Tomato palette: methods and means of expressing fruit color in breeding names
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2026-3-59-69
The article is devoted to the selection names of tomatoes (tomatonyms). Its relevance is due to the attention of modern onomatology, in the framework of which the work was carried out, to the peripheral zones of national onomasticons. The main research method is synchronous and descriptive, represented by classification, interpretation, generalization, and statistical calculations. The study has proven that this feature is one of the most popular in the nomination of tomatoes, accounting for 36,3 % of the total number of names. It can be expressed directly or indirectly. In the first case, this characteristic is expressed through vocabulary with color-related roots (Алая фантазия, Белое чудо, Вишневый брауни, Голубая кровь, Желтая гора, Зеленушка, Изумрудная парча, Красным-красно, Малиновое вино, Розовая дымка, Шафрановый верблюд, Черныш, etc.). The ranking (in descending order) of colors with a frequency of over 100 is as follows: pink, red, gold, orange, crimson, black, and yellow. Indirect color transfer is based on the principle of simulating the color of tomatoes to some reference objects and phenomena in the natural world (Зебра, Лисенок, Уссурийский тигр; Арбузик, Мандаринка, Морошка; Сибирский малахит, Янтарь; Волшебная радуга, Солнышко, Лунная дорожка), humans (Африканец, Краснокожие, Матросик, Тайсон), and artifacts (Крашенка, Огниво). The material under study has allowed us to identify a range of realities that are actively used to describe the color of fruits (Голова негра, Уголек, Ночка – Киви, Болото, Могучий Шрэк). The most obvious way to express color is through adjectives that have a specific color meaning in dictionaries (e.g., chocolate and apricot), and nouns that refer to objects with minimal variation in color (e.g., emerald and agate) and are widely recognized (e.g., beetroot and kumquat). It has been suggested that a certain part of color names can be considered a transitional variety between direct and indirect ways of expressing the color feature (Медовый самурай, Медные трубы). The identified variety of linguistic means for denoting color is determined by the need to differentiate a large number of cultivars with similar characteristics and the requirement not to repeat the name in order to comply with copyright law.
Keywords: onomatology, agronyming, pragmophytonyms, breeding names, tomatonyms, and color names
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Issue: 3, 2026
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
Pages: 59 — 69
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