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# Russian blues reveal effects of language on color discrimination

## Details

**Authors** Jonathan Winawer, Nathan Witthoft, Michael C. Frank, Lisa Wu, Alex R. Wade, Lera Boroditsky

**Year** 2007

**Publisher** Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

**Kind of work** article

**Discipline** Psychology

**Secondary disciplines** Linguistics

**Applied** false

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0701644104) 
10.1073/pnas.0701644104

## In authors' words

### Abstract

English and Russian color terms divide the color spectrum differently. Unlike English, Russian makes an obligatory distinction between lighter blues ("goluboy") and darker blues ("siniy"). We investigated whether this linguistic difference leads to differences in color discrimination. We tested English and Russian speakers in a speeded color discrimination task using blue stimuli that spanned the siniy/goluboy border. We found that Russian speakers were faster to discriminate two colors when they fell into different linguistic categories in Russian (one siniy and the other goluboy) than when they were from the same linguistic category (both siniy or both goluboy). Moreover, this category advantage was eliminated by a verbal, but not a spatial, dual task. These effects were stronger for difficult discriminations (i.e., when the colors were perceptually close) than for easy discriminations (i.e., when the colors were further apart). English speakers tested on the identical stimuli did not show a category advantage in any of the conditions. These results demonstrate that (i) categories in language affect performance on simple perceptual color tasks and (ii) the effect of language is online (and can be disrupted by verbal interference).

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To test whether the different division of the color spectrum by English and Russian color terms leads to differences in color discrimination.

### Who or what was studied (sample)

English and Russian speakers.

### How they did it (methods)

Speeded color discrimination task using blue stimuli spanning the siniy/goluboy border, with verbal and spatial dual-task interference conditions.

### What they found (results)

Russian speakers discriminated two blues faster when they fell on opposite sides of the siniy/goluboy category boundary than when they were in the same category, the advantage was eliminated by a verbal but not a spatial dual task, and English speakers showed no such advantage.

## Commentary

### In short

Placing a category boundary in a continuous domain changes how the two sides are perceived, which shows the distinction between category and non-category operating in perception itself.

**Patterns it shows** D

**Added** 2026-10-03

**How to cite this** Jonathan Winawer, Nathan Witthoft, Michael C. Frank, Lisa Wu, Alex R. Wade, Lera Boroditsky (2007). Russian blues reveal effects of language on color discrimination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.