The evolution of the terms for "blue" and "green" is one of the most fascinating topics in linguistics and cognitive science. It reveals a surprisingly universal pattern: across human history and geography, blue is almost always the last basic color to be named.
Here is an explanation of why this happens and how the "blue-green" distinction evolves.
In 1969, researchers Brent Berlin and Paul Kay published a groundbreaking study showing that languages don't just pick color names at random. Instead, they evolve color terms in a predictable, specific order.
Most languages follow this trajectory: