Thread: Orange, Naranja, Color and fruit. Which came first?

I was wondering, does this happen in every language that the both the color and the fruit are named the same?

Do you know if this happens in every language?

Do you know which came first?

I have a possible answer, but first, let's brainstorm together!

I say that the fruit comes first, then the color is named after the fruit. Lemon, lime, tangerine, grape, plum are some I can think of in English.

Yesterday I talked to a Taiwanese national and asked him about this and they have a different fruit for the orange, the tangerine.
So to most of the orient, Tangerine is the color, not Orange.
It blows my mind a bit.

Exactly. For example if you are wearing an Orange T-shirt in China/Taiwan and ask someone What color is this, they would say Tangerine, instead of Orange.

Originally Posted by danielr

Colors are a particular subject in linguistics. You have a similar situation with "galuboy" in Russian that is not exactly a "blue". It is a principle that the referent came before the linguistic sign, so tangerines or oranges are the source of the name instead of being named after the called.

Thanks Daniel R that kind of solves the question of the Thread!

Originally Posted by iyuanobi

This reminds me of the million question: "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?"

I've read it in a "Muy Interesante" Magazine, June 2017 edition
It's been discovered that The first chicken as we know it, came from an animal that had not evolved to be a chicken yet and laid an egg that would become it.