article_snippet: However, native speakers from the Jahai tribe in Perak, Malaysia, described odours far more consistently and in less time than they can a colour.
article_snippet: The Jahai have at least 12 specific abstract words that relate to smells while the Maniq, a tribe of hunter gatherers in southern Thailand, have 15 words.
article_snippet: Odours are expressible in language, as long as you speak the right language.'
article_snippet: In a study published in the journal Cognition, Professor Majid asked 10 American English speakers and 10 native speakers of the Jahai to describe colours and odours.
article_snippet: 10 American English speakers and 10 native speakers of the Jahai were presented with 12 odours, including cinnamon, turpentine, lemon, smoke, chocolate, rose, onion and gasoline, and 80 different colours.
article_snippet: 10 American English speakers and 10 native speakers of the Jahai found that when describing 12 odours, including cinnamon, turpentine, lemon, smoke, chocolate, rose, onion and gasoline, and 80 different colours, there was little agreement among English speakers when describing 12 odours, including cinnamon, turpentine, lemon, smoke, chocolate, rose, onion and gasoline, and 80 different colours.
article_snippet: the Jahai use 12 abstract words to describe odours (shown, left) in the same way they do colours (right)
article_snippet: 10 American English speakers and 10 native speakers of the Jahai also used far longer descriptions when identifying the smells.
article_snippet: For example when presented with a cinnamon odour, English speakers described a cinnamon odour as spicy, sweet, candy, smoky, wine and pot pourri.
article_snippet: However, the Jahai were found to use a series of succinct terms to describe the smells, such words that mean to 'smell edible' and 'to have a bloody smell that attracts tigers'.
article_snippet: the Jahai were found to use a series of succinct terms to describe the smells, such words that mean to 'smell edible' and 'to have a bloody smell that attracts tigers' were predominantly abstract words, much like those the Jahai were found to use a series of succinct terms to describe the smells, such words that mean to 'smell edible' and 'to have a bloody smell that attracts tigers' used for colour.
article_snippet: However, while abstract words were dominant among the English speakers when describing colour, the Jahai were found to use a series of succinct terms to describe the smells, such words that mean to 'smell edible' and 'to have a bloody smell that attracts tigers' used source based descriptions.
article_snippet: In a later study in the journal of Cognition, Professor Majid and Majid colleagues looked at the language of the Maniq, a 300 strong nomadic tribe in southern Thailand, and found Professor Majid and her colleagues use words for smell that have complex meanings.
article_snippet: The table above shows the specific abstract words used by the Maniq tribes to describe different odours . '
article_snippet: However, smell plays a far greater role in the language of the Semai of Malaysia, for example.
highlights_snippet: Native Asian tribes like the Jahai have at least 12 specific words for smells .
  