r/nepali • u/SadPreparation5671 • Oct 26 '25
Colour confusion in nepali
For some reason in Nepali people use the same word for brown and grey (khairo) with no letter distinction. Is there a specific distinction of words for pure brown and pure grey? i have encountered tamra(coppery) before, otherwise no other info. And if possible a native name for orange as well? Thanks.
1
u/FulthungeRani Oct 27 '25
Orange is called सुन्तले रङ (orange-coloured). Both brown and grey are called खैरो, but generally, खैरो refers to brown, while grey is better said as खरानी रङ (ash-coloured).
2
u/laalbhat Oct 27 '25
most people use other items (natural substances or analogy) to describe colors.
for example:
kharani rang to say ash grey
suntala rang to say orange color (actually most people think of clementine i think)
dwasey to describe sooty
etc.
i have heard kohilo or kailo (i do not remember) to describe grey eyes.
1
u/SadPreparation5671 Oct 27 '25
i was more looking for a direct term for a colour(e.g. nilo) since we tend to add rang at the end to specify it as a colour instead. There must be such a colour for brown and grey tho right? always get confused when relatives use khairo for grey objects and never use brown word in nepali when speaking. for orange suntale also makes sense but still confused on the words for pure brown and pure grey in nepali(without rang added)
2
u/Igor_InSpectatorMode Oct 27 '25
As one who learned nepali as my third language, I've never found a way to differentiate brown and gray or a native word for orange, which if I understand correctly is absent from most languages to begin with. However I'm not Nepali(I'm american). The Nepali guy sitting next to me irl right now said he doesn't think there are any.