Colour words in Tuvaluan

Words for colours in Tuvaluan with notes on their etymology and usage. There are four basic colour terms in Tuvaluan, black, white, red and yellow. Other colour terms are compounds based on the colours (lanu) of the natural world, or loanwords from English - indicated with an *.

uli - black / dark

kèna /k:ena/ - white

kùla /k:ula/ - red

sèga /s:enga/ - yellow

lanu moana (colour of the ocean) - dark blue
pulú* /pulu:/ - blue

lanu launiu (colour of the coconut leaf) - green
kulini* - green

ólenisi* /o:lenisi/ - orange

kulei* - grey

violeti* - violet

kákí* /ka:ki:/ - khaki

Tuvaluan colour expression

póuliuli = (mental) darkness, paganism, referring to the pre-Christian period in Tuvaluan history
nofo fakapóuliuli = to live together in darkness, without marriage

Information about Tuvaluan colours by Emanuel Fuchs

Information about Tuvaluan | Phrases | Numbers | Family words | Tower of Babel

Colours in Austronesian languages

Filipino / Tagalog, Tuvaluan

Colour words in other languages

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