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Journals / Dil Eğitimi ve Araştırmaları Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 12 Sayı: 1

When Color Becomes Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus Study of Semantic Extension in Four English Color Adjectives

Renk, Metafora Dönüştüğünde: İngilizcedeki Dört Renk Sıfatında Anlam Genişlemesinin Artzamanlı Bir Derlem İncelemesi

Korkut İşisağ(ANKARA HACI BAYRAM VELİ ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0002-3569-4669
Pages
1034–1046
Publication Date
2026-09-20
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings show that metaphorical extension, conventionalization, and register distribution do not develop uniformly across English color adjectives.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:This study examines the metaphorical extension of four English color adjectives: golden, dark, green, and red.
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Key Findings & Data:The historical change was analyzed in the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) (1820-2010), and contemporary register distribution in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) (1990-2019).
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Conclusion & Impact:The findings show that metaphorical extension, conventionalization, and register distribution do not develop uniformly across English color adjectives.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:2010 Verileri
⚙️Variables:COCA · COHA · eş dizim analizi

Abstract

This study examines the metaphorical extension of four English color adjectives: golden, dark, green, and red. The historical change was analyzed in the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) (1820-2010), and contemporary register distribution in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) (1990-2019). Frequency data, Mutual Information (MI)-based noun collocates, semantic coding, keyword-in-context (KWIC), and register comparison are used to seek for the historical change and the contemporary register distribution. The collocate results are not the same for the four adjectives. Golden contains more metaphorical collocates than the other items, whereas green has the largest literal category. The historical frequencies of individual collocations also vary within the same adjective. Red tape, red flag, and red carpet become common during different periods, while dark side and dark matter gain frequency at different times. KWIC analysis of four collocations produced different conventionalization levels. All examples of golden age were classified as metaphorical when compared with 97.5% for red tape, 82.5% for dark side, and 35% for green light. The register results also differ among the four adjectives. Golden is most frequent in the news register, whereas dark, green, and red reach their highest frequencies in the fiction register. The KWIC results and register frequencies do not produce the same ordering of the four adjectives. The findings show that metaphorical extension, conventionalization, and register distribution do not develop uniformly across English color adjectives.

Özet

Bu çalışma, İngilizcedeki dört renk sıfatının (golden, dark, green ve red) metaforik anlam genişlemesini incelemektedir. Tarihsel değişim, Amerikan İngilizcesinin Tarihsel Derlemi (Corpus of Historical American English, COHA) (1820–2010) kullanılarak; güncel kullanım alanlarına göre dağılım ise Amerikan Çağdaş İngilizce Derlemi (Corpus of Contemporary American English, COCA) (1990–2019) kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Tarihsel değişimi ve güncel kullanım alanı dağılımını ortaya koymak amacıyla frekans verileri, Karşılıklı Bilgi (Mutual Information, MI) ölçütüne dayalı isim eş dizimlileri, anlamsal kodlama, bağlam içinde anahtar sözcük (Keyword-in-Context, KWIC) analizi ve kullanım alanı karşılaştırması uygulanmıştır. Eş dizim sonuçları dört sıfat için aynı değildir. Golden, diğer sıfatlara göre daha fazla metaforik eş dizim içerirken, green en geniş literal kategoriye sahiptir. Bireysel eş dizimlerin tarihsel frekansları da aynı sıfat içerisinde farklılık göstermektedir. Red tape, red flag ve red carpet farklı dönemlerde yaygınlaşırken, dark side ve dark matter farklı zamanlarda sıklık kazanmaktadır. Dört eş dizim üzerinde gerçekleştirilen KWIC analizi, farklı uzlaşımsallaşma düzeyleri ortaya koymuştur. Golden age örneklerinin tamamı metaforik olarak sınıflandırılmıştır ve bu oran red tape için %97,5, dark side için %82,5 ve green light için %35'tir. Kullanım alanı sonuçları da dört sıfat arasında farklılık göstermektedir. Golden en yüksek frekansa haber kullanım alanında ulaşırken, dark, green ve red en yüksek frekans değerlerini kurmaca metinlerde göstermektedir. KWIC sonuçları ile kullanım alanı frekansları dört sıfat için aynı sıralamayı ortaya koymamaktadır. Bulgular, metaforik anlam genişlemesinin, uzlaşımsallaşmanın ve kullanım alanı dağılımının İngilizcedeki renk sıfatları arasında aynı biçimde gelişmediğini göstermektedir.

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Cite This Article

İşisağ, K. (2026). When Color Becomes Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus Study of Semantic Extension in Four English Color Adjectives. Dil Eğitimi ve Araştırmaları Dergisi, Cilt: 12 Sayı: 1, 1034–1046. https://doi.org/10.31464/jlere.1966575

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