Distinguishing Blue From Green in Language - Bantu

Bantu

The Swahili word for blue is buluu, which is derived directly from English and has been in the language for a relatively short time. For other colors, Swahili uses either rangi ya ___ (the color of ___) or a shortened version, -a ___. For example, green is rangi ya kijani or rangi ya majani, which means the color of grass/leaves. Sky blue is rangi ya samawati, or the color of the sky from the Arabic word for sky. (Note: all of these can be written as -a kijani, -a majani, -a samwati, etc.)

Zulu uses the word -luhlaza (the prefix changes according to the class of the noun) for blue/green.

Tswana uses the same word tala to refer to both blue and green. One has to deduce from the context and prior knowledge, of what is being talked about, to be able to pinpoint exactly the color in question.

The Himba people have a limited number of words for different colors and their color perception has been studied by anthropologists.