Abstract
The text deals with the signs in the Czech Sign Language for the basic colours - white, black, red, green, yellow, blue, brown and grey in the diachronic point of view. On the basis of historical written description of these signs from 1834-1907 the motivation of the signs is being analysed (the signs were derived from the typical object of the particular colour) as well as the slow lexicalization and form (especially the components of the signs - the place of articulation, handshape and movement).
At the same time, the historical signs are compared to the current signs and the text provides analysis of the trends in changes of phonological/morphological structures of the signs (place of articulation changes - moving down from the center to the periphery of the face, shortening of the movement, changing the shape of the hand etc.). In addition the text examines the possible relationship of these signs with the signs for colours in the Austrian, German and French Sign Language (the languages that had been used in deaf education at the end of the 18th and 19th centuries according to preserved records).
Concerning the historical signs their motivation and form were compared, along with the detail look at the contemporary signs. This is the first look at the Czech Sign Language from the etymological point of view at all.