The Phenomenon of Color in Turkish and Arabic Proverbs and Idioms: A Semantic, Cultural, and Cognitive Approach

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the phenomenon of color in Turkish and Arabic proverbs and idioms through a multidimensional approach, integrating semantic, cultural, and cognitive perspectives. Color terms are not merely descriptive linguistic units; they are potent symbols that convey cultural identity, social values, collective memory, and mental representations. Within the fixed lexicon of proverbs, the role of colors in meaning-making enables both individual emotions and social norms to be decoded. In this sense, colors are not merely aesthetic markers but are culturally encoded linguistic structures that carry historical and sociological meanings. The research is structured around six fundamental colors-white, black, red, blue, green, and yellow-which are commonly used in both Turkish and Arabic. The theoretical framework employs semantic analysis, conceptual metaphor theory, cultural semiotics, cognitive linguistics, socioparemiology, and corpus-based methodology to reveal the multilayered structure of meaning-making. Using qualitative methods, the study analyzes color-bearing proverbs in terms of collocation, context, and metaphorical orientation by drawing on digital databases such as the Turkish Language Association Proverbs Corpus, Proverbium, and Arabicorpus. Findings indicate that the color white is associated with moral purity, honesty, and lawful gain in Turkish, while in Arabic it symbolizes emotional clarity, social dignity, and mercy. Black, in both languages, is connected to shame, corruption, death, catastrophe, and existential darkness. Red represents attraction, feminine aesthetics, visibility, and warning in Turkish, whereas in Arabic it is linked with anger, aggression, and intense emotional alertness. Blue, often tied to difference and the evil eye in Turkish, has historical associations in Arabic with Crusaders and outsiders, symbolizing cultural otherness and exclusion. Green, although evoking nature and vitality, also denotes deception, immaturity, and superficial charm depending on context in both languages. Yellow is metaphorically tied to psychological exhaustion, transience, illness, loneliness, and emotional fragility. These multilayered meanings align with the principles of conceptual metaphor theory, particularly the embodiment of abstract domains through concrete color imagery. Additionally, according to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the distinct structuring of color semantics in each language reflects how language shapes thought. Consequently, the study concludes that proverbs are not merely formulaic expressions but dynamic carriers of cultural memory, value systems, and affective codes. Within these expressions, colors gain semiotic value and function as symbolic bridges between the individual and the collective, contributing significantly to the transmission of cultural heritage through oral tradition.