Feature and Denomination of Gemstone Colour Word in English and Chinese

As colour is one of the factors determining the price of gemstones, the importance of description of gem colours is self-evident. With the mining and marketing of new varieties of gemstones, there are a growing number of terms used to describe the colours of gemstones in Chinese and English. Under the background of increasingly prosperous international jewelry trade and cultural exchanges, it is necessary to sort out the terms. The gemstone colour words were collected, analyzed, classified and summarized in the papers. It was found that the gemstone colour words both in Chinese and English, except basic colour words, based on structural features, can be divided into five categories, among which the three-syllable non-basic colour words in Chinese, are the most popular. When it comes to denominating and translating of the gemstone colour words, we should take the cultural connotation and publicity as well as loyalty and conciseness into consideration. More attention of the jewelry practitioners should be given to the right of denomination and promotion of the gemstone colour words.