Semantic Structure Model (adjectives of color)

I claim that words united in a certain group on the basis of common extra-linguistic features, such as adjectives of color, taste, temperature, etc. can also reveal similar features on the level of semantics. My research is devoted to the semantic structures of color words in English and Russian languages. Comparing definitions of the most frequent color adjectives in both languages: white/beliy, black/cherniy, grey/seriy, blue/siniy and goluboy, green/zeleniy, red/krasniy, brown/korichneviy, yellow/zheltiy from Dictionaries (Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language; Chamber’s Twentieth Century Dictionary; Funk and Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary; Longman Modern English Dictionary; Slovar’ Russkogo Yazyka v 4 tomah; Ozhegov. Slovar’ Russkogo Yazyka, etc.) I found out that the meanings of one and the same adjective vary greatly in these Dictionaries. I also used data from ten thousand fiction samples, analyzing the semantic structures of the color adjectives in context.

My analysis reveals that there exists a certain common model for the polysemantic color adjectives. The regularity in the inner structures of adjectives of color is evident in the realization of the following groups of meanings:

Characterizing color ( black as coal; red as blood; beliy kak sneg)
Motivated by color:

1. Belonging to or connected with a definite race group:

(yellow race; red Indians; brown child; beliy chelovek; chernaya rasa)

2. Changing the color of a face or body due to different emotions or situations:

(blue in the face with stagnation;, red ears with cold;, beloe litso ot boli; ona byla chernaya ot gneva)

3. Having color as a distinguishing feature when two or more varieties of the same species are compared:

(red:silver: blue fox; black:white:brown bear; zeleniy:krasniy:cherniy perets; cherniy: beliy khleb)

III.Symbolized by color, where color is not representing the essence of the term:

(black:white:yellow:red flag; white:yellow:green signal; white:green Christmas; zheltaya pressa; krasnaya: korichevaya ugroza)

IV. Reflecting emotions, associated with color and representing figurative meanings:

(white soul; blue spirits; brown study;,zelenaya molodezh’; cherniye mysli)

V. Intensifying the meaning expressed by noun:

(white rage, red fury, green jealousy; cherniy terror)

Comparative analysis allows me to figure out the universal features in the group of color adjectives, as well as peculiarities of national mentality reflected in languages. Thus, the realization of a meaning “beautiful” is characteristic for a Russian “krasniy” and is absent in its English equivalent “red”; “blue” as a “dull, somber” is not typical for Russian “siniy’ or “goluboy”. I am sure that my research is valid for lexical semantics theory and lexicographical practice.