Color Terms and Color Term Acquisition in Damara

Abstract

A study of color terms in Damara, a Khoisan language spoken in Namibia, tested Berlin and Kay's (1969) theory of color term universals on a new language family (Khoisan) and investigated the extent to which the color term inventory was influenced by neighboring languages and recent social and political changes. The data indicate that Damara's 11 color terms (8 original and 3 loan terms) fit the theory well. The inventory is changing, but it has borrowed terms only to fill in the "missing" universals. Colonial circumstances and bilingualism have apparently influenced the age of color‐term acquisition, among other effects.