Colour terms in modern linguistics: semantic and semiotic aspects

The article is devoted to the study of colour terms in modern linguistics, and in particular its semantic and semiotic aspects. The aim of the article is to identify the lexical-semantic features of colour terms in the definition of national cultural identity of linguistic and speech means. Special attention is paid to semantic diversity of colour symbolism, which is closely related to psychological perception and has numerous cross-cultural differences in relation to the events in people's lives. The article analyzes the so-called colour vocabulary, namely, the colour -indication, describing shades of colour that have a narrative structure and are in direct and additional value. In particular, we take into account the metaphorical reconsiderations of the peripheral color-namings and color terms, which include, for example, borrowed and terminological adjectives, neologisms, archaisms, nonce words etc. From the point of view of belonging the color-indication to different parts of speech, a significant group is made by adjectives, suffixal formation, etc. The lexico-semantic field of colour has a high degree of organization. Modern researches of determining the nature of lexical-semantic field of colour terms confirm the presence of about ten pigment genes, which are individual for each person. A defined set of pigment genes allows a person to perceive colour and its shades in different ways. Observations of colour perception in people of different cultures discover the dependence and the relationship between concepts and words in various systems, which explain the differences in the reactions to colour and the absence of a specific hue in different cultures. The analysis revealed the close relationship of colour symbolism with a mental and psychological component that reflects the moods, the reality and situation-specific nature of the occurring phenomena.