Categorical color perception of Japanese observers: comparison with that of Americans.

Ten native Japanese observers named 424 colors of the OSA Uniform Color Scales set using monolexemic color terms of their choice. The results are compared with those from seven American subjects previously studied by Boynton and Olson. It is concluded, in full agreement with the original thesis of Berlin and Kay, that there are eleven basic color terms in each language, each of which describes a fundamental color sensation dependent upon an underlying physiology that does not differ between the two groups.