Abstract
This thesis investigates the relationship between colour perception and colour language. Three questions are addressed. The first relates to the influence of colour- category membership on colour perception, the second to potential influences of colour language on colour perception. The third question asks whether non-linguistic differences in colour perception may influence differences in colour language. Experimental studies provide evidence for categorical colour perception. However, unlike previous studies, the experiments reported here found no evidence that linguistic colour categories underpin, or influence, colour perception. The reasons for this difference are discussed. The findings support the view that linguistic colour categories reflect non-linguistic perceptual colour categories. Finally evidence is presented suggesting that physiological differences in colour perception may influence the colour categories encoded by languages.