I was taught that
uaine, when used for green, should normally be reserved for artificial green colors, but I suppose it varies by dialect and traditional views of color may have changed (or be changing, especially as non-native speakers make color choices). Here are some excerpts on color in Irish from an article by Diarmuid Ó Sé of the UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies, Irish Folklore and Linguistics, focusing on the West Kerry dialect:
Quote:
The basic terms will be at least bán ‘white’, dubh ‘black’, dearg ‘red’, buí ‘yellow/orange/light brown’, gorm ‘blue, dark green’, glas ‘non-dark green of plants, dark grey’ and probably liath ‘light grey’. The status of uaithne ‘artificial green’ needs discussion. The notions ‘brown’ and ‘purple’ are weakly encoded in Irish.
then later, dealing particularly with
uai[th]ne, he says the following (note that dark green eyes might be seen as
gorm):
Quote:
Although Irish, unlike for instance most African languages, can readily distinguish between the colour of grass and the colour of the cloudless sky the categories green and blue interlock in various ways. Blue greens and the dark green of certain grasses, sprouting corn, as well as the colour of moss and the leaves of various plants are gorm. Indeed gorm might be treated as a kind of ‘grue’ were it not for the fact that it excludes the green of most pastures and foliage, which is glas, and the artificial greens called uaithne. Although distinct terms are available for the green - blue area their use is highly interlocked. In the reference dialect there is neither a composite term nor sharp separation.
If anyone wants the whole article, I'd be happy to post it, but maybe in a separate thread, so as not to overcomplicate this one.
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