Color terms: A case study in natural
language ontology
Louise McNally
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Workshop on the Syntax and Semantics of Nounhood and
Adjectivehood
Barcelona, March 24-25, 2011
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Support
Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación grant
FFI2010-15006
Fundació ICREA
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Ways to talk about color
Color terms:
(1)
Green is nice.
Reifying expressions:
(2)
The color green is nice
Color nominalizations:
(3)
Greenness is nice.
(Moltmann, ms.)
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color expressions and their denotations
Moltmann, ms.:
Color terms: kinds of bearerless tropes
Reifying expressions: abstract objects that reify the
denotation of the term following it.
Color nominalizations: kinds of tropes as borne by
individuals
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Goals of the talk
Point out additional contrasts between color terms, color
nominalizations, and the reifying expressions
Examine these with Kennedy & McNally (2010) in the
background
Argue that at the level of natural language ontology (as
opposed to pure ontology), color expressions are
unexceptional
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color adjective ambiguity
Kennedy & McNally (2010): Color adjectives are ambiguous.
“True” color reading
“Proxy” property reading
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
True color
Gradable along two parameters
(Kennedy & McNally 2005):
Color quality:
(4)
The car is not very
blue.
Color quantity:
(5)
The car is half blue.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color as a proxy property
(6)
green leaf
(7)
vi
negre (Catalan)
wine black
“red wine”
(8)
aigües grises
waters gray
“domestic waste water”
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
“Proxy” in what sense?
Having the property denoted by the color term = having some
color-correlated property, e.g.:
The presence of chlorophyll or ability to reproduce leaves
of the same color
Having been fermented with the skins of grapes of a
certain color
Having been dirtied by human use
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Identifying the proxy reading
Often nongradable
Different standards for truthful application than on the
“true” color reading
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Nongradability
(9)
This traffic light is
(??very) red.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
The exception to nongradability
(10)
Es fa
amb xocolata molt negra, i
el gust és
SE makes with chocolate very black and the taste is
molt fort.
very strong
“You make it with very dark chocolate, and the taste is
very strong.”
(11) ??xocolata molt blanca
chocolate very white
(??very white chocolate)
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Different standards
Color quality:
(12)
a. white wine
b. white liquid
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Different standards
Color quantity:
(13)
a. a red traffic light
b. a red shirt
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Analysis: A nominal core
Color nonimals are names of colors:
(14)
a. greenDP : green
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
True color adjectives
Measure functions (along the quality or quantity dimension):
(15)
greentrue
A : λx.green(x)
With degree morphology, properties of individuals:
(16)
pos(greentrue
A ): λx.green(x) stnd(green)
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Proxy color adjectives
An indexically-determined property correlated with color:
(17)
greenproxy
: λx.Pi (x) ∧ cor(Pi , green)
A
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Thus: Color terms used as nouns are more limited in
interpretation than color terms used as adjectives.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Color nominalizations can pick out proxy properties; color terms
cannot:
(18)
a. ...if there is blueness around the mouth....
b. ...if there is blue around the mouth...
(19)
a. ...appreciate the redness of the traffic light that you
have no choice but to wait at.
b. ...appreciate the red of the traffic light...
(20)
a. New approach to determine the brownness of the
crust. Correlation between crust color and protein
content.
b. ...and the bright yellow of the cake is offset by the
red of the cranberries and the light brown of the crust...
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Color nominalizations can have figurative uses; color terms
cannot:
(21)
a. She was blue.
b. the blueness of her mood
c. ??the blue of her mood
(22)
a. The outlook was black.
b. the blackness of the outlook
c. ??the black of the outlook
(23)
a. The population is largely white.
b. the whiteness of the population
c. ??the white of the population
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
This makes sense if color nominalizations are deadjectival:
(24)
[N [A [N green]]-ness]
The nominalizer operates on the denotation of the color
adjective, not the color noun.
Reified color expressions presumably...
...combine with color terms qua nouns.
...have interpretations based on the denotation of the color
noun.
We’ll come back to color nominalizations.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Some contrasts from Moltmann, ms.:
(25)
a. *John likes green and red. Mary likes them too.
b. John likes the color red and the color green. Mary
likes them too.
→ Color terms are not properly referential.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
(26)
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
a. The color green was the subject of his research.
b. ?Green was the subject of his research.
→ Again, color terms are not properly referential.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
(27)
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
a. The mixture of paint contains red and green.
b. ??The mixture of paint contains the color red and
the color green.
→ The reifying expression is more abstract than the color term.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Reified color expressions have been compared to:
(28)
a. the name John
b. Mary’s brother John
c. the fictional character Sherlock Holmes
d. the number four
e. the word the
Here: Emphasis on similarity to yet another sort of example.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Countability and color
color C is count and has necessarily unique reference; color
terms are basically mass:
(29)
a. ??a/??some/??every/??much color green
b. much green
c. two greens = two shades of green
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Analogous to these:
(30)
a. The gas nitrogen (N2)...occupies 78% of the Earth’s
atmosphere.
b. ??a/??some/??every/??much gas nitrogen
c. much nitrogen
d. two nitrogens = two molecules of nitrogen
(31)
a. What animal does the meat venison come from?
b. ??a/??some/??every/??much meat venison
c. much venison
d. two venisons = two dishes featuring venison
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
The anaphora facts: Due to noncountability?
(32)
*John likes green and red. Mary likes them too.
(33)
I like oxygen and helium. ??Mary likes them too.
(34)
I like mutton and venison. ??Mary likes them too.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
The anaphora facts: Due to noncountability?
(35)
John likes the color green and the color red. Mary likes
them too.
(36)
I like the gas oxygen and the gas helium. Mary likes
them too.
(37)
I like the meat mutton and the meat venison. Mary likes
them too.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
The anaphora facts: Due to noncountability?
(38)
John likes green and red. They are his favorite colors.
(39)
I like oxygen and helium. They are my favorite gases.
(40)
I like mutton and venison. They are my favorite meats.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Color terms vs. reifying expressions:
A pragmatic choice?
color, gas, and meat: all describe kinds of objects for which we
have simple lexical items describing subkinds, i.e. they are
superordinates of e.g. red, nitrogen, and venison.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Color terms vs. reifying expressions:
A pragmatic choice?
color, gas, and meat: all describe kinds of objects for which we
have simple lexical items describing subkinds, i.e. they are
superordinates of e.g. red, nitrogen, and venison.
Hypothesis: Use the superordinate construction
to make clear what N refers to (e.g. the color turquoise)
to make general statements about nonsingleton proper
subsets of subkinds (e.g. the colors green and blue, the
gases oxygen and nitrogen)
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Color terms vs. reifying expressions:
A pragmatic choice?
These hypotheses could account for the following:
(41)
a. The color green is the subject of his research.
b. ?Green is the subject of his research.
(42)
a. The mixture of paint contains red and green.
b. ??The mixture of paint contains the color red and
the color green.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
The role of the superordinate in clarification
(43)
a. The meaning of the color blue
b. Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of
Color....The meaning of blue
(44)
a. All about the color red
b. Decorating & Design - Colour....All about red
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
The role of the superordinate in generalization
(45)
What national flag contains the colors red, white, and
blue?
(46)
a. Farmer’s Market [alcohol ink] set contains the colors
cranberry, lettuce, and eggplant....
b. another tie-dyeing kit that contains the colors
turquoise, fuschia, and yellow...
c. The color circle also contains the colors brown and
purple....
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Semantic sort does appear to be a factor, but it affects reifying
expressions and color terms alike:
Google searches turn up virtually no examples like (42)
Rather: paint contains e.g. red pigment/mica/ochre
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Conclusion: No clear evidence from color terms and reifying
expressions for anything in natural language ontology that we
haven’t seen before.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Conclusion: No clear evidence from color terms and reifying
expressions for anything in natural language ontology that we
haven’t seen before.
Color terms (including color ): describe kinds or token
instances of color
Whatever color terms denote in pure ontology, in terms of
natural language ontology they behave no differently than
terms that describe concrete objects.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Color terms vs. color nominalizations
Color terms vs. reified color expressions
Conclusion: No clear evidence from color terms and reifying
expressions for anything in natural language ontology that we
haven’t seen before.
Color terms (including color ): describe kinds or token
instances of color
Whatever color terms denote in pure ontology, in terms of
natural language ontology they behave no differently than
terms that describe concrete objects.
Reifying expressions: refer to unique subkinds of color
Cannot directly describe token instances of color.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Recall:
Color terms: kinds of bearerless tropes
Color nominalizations: kinds of tropes as borne by
individuals
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
(47)
a. the color (of) green
b. ??the color (of) greenness/being green
(48)
a. ??the property (of) green
b. the property (of) greenness/of being green
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
(49)
a. [NP green]
b. λx k [green(x k )]
(50)
a. [NumP [NP green]
b. λy [R(y , xik ) ∧ green(xik )]
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
A representative value for y
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
(51)
a. dark/forest/lime green
b. hot/rosy pink
c. chocolate/mud/honey brown
d. ultramarine/royal blue
(52)
a. pale lime green
b. medium hot pink
c. dark chocolate brown
d. bright royal blue
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Nominalization: First try
(53)
[NP [A [N green]]-ness]
(54)
a. greentrue
A
b. λx[green(x) stnd(green)]
(55)
a. greennesstrue
b. λx k [x k = ∩ λy [green(y ) stnd(green)]]
Prediction: These nouns describe unique kinds.
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
A good prediction?
(56)
a. I hate the lime greenness of this page....
b. ...the gigantic mud-brownness of winter....
(57) ??the forest and seafoam greenness of the page
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Or a bad prediction?
(58)
a. A rosy pinkness filled the sky....
b. facial and ocular redness
c. ...log blueness...lumber blueness...coating
blueness....All three types of blueness....
(59)
...the citrus evaporates...and the spiced honey accord
crescendos into a full-on woods note, now with strong
green underpinnings. Fifteen minutes after that, a dark
greenness erupts through the wood in the form of a
salient and surprisingly realistic rendition of Pinus
Sylvestris....
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Nominalization: Second try
(60)
a. redproxy
A
b. λy [Pi (y ) ∧ cor(Pi , red)]
Adapting Carlson’s (1977) semantics for kind of N:
(61)
a. -ness
b. λPλx k [So (x k ) ∧ Dis(So )(∩ P)]
(62)
a. rednessproxy
b. λx k [So (x k ) ∧ Dis(So )(∩ λy [Pi (y ) ∧ cor(Pi , red)])]
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Nominalization: Second try
(63)
a. [NP ocular redness]
b. λx k [So (x k ) ∧ Dis(So )(∩ λy [Pi (y ) ∧ cor(Pi , red) ∧
ocular (x k )])]
(64)
a. [NumP ocular redness]
b. λy λx k [R(y , x k ) ∧ So (x k ) ∧ Dis(So )(∩ λy [Pi (y ) ∧
cor(Pi , red) ∧ ocular (x k )])]
(And analogously for the true color reading)
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
A representative value for y
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
For continued exploration
The differences in modification involving the two senses of
color nominalizations
Do we really subclassify “color-ness” only according to
properties or effects induced by manifestations of the color?
(cf. frequency adjectives, Gehrke & McNally 2009)
The differences between color nominalizations and the
gerund being C
McNally
Color Terms
Introduction
Background on color adjectives
More contrasts between the color expressions
Back to color terms vs. nominalizations
Conclusions
Conclusions
Skepticism about a significant ontological distinction
between color terms and reified color expressions.
New sorts of support for relevance of the manifestation of
the property in the semantics of color nominalizations.
Just as expected if color nominalizations are deadjectival
Color terms clearly pick out colors; whether we gain much
by conceiving of color as a bearerless trope is less clear.
McNally
Color Terms