Color Terms in the Holy Qur’an: A Formative Field Study

Abstract

This study examines color terms in the Holy Qur’an, adopting semantic field theory as a classificatory framework and componential analysis as an operational method to analyze the semantic features constituting these terms within their various contexts. The study aims to classify Qur’anic color expressions and to uncover their functional and connotative meanings in the construction of meaning. The findings reveal that color semantics in the Qur’an do not serve a merely descriptive function; rather, they play an active role in vividly depicting cosmic, natural, and eschatological scenes with a high degree of precision. Moreover, the study demonstrates that the selection of color terms and their morphological patterns is carefully calibrated and harmoniously aligned with the contextual meaning of the Qur’anic text, thereby confirming the close interrelationship between morphological structure and its semantic context.