To appear in Trends in Cognitive Sciences . Language , thought and color : recent developments

The ‘Whorfian’ debate over color naming and color cognition has been framed by two questions: (1) Is color naming across languages largely a matter of arbitrary linguistic convention? (2) Do cross-language differences in color naming cause corresponding differences in color cognition? In the standard rhetoric of the debate, a ‘relativist’ argues that both answers are Yes, and a ‘universalist’ that both are No. However, several recent studies, when viewed together, undermine these traditional stances. These studies suggest instead that there are universal tendencies in color naming (i.e. No to question 1) but that naming differences across languages do cause differences in color cognition (i.e. Yes to question 2). These findings promise to move the field beyond a conceptually tired oppositional rhetoric, towards a fresher perspective that suggests several new questions. Here, we review these recent studies, the clarification they bring to the debate, and the further questions they raise.