Semantic word impressions expressed by hue

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Color Science
• Semantics

Background:

• Understanding the relationship between abstract concepts and sensory experiences is crucial in cognitive science.
• Color perception and its association with emotional and semantic meaning have been explored, but stable expression remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if semantic word impressions, particularly those representing complex concepts, can be reliably expressed through specific hues.
• To determine the extent to which color hues can serve as a stable medium for communicating abstract word meanings.

Main Methods:

• A paired comparison method was used with ten subjects evaluating nine Japanese semantic words against twelve vivid hues.
• Participants selected the hue that best matched each word's impression.
• Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to the hue selection data.

Main Results:

• A strong correlation was found between specific hues and word impressions (e.g., 'vigorous' associated with yellow, 'tranquil' with yellow-green).
• PCA revealed that the first two components explained 94.6% of the variance, with hues forming a hue-circle shape in the 2D space.
• Most semantic word impressions were stably expressed by hue, but exceptions like 'magnificent' were noted.

Conclusions:

• Color hues can reasonably express semantic word impressions, functioning along a hue circle rather than discrete color categories.
• While color is a powerful tool for conveying meaning, certain abstract concepts may not be universally or stably represented by hue alone.