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In classical Persian literature, there are many references to the “green” sky. However, many Persian speakers today use the color blue to refer to the sky. Several researchers have discussed the status of the green color in mythological, astrological, poetic visualization, and religious beliefs of Iranians to explain this difference. Nevertheless, they have ignored the fact that this discrepancy is not limited to classical texts and still can be observed in different parts of the country and, moreover, there are similar examples in languages and cultures all around the world. This article studies the colors attributed to the sky in Persian literature drawing on linguistic relativity theory about the influence of language on color perception. I conclude that Persian speakers in the absence of a word indicating all shades of blue have associated the color of the sky with a type of green color. This, however, was not just a linguistic choice. Older generations under the influence of linguistic relativity perceived the color of the sky as a shade of green color.

Keywords: sky, Persian Poetry, green, blue, linguistic relativity

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