Review article
https://doi.org/10.22210/jezik.2026.73.12
The names of the four seas motivated by the names of colours
Milan Nosić
Abstract
Ancient peoples marked the cardinal world directions with colours, so they marked the
north with black, the west with white, the south with red, and the east with either blue or
green. This practice was known in Central and Western Asia all the way to India in the
east, and then in Southern Europe and North Africa. In that part of the world there were
also three large seas, the Black, Red and Mediterranean Seas, which the ancient peoples of
Asia Minor, for example, named according to the cardinal points. The article discusses the
White, Black and Red Seas, as well as the Aegean Sea (among the Bulgarians and Macedonians)
and the Mediterranean Sea (among the Turks), all of which were named according
to their geographical position relative to the people(s) who named a particular sea after a
name based on the name of the colour (white, black and red) in the sense of white for the
west, black for the north and red for the south.
Keywords
names of seas; motivation from colour names; White, Black, Red and Yellow Seas
Hrčak ID:
353053
URI
Publication date:
1.3.2026.
Visits: 0 *