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> Now, midori (green) is a type of ao ("grue"), and.. It isn't. TFA is vague on this, but in modern usage "ao" just means blue. There are a bunch of set phrase
by fenomas 3y ago
> Now, midori (green) is a type of ao ("grue"), and..
It isn't. TFA is vague on this, but in modern usage "ao" just means blue. There are a bunch of set phrases where it refers to various other cool colors, but to a modern listener "ao" on its own isn't a category including all those colors, it just means blue.
- sam_lowry_ 3y agoHow do you think this happened? By westernization?
- naniwaduni 3y agoConsider: is "red hair" a color you would consider "red" in a generic context? How about "red cabbage"? Are they the same color?
- skhr0680 3y agoYou’re going to have to define modern usage because words where ao=green are still common in every day language, like seishun or aoba
- fenomas 3y agoIn set phrases it can refer to things of various colors, but on its own it means blue. Like if you use it to describe a sweater, people will assume you mean a blue sweater.
- skhr0680 3y agoIf those words and others were more obscure I’d agree with your point, but they really are common enough that I think Aoi can mean blue or green in nodern Japanese.
- fenomas 3y agoObscurity isn't involved. In set phrases like you're talking about, the "ao" is basically a category specifier, not a color specifier. Like aoba means young fresh leaves, not necessarily green ones, and aoyasai doesn't only mean green vegetables, etc. There are lots of set phrases like this, both obscure and common, and the color involved can be anything from white to dark gray. But when ao is used outside of a set phrase, to tell somebody what color you're talking about, it means blue.