda burna;
Kaip juodas jautis;
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Už juodą arklį;
Laziness
Kaip žalias nedega;
Kaip žalias nedegąs;
Speaking manners
Purple prose;
Scream blue murder;
Talk a blue streak;
Cказка про белого бычка;
Spreading rumors
Juodo grūdo neužmesti;
Žalias aguonas krėsti;
Представлять,
выставлять и
показывать,
т.д. кого-,
что-
нибудь в (самом) чёрном виде, свете;
Рисовать чёрными красками кого-,
что-нибудь; наводить чёрную краску на
кого-, что-нибудь;
Decision taking
Between the devil and the deep blue
yonder;
White knife;
White lie ;
Help/protection
Sudie rudi per kalnelį;
Отличать/отличить чёрное от
белого;
Positive person traits
Blue sky research;
Not as black as you are painted;
True blue;
Whiter than white;
Kaip balta vilna;
Abilities
Green thumb;
Negative traits
A whited sepulchere;
Baltais pirštais nukaišyti;
Juodas gomurys;
Nei balto nei juodo;
Prie balto svieto buvo;
Raudonos kepurės reikia;
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Žalias ir raudonas;
Žalis duris verčia;
Žalio dvaro ponaitis;
Чёрная
неблагодарность,
несправедливость;
The second largest group is related to the personal traits, both; negative and positive.
The group is made up out of 47 color idioms selected from three languages under
investigation. The semantic field of personal traits includes such groups as: lack of
experience, hard work, laziness, speaking manners, rumors spreading, decision taking, help,
protection, abilities and general positive and negative personal traits.Lithuanian color idioms
are the core of the group as there are 20 of them, Russian color idioms are 13 and 14 are of
English language.
The current group includes a wide range of colors, it has black (13), white (9), red (1),
yellow (1), green (11), blue (6), brown (1), pink (4) and purple (1). Lack of experience is
related to the green color in all three languages, however the Russian language expresses lack
of experience via pink color and it s the only case where the pink color is used. Laziness is
expressed via green and only the Lithuanian language has idioms expressing laziness.
10. Weather conditions/ parts of the day
Parts of the day
Baltoji naktis;
Juodas vakaras;
Розовый день, розовое утро;
Weather conditions
White heat;
Baltasis badas;
Белые мухи ;
Жёлтый уголь;
Красный день, денёк;
Розовый день, розовое утро;
Чёрная буря ;
Чёрная тропа;
The semantic field of weather conditions and parts of the day has 10 color idioms. In
this group the Russian language has five idioms, Lithuanian three and English only one. The
71
subgroup of weather conditions is considerably bigger as it has seven color idioms. Parts of
the day are expressed via Lithuanian (2) and Russian (1) languages.
Black (3), white (4), red (1) and pink (1) are used in the current group. It should be
noted that red and pink colors are used exceptionally in the Russian language. Therefore,
black and white are used across three languages. The English language due to the small
number of idioms in the group is used to express weather conditions only via white color.
11. Lack of moral behaviour
Setting fire
Raudonas gaidys;
Raudonas gaidys užgiedos;
Raudonas gaidys užgiedos ant stogo;
Raudoni gaidžiai užgiedos ;
Raudoną gaidį pakelti ant stogo;
Raudoną gaidį patūpdyti ant stogo;
Красный петух;
Alcohol drinking
Paint the town red;
Akys bala;
Белая горячка ;
До зелёного змия (пить,
напиваться и т.п.) ;
Conflicts
A black mark against someone;
Be in someone’s black books;
Red in tooth and claw;
Į juodus purvus;
Su juodu dumblu maišyti;
Žaliokais ir margokais krauti;
Чёрная
кошка
пробежала,
проскочила между кем-нибудь ;
Committing crime
Black market;
Bleed someone white;
Catch someone red-handed;
Pink slip;
Juodas darbas;
Чёрный рынок, чёрная биржа;
72
The semantic group of moral behavior consists of 24 color idioms selected from three
languages. It expresses setting fire, alcohol drinking, conflicts and crime committing. To
express concepts of conflicts and fire setting is possible in the biggest number of idioms, as
each group has seven. the dominant language within the group is Lithuanian (11), Russian
language has five color idioms and the English language has eight color idioms.
Red color is the dominant color in the current group as even 10 cases are identified.
However, it should be noted that majority of those cases are used to express fire setting and
consists of eight color idioms where majority (7) are of Lithuanian and only one of Russian
origin. No idioms were found to express the concept of fire in the English language. State of
being drunk is expressed via different colors across three languages. In the English it is red, in
the Lithuanian it is white and in the Russian it is green. Conflicts are related to black color
across three languages as five out of seven idioms include the element of black. The black
color is also present in the committing of crimes across three languages.
12. Extraordinaire/ likeness
Extraordinarity
A red letter day;
Black and white;
Black humour;
Black sheep;
Blue stocking;
Mark something with a white stone;
Red tape;
Balta varna ;
Белая
ворона;
выглядеть,
быть,
чувствовать себя белой вороной ;
Красная строка, строчка ;
Синий чулок ;
(Что-л.) проходит красной нитью;
Alikness
Visų dantys balti;
The trait of being different is more prominent than likeness as 12 color idioms express
extraordinaire and only one expresses likeness. Therefore, the group is formed from 13 color
73
idioms across three languages. The majority of idioms are English (7), Russian color idioms
take the second position (4) and Lithuanian idioms are minor part of the group (2).
Black, white, red and blue are used in the semantic group. Likeness is expressed only
via white color and has the only idiom of Lithuanian origin. Extraordinaire is expressed via
four mentioned colors across three languages. Therefore, it is significant to mention that
absolute synonyms Black sheep, Balta varna and Белая ворона differ in the expression
between English and Lithuanian and Russian languages. Lithuanian and Russian languages
express the concept via white color, whereas English language uses black. Another two
absolute synonyms blue stocking and Синий чулок are expressed via the same blue color in
the English and Russian languages.
13. Permission
Permission
Black cheque;
Green light;
Žalia šviesa ;
Žalioji gatvė;
Белый билет;
Зелёная улица;
Давать/дать зелёную улицy;
The semantic group of giving permission to perform a particular action is made up of
seven color idioms. Three idioms are of Russian origin, two of Lithuanian and two of English.
Permission universally across three languages under investigation is expressed via the
green color (5). The Engliash and Lithuanian languages have absolute synonyms: green light
and žalia šviesa, whereas in the Russian language the element of light is substituted with the
element of street e.g. Зелёная улица. The black color is used exceptionally in the English
language, whereas white is used only in the Russian.
14. Places
Buildings
Жёлтый дом;
Красный уголок;
Places outside the house
Red light district;
Žaliasis auksas;
Белый свет;
74
Красный ряд;
Чёрная дорога;
Чёрный двор;
This semantic group of places has eight color idioms. The dominant language in the
current group is Russian (6), the English and Lithuanian languages have one idiom per
language. Places could be divided into two subgroups: buildings and places outside the house.
Black (2), white (1), red (2), yellow (1) and green (1) are used to denote places. The
English language uses red to denote a district, Lithuanian uses green to denote forest. The
wider range of colors is used by the Russian language as colors denote various places.
15. Miscellaneous
A blue-eyed boy;
Brownie point;
Purple passion;
White as snow;
Balta galva;
Baltasis auksas;
Baltoji kiaulė;
Juoda diena ;
Juodasis auksas;
Juoda katė perbėgo [taką];
Juodoji mirtis;
Žalio miško brolis;
Жёлтая лихорадка ;
Зелёный змий;
красная горка ;
Красные дети ;
Красный звон ;
Красный товар;
На (белом) коне въезжать/въехать;
Синезелёные водоросли;
Cиняя птица;
Чёрная книга ;
75
Чёрный-пречёрный;
Чёрная сила;
Черным-чёрен (-черна, -черно);
The samples placed in the group miscellaneous do not fit into any of the groups
discussed above. The total number of tokens in the group is 27. Even though samples could be
arranged into a small group, this would not provide any clarification. In order to see the
possible semantic groupings the scope of the study should be broadened and no limitations
should be applied. Therefore, more semantic groups would be formed.
76
CONCLUSIONS
300 color idioms in the English, Lithuanian and Russian languages were analyzed.
Each language possessed an equal number of idiomatic expressions with the element of color;
therefore 100 per each language idioms were investigated. The colors black, white, red, green,
yellow, blue, brown, orange, pink, purple and grey were selected for further analysis.
The analysis revealed that not all languages possess color idioms with the same color
element within them. The Lithuanian language lacks idioms with the element of grey, purple
and yellow colors and the Russian language does not possess idioms with such color terms as
brown and purple. None of the examples with the element of orange color was identified
across three languages under analysis. Other colors coincide across three languages the total
number of relative frequency of occurrences of the use of black, white and red colors indicate
that all three languages adopted the first two stages of color acquisition presupposed by Berlin
and Kay (1969).
The analysis of color idioms revealed cultural aspects of three linguistic communities,
red color could be considered as the most prominent example as in three languages it refers to
a completely different phenomenon. For instance, in the English language red is associated
with the threat of Communist system, whereas in the Russian language the meanings of
idioms do not possess an element indicating that Communism is a threat. Idioms related to the
Communist regime were not found in the Lithuanian language; however the difference in the
meaning of red color is also transparent. The Lithuanian culture associate red with danger,
similarly to the English speaking cultures but Russians see red as the sign of high quality or
beauty.
The data was arranged into 15 semantic groups, mainly: emotions; social status; quality
and conditions; physical appearance; physical states; type of governmental regime; anything,
something, everything, and nothing/ Never, rarely, soon, unexpectedly; clarity/ ambiguity;
personal traits; weather conditions and parts of the day; lack of moral behaviour;
extraordinaire/ likeliness; permission; places and miscellaneous. The groups of emotions (55),
personal traits (47) and quality and conditions (33) were the biggest ones due to the number of
idioms presented in them.
The analysis had proved the hypothesis that across three languages the meanings of
colors possess a different meaning.

Black color is used in the majority of color idioms across three languages. 17
instances of black color idioms were identified in the English, 37 in the Lithuanian
and 17 in the Russian language.
77

White color is found in17 English instances, 24 Lithuanian and 19 Russian
idioms.

White color idioms in the Russian language are related to extremes as they
usually include intensifying descriptors in the meanings.

Black and white colors are the most frequent colors in the idiom formation in
the Lithuanian language. However, they are not related to the extremes, on the other
hand both evoke negative emotions.

Red color differs dramatically in the meanings across the languages. In English
language it is related to danger or threat of Soviet Union, in the Lithuanian to the
danger of fire and in the Russian it does not possess the meaning of danger. It rather
expresses beauty, wealth and high standards.

Green color idioms are the most popular in the Lithuanian language it could be
related to the Pagan roots of the Lithuanian culture when nature was worshiped.

Blue color is mostly used in the English language even 23 idioms with the
element of blue color term were identified. The results prove that for the English
speaking cultures blue color is the most popular.

Other colors seem to be insignificant for all three languages as a considerably
small number of idioms with the element of brown, pink, purple or grey were
identified.

Alcohol names, addicts and hangover are described via white, red and green
colors.

Anger is related to white and red color.

Hard work and hard life are the most prominent concepts for color idioms in
the Lithuanian language. However, hard the semantic group of hard work could be
identified in the English and Russian languages as well. It is usually expressed via
black, white, yellow and blue colors.

Blue is the color of depression in the English language.

Color idioms expressing emotions are the most prominent in the English
language. They could express anger, fear, being a coward, jealousy, depression,
happiness or shame.

Lithuanian color idioms are mostly related to the expression of hard living
conditions.
78
Taking into consideration colors under analysis it could be claimed that all three
languages possess color idioms with the elements of color terms, however they differ in
distribution and meanings.
Further studies considering comparison of color idioms across the English, Lithuanian
and Russian languages must be conducted. The scope of the study must broaden. In order to
identify the peculiarities of color idioms across the varieties of the English language, corpusbased analysis could be implied.
79
SUMMARY IN LITHUANIAN
Šio darbo tikslas yra ištirti spalvos elementą apjungiančius frazeologizmus trijose
kalbose: anglų, lietuvių bei rusų. Uždaviniai, padedantys pasiekti darbo tikslą buvo tokie:
surinkti 300 frazeologizmų pavyzdžius iš trijų kalbų (100 frazeologizmų vienai kalbai)
nustatyti frazeologizmų reikšmes trijose kalbose, sudėlioti frazeologizmus į semantines
grupes pagal jų reikšmes bei aptarti jų panašumus ir skirtumus.
Tyrime buvo naudojami du metodai: kokybinis ir kiekybinis. Iš kokybinės pusės,
medžiaga buvo tiriama atsižvelgiant į semantinį analizės metodą, kuris padeda nustatyti
lingvistinių vienetų reikšmes, šiuo atveju frazeologizmų reikšmes. Lyginamasis metodas yra
naudojamas, nes tyrimas pateikia panašumus ir skirtumus tarp trijų kalbų frazeologizmų.
Kiekybiškai medžiaga buvo tiriama atsižvelgiant į statistinį vienetų pasiskirstymą.
Praktinės dalies analizei buvo surinkta 300 spalvos elementą apjungiančių
frazeologizmų, kiekvienai kalbai po 100. Spalvos elementai buvo pasirinkti atsižvelgiant į
spalvų universalumo teoriją, pristatyta Berlin ir Kay (1969). Taigi, iš viso vienuolika tokių
spalvų, kaip: juoda, balta, raudona, žalia, geltona, mėlyna, ruda, oranžinė, rožinė, violetinė bei
pilka buvo įtrauktos į tiriamojo darbo analizę. Tyrimas atskleidė, jog dažniausiai naudojamos
spalvos frazeologizmuose trijose kalbose yra: juoda (81), balta (60) ir raudona (56). Tai
patvirtino tezę, jog kuo anksčiau spalvų tipologijos lygmenyje spalva yra pristatyta, tuo
produktyvesnė ji yra. Išimtis pasitaikė anglų kalboje, nes net 23 frazeologizmai su mėlynos
spalvos elementu buvo išrinkti. Tyrimas taip pat atskleidė, jog oranžinė spalva yra vienodai
neproduktyvi visose trijose kalbose, nes nebuvo rasta nė vieno frazeologizmo su šios spalvos
elementu.
Praktinė tyrimo dalis taip pat pateikia frazeologizmų suskirstymą pagal semantines
grupes. Iš viso buvo nustatyta 15 semantinių grupių. Grupės su didžiausiu frazeologizmų
skaičiumi yra: emocijos (55), asmens bruožai (47) bei kokybė (33). Tyrimas patvirtino, jog
tos pačios spalvos įgyja skirtingas reikšmes skirtingose kalbose. Vienas iš ryškiausių to
pavyzdžių yra balta spalva. Anglų kalboje balta yra dažniausiai siejama su nekaltybė ir
tyrumu, tačiau lietuvių kalboje balta spalva yra dažnai siejama su emocijų įvardinimu,
dažniausiai tai yra negatyvaus pobūdžio emocijos tokios, kaip pyktis. Svarbu paminėti, jog
psichologai tikina, jog balta spalva negali būti siejama su kraštutinumais, tačiau rusų kalbos
frazeologizmai tai paneigia, nes beveik visos reikšmės turi savyje elementą nukreipiantį į
kraštutinumus.
80
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