Notes from the underground
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Updated 2 December 2023
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106. The Surprising Pattern Behind Color Names Around the World (2017)

In 1969, two Berkeley researchers, Paul Kay and Brent Berlin, published a book on a groundbreaking idea: that every culture in history, when they developed their languages, invented words for colors in exactly the same order.

The theory was revolutionary and shaped our understanding of how color terms emerge. (7 minutes.)