Colour associates to semantic linear orders

Summary People were asked whether they had strong colour associates (rather than associations) for different linear orders. Eighteen informants responded that they associated colours with numbers, and ten that they associated colours with the days of the week. The colours associated with both linear orders were consistent between subjects and correlated with each other. The order of the associates correlated with the order noted in the anthropological linguistic typology of Berlin and Kay (1969). Together, the patterns noted indicate that the association of colours with linear orders is an orderly cognitive phenomenon. While no causal explanation of the phenomenon is given, some implications are suggested.