How can a black horse have brown fur?

A study on categorisation in equine coat colour names in Hungarian

Abstract

Hungarian equine coat colour-related terminology is a largely unresearched subject. Its unique situation as a rapidly developing jargon results in multiple nomenclatural systems used simultaneously in the specialised literature. The analysis of the nomenclatural systems’ inner structure suggests the usage of two differing methods of categorisation, one based on the visual properties of the subject, the other based on non-visual genetic factors of the described animal.

The paper reviews the colour categories’ main traits that influence their categorisation process and compares them with the Hungarian equine coat colours’ characteristics. The comparison reveals that Hungarian equine coat colour terms are in many ways similar to the conventional colour terms, but due to their differences they create a separate colour-motivated class of specialised terms.

The analytic part focuses on the different methods of categorisation present in the various nomenclatural systems in the equine coat colour related literature. It defines their main features and the underlying cause of their existence. It explores the division of the nomenclatural systems in accordance with their categorisation process and provides a detailed description of the traits of both traditional and modern nomenclatural systems discussing them on the basis of specific examples.

The further part of the analysis explores the semantic relationship between the conventional colours and the equine coat colours in the context of equine coat colour terms sharing their forms with Basic Colour Terms.

The research material consists of a database of Hungarian equine coat colour-related terms, gathered from a variety of zootechnical, sport and hobby literature and commonly available internet sources on the topic. The nomenclatural systems presented in the sources are visualised in the form of diagrams, illustrating the meaning of individual terms and the systems’ internal hierarchies.

The presented findings showcase the complexity of the specialised colour-motivated terms and their difference from the conventional colour terms. They present how external, non-linguistic factors like the development of the natural sciences may influence the relatively hermetic colour-motivated terminology.