How to be inexperienced, dark and pale at the same time.
The blue color is called ao (青 ● あお) and its kanji includes the moon 月 radical at the bottom.
As the blue deepens, the shade acquires a unique name: for example, hana asagi (花浅葱 ● はなあさぎ) indicates a turquoise blue typical of some flowers (hex color: #2a83a2). Obviously, we don’t have to know them all! Saying 青 is enough: we’ll discover soon the ancient reasons of this variety.
Because it recalls natural and sacred elements – like the sky and the water that is abundant in Japan – the blue color is traditionally linked to positive attributes as:
● Purity
● Calmness
Blue… or green?
It’s curious hearing a Japanese person using 青 for both the colors of the sky and an apple. This peculiarity lies in ancient times, when it was used to distinguish only four big color categories: red; black; white; blue.
In the beginning, the color blue grouped all the cold tints: grey, violet, green, and even deep colors similar to black. It took time to limit this wide range only to shades between green and blue.
After that, the Japanese vocabulary introduced the word midori (緑 ● みどり) to indicate specific shades of green. Japanese had to wait until the end of WW2 to distinguish blue and green with two separate kanjis: 青 e 緑.
The vocabulary changed, some meanings were maintained.
Even today many words maintain the old meaning of 青.
● 青 can stand for something (or someone) immature, unripe, inexperienced.
● 青 referred to one person’s complexion means that the person is pale, scared or doesn’t feel well.
● In some cases like 青馬 ● あおうま, 青 simply indicates something dark. 青馬 is a “horse with a dark coat” and mustn’t be literally translated into “blue horse”.
- Seishun (青春 ● せいしゅん) is literally translated as “blue spring” and means “young days”.
- Aonisai (青二歳 ● あおにさい) is literally translated as “blue young” and means “beardless youth”.
- Aoku naru (あおくなる) is translated as “to grow pale” and indicates the action of growing pale when we’re ill, stricken by fear or worried.
- Aoshingo (あおしんご) indicates the green color of the traffic light.
青 for men’s suits.
Today many salarymen wear blue suits; the same choice is frequently made by university graduates for their job interviews.
Do you know any additional facts related to ao ● 青? Please, share with us in the comment section be
