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> linguistic studies that show blue to be the last color named in virtually all languages In Irish, the term "fear dubh" refers to the devil literally "black m
by I_complete_me 5y ago
> linguistic studies that show blue to be the last color named in virtually all languages
In Irish, the term "fear dubh" refers to the devil literally "black man" which presumably long preceded Irish language interaction with non-whites. To refer to a black (coloured) man in modern Irish the term "fear gorm" is used. The word 'gorm' in other contexts means blue. This would match your comment.
As an aside, the term "fear bán" is literally "white man" and I leave it to the curious to guess or research it's meaning.
- dorchadas 5y agoIn this case, there's multiple issues going on here. First 'gorm' in the case of 'fear gorm' didn't mean blue. It meant 'dusky', 'swarthy'. Also, 'fear dubh' refers to a black-haired person; 'An Fear Dubh' refers to the devil. 'Fear bán' would likely refer to hair color. Irish traditionally classified people on their hair color (thus 'Roisín dubh' was 'Roisín of the dark hair', not that she was dark complected). Another big issue is Irish colors don't match up to English ones, at all. So many seem to think 'gorm' matches up to English 'blue', when it doesn't. It's different. Same with 'glas' and 'green', which is why you can have 'capall glas' or a 'green horse', but really it's a different color split that English. Same with 'spéir glas' to describe a 'grey sky'. It's a huge problem among learners who learn the language incorrectly (most in Ireland, sadly).
- I_complete_me 5y agoGo raibh míle agat! Tá an ceart agat. My 'fear dubh' was intended to be "An Fear Dubh". If you are male you have "An Fear Bán", the colour of men's clothing presumably being dark in contrast!