2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color

''Color naming

Colors vary in several different ways, including hue (red vs. orange vs. blue), saturation, brightness, and gloss. Some color words are derived from the name of an object of that color, such as "orange" or "salmon", while others are abstract, like "red".

Different cultures have different terms for colors, and may also assign some color names to slightly different parts of the spectrum: for instance, the Chinese character 青 (rendered as qīng in Mandarin and ao in Japanese) has a meaning that covers both blue and green; blue and green are traditionally considered shades of "青." South Korea, on the other hand, differentiates between blue and green by using "綠 (녹)" for green and "靑 (청)" for blue.

In the 1969 study Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution, Brent Berlin and Paul Kay describe a pattern in naming "basic" colors (like "red" but not "red-orange" or "dark red" or "blood red", which are "shades" of red). All languages that have two "basic" color names distinguish dark/cool colors from bright/warm colors. The next colors to be distinguished are usually red and then yellow or green. All languages with six "basic" colors include black, white, red, green, blue and yellow. The pattern holds up to a set of twelve: black, grey, white, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and azure (distinct from blue in Russian and Italian but not English).''

Hoewel dit volgens mij ook niet waterdicht is. Groen is groen is geen groen: licht-groen is groen is geen donker-groen. En kijk ook maar eens naar kleuren als 'British Racing Green', dat is ook niet één bepaalde groentint, maar varieert ook van licht naar donker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAL_%28color_space_system%29

En verder, in principe zijn rood en groen net zo abstract en onduidelijk als lila of taupe. Als het beestje maar een naam heeft. Stel dat je een baby vanaf de geboorte leert dat de kleur die wij groen noemen rood is, zal die persoon die kleur met rood noemen i.p.v. de algemeen geaccepteerde term voor die kleur, groen.