1969年柏林和凱關於「基本顔色詞彙」的研究，證實顔色認知受到普遍語 意結構的限制，11個基本顔色詞彙在幾乎所有語言的演化均受限於相同的六 個可預測發展序列。40年來學界仍然持續相關的爭辯。本研究以北鄒語為研 究對象，針對鄒語的「基本顔色詞彙」、「顔色詞發展階段」、「中心色彩」、「顔 色詞的社會意涵」、「口傳文學中的顔色表達」以及「顔色在鄒族生活世界的傳 統與現代」等六個面向加以檢討，從比較研究取向分析鄒語的顔色世界，以釐 清鄒族關於顔色的世界觀及價值觀。
研究發現，鄒語基本顔色詞發展符合柏林和凱的相關理論，具有五個基 本顔色詞彙，已經發展到第四個階段；與西方的標準色相較，黑、白兩色相 同，但紅、黃、綠三色的中心色彩則有差異；存在不同世代間顔色詞彙用法有 所轉移，年輕世代有接受西方標準色的趨勢；服飾部份，【男/紅、黑】及【女 /綠（藍）、黑】是基本原則，在婚喪喜慶及祭儀上亦遵循此一原則；近代雖然 受到西方基督教影響有所改變，但現代又走回復古的路，回到傳統範疇中。
本文從語言人類學的研究取向，針對北鄒語顔色加以研究，能夠補充傳 統語言學、民族誌研究的不足。相關發現，可提供學界未研究之參考。

Berlin & Kay’s theory of color-cognition asserts that as languages evolve, they acquire a total of 11 basic color terms in 6 strictly predictable chronological stages. The sequence confined by the structure of universal semantics is outlined in Basic Color Terms (1969). Scholars have debated Berlin & Kay’s proposition quite a lot during the last 40 years. The authors of this paper follow the linguistic anthropological approach to survey the Northern Tsou’s basic color terms in practice through six research aspects ： 1) basic color terms (by means of Berlin and Kay’s definition)； 2) evolutionary stages of basic color terms； 3) focal colors in daily life color-cognition； 4) social significances of color terms usages； 5) analysis of all color terms in the oral literatures； and 6) the expressions of color terms in the everyday life world from past to present-day. All findings in summary are as follows ：
1) There are 5 basic color terms in Northern Tsou (in the 4th stage).
2) The focal colors, BLACK and WHITE, are just the same as their counterparts in almost all other languages in the world； however, the foci of the other 3 basic color terms, i.e. RED, YELLOW and GREEN, are a little bit different from contemporary English counterparts.
3) There exists a paradigm-shift among different generations in terms of color cognition, in that the younger generation accepts western standards and the elder generations show a mixture of both traditional and modern ones.cognitive attitudes.
4) The “Male/RED & BLACK and “Female/GR^E & BLACK distinctions are the essential principles of costume systems in all different occasions of the northern Tsou society.
5) The color expression has been influenced by Christian churches since a few decades ago, but recently has begun to change back.
The authors of this paper follow the Linguistic Anthropological traditions to investigate the color terms used in the Northern Tsou, and the findings could counterbalance the shortage of research in traditional Linguistics and Ethnography.