Structural characteristics and semantic development of the group of words indicating “WHITE” in Vietnamese

Abstract

Through the investigation of the derivative color words of “white” in Vietnamese, this paper studies the word formation ability and semantic development of the group of words indicating “white” in Vietnamese in order to clarify the structural and semantic characteristics, and symbolic values of these words, and find the connection of the trinity of language, culture and mind. The research direction of this paper starts from the original meanings, illustrates the derivative meanings and phenomenon of changing meanings of this group of words when they are  used in specific contexts, and then clarifies the semantic development process of color words to point out the cognition of Vietnamese to the color of the surrounding world.