Do you hear languages as Color/Colour?

K. T.   Thu May 21, 2009 9:28 pm GMT
I don't think about this much, but I know that I hear certain accents and languages as different shades. This has nothing to do with race, btw.

Anyone who hears in color out there?
coloritis   Thu May 21, 2009 9:33 pm GMT
You mean something like:


English - pale red
Italian - yellow
Spanish - orange
German - gray
Portuguese - tan
French - green

etc.?
Skippy   Thu May 21, 2009 10:33 pm GMT
I have an idea of what you're talking about. I don't have perfect pitch (at ALL) but certain musical keys have 'colors' I associate with them. I can see how accents or languages may be the same.
PARISIEN   Thu May 21, 2009 11:01 pm GMT
<< English - pale red
Italian - yellow
Spanish - orange
German - gray
Portuguese - tan
French - green >>

-- I also feel that French is green and Spanish is orange.
But to me English is greenish yellow. Something quite warm along with a high grade of acidity (maybe because of lemon, Limeys...)

Italian is definitely Ferrari red. Bloody colourful!

Germanic languages are various shades of light grey or full transparency, Standard German being crystal clear and Swedish having a blueish hue.

Polish is beige, Russian greyish brown, Croatian wine (brownish) red.
Shuimo   Thu May 21, 2009 11:51 pm GMT
And Chinese is the colour of shit.
coloritis   Fri May 22, 2009 6:29 am GMT
<<-- I also feel that French is green and Spanish is orange.
But to me English is greenish yellow. Something quite warm along with a high grade of acidity (maybe because of lemon, Limeys...)>>

I think the colors in my earlier post just come from a 1952 Rand McNally Cosmopolitan Atlas.

British Empire, Massachusetts -- pastel red
French Empire -- pastel green
Italy, China, Illinois -- yellow
Spain, Soviet Union, New York State -- pastel orange
etc.
xixi   Fri May 22, 2009 6:46 am GMT
French = pink
Italian = blue-green
Spanish = red
POrtuguese = yellow
German = grey
England = green or light grey
Dutch = orange
Swedish = white
Russian = white and black
Greece = blue
Romanian = brown
Guest   Fri May 22, 2009 8:05 am GMT
English: white
Italian: black
French: pink
Spanish: brown
Chinese: yellow
Leasnam   Fri May 22, 2009 7:05 pm GMT
With the descriptions I see above, I wonder if other factors are playing into the blees we see.

Like, I near 100% agree with PARISIEN's color-associations, but in the back of my mind I am wondering if there isn't something in addition to the language, like the country's flag, the country's climate, national dress, etc that is influencing why I am seeing these hues.

"Ferrari Red" is a perfect byspel of this : )

English "white" (for plainness) is too
ghost   Fri May 22, 2009 7:24 pm GMT
When I think of the color of a language, I mostly have the respective flags in mind.

French - blue
English (England) - red
German - gold/ also red
Swedish - yellow
Danish - red
Italian - green
Spanish - yellow
Portuguese - green
Russian - red
Greece - blue

and Dutch - orange for sure
ghost   Fri May 22, 2009 7:26 pm GMT
oops, I meant "Greek".
American   Fri May 22, 2009 9:12 pm GMT
Sorry, I don't see that at all. I associate the language with the country's color on the map. For example, Britain is greenish-blue, Italy is yellow-green, France is puce, the USSR is pink, Sweden is yellow, and Yugoslavia is brown. I wonder when this school is going to get new maps... sheesh. The Soviet Union fell sometime in the 1900s, but have the same old maps. And not just in one classroom...At least the flags have all 50 stars on it--well except the one in the gym.
coloritis   Fri May 22, 2009 9:15 pm GMT
<< in the back of my mind I am wondering if there isn't something in addition to the language, like the country's flag, the country's climate, national dress, etc that is influencing why I am seeing these hues.
>>

I suspect you're on to something. I assocaite most digits with colors:

0 - gray
1 - white
2 - ?? (something light colored)
3 - (light) blue
4 - purple (reddish)
5 - yellow
6 - red
7 - green
8 - black
9 - brown

I suspect back when I first learned the digits, some book had the digits in these colors.
Imogen   Fri May 22, 2009 10:40 pm GMT
I associate languages with body parts:


English - mouth
French - hips
Spanish - nostrils
Russian - elbow
Chinese - ass (unwiped)
Japanese - ass (wiped)
Hebrew - shaved penis
Arabic - unshaved penis
Turkish - pubes
Bulgarian - knee
Hollandish - breasts
Danish - stomach
Latvian - eyebrows
Estonian - broken scab
Krakow   Fri May 22, 2009 10:47 pm GMT
english - lime green
german - brown
french - pink
spanish - baby blue
portuguese - cherry red
dutch - orange
swedish - yellow
russian - violet
polish - gray
croatian - wine red
greek - purple
italian - violet