Note that you still can use the the iro/color suffix for aka (red), ao (blue), midori (green), you just don't have to and they also function as standalone adjec

Note that you still can use the the iro/color suffix for aka (red), ao (blue), midori (green), you just don't have to and they also function as standalone adjectives. E.g. akai (赤い) -- red (adjective) vs akairo (赤色) -- the color red (noun) compare: chaiiroi (茶色い) -- light brown (adjective) vs chaiiro (茶色) the color light brown (noun) -- literally "tea color"