148 Mr Rivers, The colour vision of the Eskimo. 



had the opportunity of investigating, it reaches its most marked 

 development in the island of Mabuiag in Torres Straits where a 

 man might give more than thirty names to different colours all 

 derived from familiar natural objects. 



It seems to be much less common to denote differences of 

 colour by using modifications of a few colour names. Among the 

 languages of which I have had previous experience I have only 

 met with a slight tendency in this direction in one or two cases. 



Psychologically the latter usage would seem to stand much 

 higher, for it implies the presence of definite abstract ideas of 

 colour while the multiplication of names is only one instance of 

 the tendency to specialisation which is one of the chief features of 

 the stages of mental development found among savage races 1 . 

 The use of affixes is the characteristic feature of the Eskimo 

 language generally but it is perhaps suggestive that this higher 

 psychological development of nomenclature, as shown by the 

 presence of distinct abstract terms for colour, should exist to- 

 gether with exceptional definiteness in the nomenclature for green 

 and blue. 



I endeavoured to ascertain from the natives the derivation of 

 the terms they used. They told me that the word for green was 

 derived from ivik, grass; that kaijuk 2 was the name of the yellow 

 fox and that a^jangatuk was derived from a^jak 3 , powder, but 

 could not tell me the derivation of the other terms used. 



Rink states that the word for red is derived from auk, blood 4 , 

 the affix -paluqpoq (Greenland) meaning "has the appearance of." 

 The word songapaluktuk obtained by Virchow is obviously formed 

 in the same way. This word is derived from songaq (sungaq), 

 bile. The words for yellow and green in other subarctic races are 

 derived in the same way. The Chukchis use a word " dlilil " for 

 yellow and green which means bile (Almquist) 5 and the word used 

 by the Samoyeds for both green and blue, " padiraha," is closely 

 related to the word "padea," bile (Kirchhoff )°. The Voguls are said 

 to call green and yellow "vosrem ospe," meaning "like bile" 

 (Budenz, quoted by Kirchhoff). 



Erdmann and Rink give a word " tungo " blue or black berry 



1 Both usages are found in the languages of civilized races. The tendency 

 towards specialisation in colour names is found in the colour vocabulary in popular 

 use, while in scientific methods of nomenclature all colours are described as modifi- 

 cations of a few standard sensations. 



2 The word kaijuk is also said to mean 'blood.' See Eink, pp. 107, 117, and 

 also Herzog, Zeitsch.f. Ethnol. vol. x., 1878, p. 449. 



3 Eink gives what is probably the same word as argsak, ashes. 



4 Hall {Life with the Esquimaux, 1864, vol. n., p. 207) found this word (" oug") 

 was used for anything red when the Eskimo were talking with a stranger not well 

 versed in their language. 



5 loc. cit. 



6 loc. cit. 



