In Hip’alŭk’ (previously “unnamed conlang”), the word for “color” is nŭr [ˈnʊɾ], coming from the preposition ʌn meaning “like, similar to”. In Hip’alŭk’, prepositions can also be verbs; in this case, ʌn can also be a verb meaning “to be like”. This verb’s gerund, ʌnŭr (meaning “a likeness”), is what nŭr comes from.

There are 6 basic color words. These are all verbs, and the names all stem from phrase starting with ʌn and were evolved with the tride and true “this word is common so I can do whatever and it’ll probably make sense” method.

• Nŭlu [ˈnʊlu] covers very light, cool colors*. It comes from ʌn ilŭ [ˈʌn ˈɪlʊ], meaning “like the sky”.
• Šinši [ˈʃinʃi] covers very light, warm colors*. It comes from ʌn šihi [ˈʌn ˈʃiçi], meaning “like sand”.
• Xonsa [ˈxonsa] covers ambers, yellows, and chartreuses. It comes from ʌn xosat [ˈʌn ˈxozat], meaning “like a leaf”.
• Qala [ˈqala] covers pinks, reds, oranges, and browns. It comes from ʌn qlak [ˈʌn ˈqlakˈ], meaning “like the ground”.
• Řolɔn [ˈʀolɔn] covers greens, cyans, and blues. It comes from ʌn řolɔ [ˈʌn ˈʀolɔ], meaning “like a river”.
• Nɔqi [ˈnɔqi] covers very dark colors. It comes from ʌn ɔqi [ˈʌn ˈɔqi], meaning “like the night”.

*White can go under either nŭlu or šinši depending on context. For example, a cloud would take nŭlu, while a daytime sun would take šinši.