Color conceptual sphere in English, French and Russian: A linguocultural analysis of phraseological units with a color feature

The aim of the study is to identify the universality, diversity and uniqueness of the color conceptual sphere in English, French and Russian linguistic cultures, implemented through phraseological units with a color feature and color terms in English, French and Russian. The paper presents a linguocultural analysis of the GREEN, GRAY, YELLOW, ORANGE, PURPLE, PINK and BROWN concepts in the three languages. The study is novel in that it is the first to identify, systematize and describe peripheral and single color concepts using the material of three languages. As a result of the research, it was found that the color conceptual sphere is more relevant for French linguistic culture than for English and Russian linguistic cultures. The peripheral concepts GREEN, GRAY, and YELLOW in the linguistic cultures under comparison are widely used to reflect character traits, appearance, physical characteristics of a person and relationships between people. The single concepts ORANGE, PURPLE, PINK and BROWN mainly reflect the color characteristics of the inorganic world. Color acts as an expressor of universality, diversity and uniqueness in the construction of the color conceptual sphere in the considered linguistic cultures.