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The Indo-European Origin of the Word "Black"
The Origin of the Word 'Black' How Black Entered the English Language
Apr 7, 2008 Edurne Scott
‘Black’ can be traced back to its proto Indo-European origins through ‘bhleg’ which means ‘to burn with black smoke’ or ‘to burn black with smoke’. ‘Bhleg’ was incorporated into Old High German as ‘blah’ (black), Low Franconian as ‘black’ (ink) and Old Norse as ‘blakkr’ (dark, dusky). Black in Old and Middle English
The Old English ‘blæc’ was relative to its ‘blegh’ origin as it was predominantly used as an adjective to describe ‘colour pertaining to matter that was colourless from the absence or complete absorption of light’. This adjective can be seen in Old English literature such as K. Ælfred’s ‘Bæda’ from c890, ‘hæfde blæc feax’ (have black hair). By Middle English it was common to use black as an adjective, ‘My mistress eyes are raven black ’(1600), as a verb, ‘The paper will be blacked by the smoke’ (1532), and as a noun, ‘stand before me like my Blacks’ (1619) (hired mourners in funerals). Black's Semantic Shifts
It was not till the sixteenth century that the semantic broadening of black occured- both figurative connotations as well as literal. From ‘blacken’ and its literal meaning ‘to stain black’ came the figurative meaning ‘to stain someones reputation, or defame’. This additional meaning however was purely negative and as its influence broadened, the semantic shift of black began to mean having malignant or deadly purposes and even pertaining to or involving death- ‘black curse’(1583), ‘the Queen's black enemy’(1758), and from previous centuries ‘The Black Death’. Ads by Google English Word Meaning Look Up Dictionary Terms Instantly! Free Reference Dictionary Toolbar. Dictionary.alot.com Learn to Speak English Top ESL Certification Programs Start Learning English Now! www.Globe.edu King's Semantic Interference: 'Black is Beautiful'
Black began to be used to intensify all kinds of adjectives with adverse significance: black babbling (malicious gossiping, slanderous- 1624) and black boding (ill omen, inauspicious-1742) for example. The incorporation of black as a negative intensifier resulted in phrases such as ‘black-looking man’ which referred not to the physical description of the man, but the subjective belief that he looked evil or malignant. This however severely clashed with one of the earliest uses of black’s literal meaning- to describe a person with dark skin, ‘Blac as a bloamon’ (1255), and ‘The mouth of the Riuer [Gambra], where dwell the Blackes’ (1625).
Parasynethic combinations using black resulted in ‘blackboy’ to refer to boy servants, and ‘blackfellows’ to refer to Asutralian Aborigines- terms which are highly offensive in modern English. By the mid-twentieth century, Doctor Martin Luther King’s slogan ‘Black is beautiful’ caused significant semantic interference to black’s pejorative meaning. King’s slogan asserted pride in ‘Blackness’ and Black self-awareness and turned Black (with a capitalized 'B') into the preferred appellation for most African-Americans. Black in Modern English
The twentieth century marked the most rapid semantic broadening of the word black; it was used to describe a serious mistake or blunder, ‘Far from committing the black they expected, she showed great heroism’(1943) and even describe the presentation of tragedy or bitter reality in comic terms, ‘I prefer my black comedy a little blacker’ (1963). Read on
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The only literal meanings that are still in use for black are now greatly exceeded by its figurative counterparts- however one can still refer to the suit of spades or clubs as black (from late seventeenth century), coffee served without milk or cream as black (from late eighteenth century) and also to refer to economic profit by being ‘in the black’ which inevitably came from the book-keeping practice of writing in black ink on the credit side of a ledger.
Dictionaries used for this article:
Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, editor-in-chief Mairi Robinson and senior editor George Davidson, Edinburgh: Chambers, 1999.
Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition), edited by John Simpson and Edmund Weiner, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. _____________________________________________
The above suggests that the word black used to describe dark people of African descent predates the word "Negro" [‘Blac as a bloamon’ (1255) ]
this may or may not be true.
Around 1442 the Portuguese first arrived in sub-Saharan Africa while trying to find a sea route to India. The term negro, literally meaning "black", was used by the Spanish and Portuguese as a simple description to refer to people. From the 18th century to the late 1960s, "negro" (later capitalized) was considered the proper English term for all people of sub-Saharan African origin.
But the Spanish word "Negro" became the standard used by English speaking people rather than "black" up until recently now that the former is regarded as pejorative. In a way the English word "black" seems to have had more pejorative history but it was pejorative before referring to people's skin color. Later this resulted in in a racist perception that the two usages overlapped.
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In Portuguese, negro is an adjective meaning the color black, as in 'black' person. However the word "preto" is the most common opposite of branco (white), while negro can be condescending, since it is a word generally associated with higher registers. In Brazil the word is not considered disrespectful, and is the appropriate manner to refer to black people,[citation needed] though it is often considered impolite to take note of an individual's skin color in any context (which causes the word to be used only in reported speech or in third-person). In Brazil and Portugal negro is the most respectful way to address the African ethnicity, with preto being considered a racial slur.
In Spain, negro (note that ethnonyms, names of nationalities, etc. are generally not capitalized in Romance languages) means "black person" in colloquial situations, but it can be considered derogatory in other situations (as in English, "black" is often used to mean irregular or undesirable, as in "black market/mercado negro"). However, in Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay where there are few people of African origin and appearance, negro (negra for females) is commonly used to refer to partners, close friends or people in general independent of skin color.
White is a color, the perception which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.
White light can be generated in many ways. The sun is such a source, electric incandescence is another. Modern light sources are fluorescent lamps and light-emitting diodes. An object whose surface reflects back most of the light it receives and does not alter its color will appear white, unless it has very high specular reflection.
Since white objects such as clouds, snow and flowers appear often in nature, human culture has many references to white, often related to purity and cleanness. The high contrast between white and black is used to represent opposites. In some Asian cultures, white is considered to be a color that represents death. White also represented death in ancient Egypt, representing the lifeless desert that covered much of the country; black was held to be the colour of life, representing the mud-covered fertile lands created by the flooding of the Nile and giving the country its name (Kemet, or "black land").
Etymology
The word white continues Old English hwīt, ultimately from a Common Germanic *χwītaz also reflected in OHG (h)wîz, ON hvítr, Goth. ƕeits. The root is ultimately from a PIE *kwid-, surviving also in Sanskrit śveta "to be white or bright" and perhaps Slavic svet' "light". The current Icelandic word for white, hvítt, is very closely related to the Old English and Old Norse forms of the word. Common Germanic also had the word *blankaz ("white, bright, blinding"), borrowed into Late Latin as *blancus, which provided the source for Romance words for "white" (French blanc, Spanish blanco, Italian bianco, etc.).
Symbolic dualism with black Further information: black and white dualism
White and black has the biggest visual contrast, this can easily be associated to other opposite concepts such as day and night or good and evil. White often represents purity or innocence in Western Civilization, particularly as white clothing or objects are easy to stain. In most Western countries white is the color worn by brides at weddings. Angels are typically depicted as clothed in white robes. Healing or "good" magic is called White magic. In early film Westerns the stereotypically "good guy" wore a white hat (earning them the name "White Hats") while the "bad guy" wore black (earning them the name "Black Hats"). This has given rise to the use of the names black hat and white hat for people who abuse and counter abuse of computer systems respectively. In popular culture this idea is sometimes reversed to play on reversal of stereotypes.
In taoism which has great influence in Eastern culture Yin and yang is usually depicted in black and white, depicting the two colors as opposites. The two opponents in board games of abstract strategy often has one as white, such as go, chess, and checkers.
Ethnography Main article: color metaphor for race
The term white is often used to denote the race of pale-skinned Caucasoids people of European descent perceived as being colored varying tones of pale off white to "white" skin color, whose actual skin color can also vary from pale pink to pale brown; it has been suggested that the colors beige or peach could also be used to represent the average color of most Caucasians. See White people.
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Very nice etymology on Black. Perhaps we can forward this post to the Black Hebrew Israelite in hopes they will correct their pseudo-exegesis on Jer 14.2. For those who don't know, Heebs teach that that precept proves the Jews were Black.
Jer 14:2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Heebs are reading challenged.
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quote:The above suggests that the word black used to describe dark people of African descent predates the word "Negro"
However Bernal suggests that the word "negro" may ultimately be derived from the name of an equestrian West African people named "Negritai" who were renowned for the great beauty of their blackness.
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^I guess my joke went over your head Gigantic. Albinos grabbing at straws!
Fool - How could any ass-hole POSSIBLY know or figure out, where a particular base word came from?
(Base words, are words that would have been used by the first sentient creatures with language).
You know, like cave man saying: Who turns out the lights at night? It's black and I can't see - LMAO. You Albinos are funny.
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quote:Originally posted by Gigantic: Very nice etymology on Black. Perhaps we can forward this post to the Black Hebrew Israelite in hopes they will correct their pseudo-exegesis on Jer 14.2. For those who don't know, Heebs teach that that precept proves the Jews were Black.
Jer 14:2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Heebs are reading challenged.
I find it funny that the Heebs want to reinstate the Levitical laws, thats what really turned me off, they don't even understand how backward they are. I feel bad for the Youth running around with Racashawar.
The Kenesset of Jesus are O.K though, just a little confused on communism...lol.
Posts: 8804 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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^Doesn't matter, you still deserve it. If you White guys had been doing your natural duty, Lioness would not be as crazy as she is.
A White woman with a Black woman's avatar; She obviously has sexual issues related to race - whose fault is THAT!
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White also represented death in ancient Egypt,[/b] representing the lifeless desert that covered much of the country; black was held to be the colour of life, representing the mud-covered fertile lands created by the flooding of the Nile and giving the country its name (Kemet, or "black land").
Mike stop bullshitting. You can't post a white figure from the Egyptian underworld and say therefore white symbolized death, because there are also black figures. You can provide no scholarly source that says that white symbolized death in ancient Egypt. If this were the case I would state it with no problem but it is not the case. Also the desert was referred to as the red land (deshret) you dimwit, not white. Mike, white is the color of snow, not the desert, look it up, it's true. The ancients didn't have a word for brown, they used the word red when referring brown, which is comprised of a certain amount of red.
Also if you want to prove anything about the usage of the word white in ancient Egypt you will need to cite usage of the word "shes".
If you want to rep dark people, the Nubians and others were closer to black than the Egyptians and Egypt is only one of thousands of ancient African cultures who had various ideas about colors which could be mentioned.
quote:Originally posted by Mike111: The term white is often used to denote the race of pale-skinned Caucasoids people of European descent perceived as being colored varying tones of pale off white to "white" skin color, whose actual skin color can also vary from pale pink to pale brown; it has been suggested that the colors beige or peach could also be used to represent the average color of most Caucasians. See White people.
The association of the inaccurate word white as used by Caucasians referring to themselves was only established in the 17th century in the slave trade era. Ancient people sometimes mentioned skin color but didn't categorize people as races defined by skin color
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quote:Originally posted by Mike111: ^Doesn't matter, you still deserve it. If you White guys had been doing your natural duty, Lioness would not be as crazy as she is.
A White woman with a Black woman's avatar; She obviously has sexual issues related to race - whose fault is THAT!
As usual you hit the nail on the head Mike.
Whites and Jews are so envious of blacks they spend 85% of their time attempting to steal something black. The other 15% they spend trying to trip up a black person.
Albinos are not only funny, but due to their albinistic characterizations limited by abnormal brain chemistry dialectics, are also quite naturally, logic limited . Hence, their inability to distinguish between fact and fiction. In the famous words of Mulder, "I Want to Believe."
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