黒い VS 黒 What is the difference between them?


I was wondering why the translation for a black cat is 黒猫 and not 黒い猫. It has
come to my understanding that 黒い is an adjictive, so that's what should be
used when modifying a noun. While 黒 is just a noun.




In short, it's because 黒猫 is an established _single word_ made of two kanji.
As you know, [a black cat has its own cultural
significance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_cat) in western countries,
and this fact is known to Japanese people, too. Someone in the past must have
felt it deserved a dedicated single word. It's similar to English words like
_windmill_ , _airplane_ , _keyboard_ , etc. 白猫 is also used, but other
combinations like 茶猫 or 赤猫 are not common.

黒い猫 means a cat which is black. It's always grammatical to say so, but it may
sound a bit clumsy and it may not carry the connotation the word 黒猫 normally
has.

