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For further information, including the full final version of the list, read the Wikipedia article: Swadesh list .American linguist Morris Swadesh believed that languages changed at measurable rates and that these could be determined even for languages without written precursors. Using vocabulary lists, he sought to understand not only change over time but also the relationships of extant languages. To be able to compare languages from different cultures, he based his lists on meanings he presumed would be available in as many cultures as possible. He then used the fraction of agreeing cognates between any two related languages to compute their divergence time by some (still debated) algorithms. Starting in 1950 with 165 meanings, his list grew to 215 in 1952, which was so expansive that many languages lacked native vocabulary for some terms. Subsequently, it was reduced to 207, and reduced much further to 100 meanings in 1955. A reformulated list was published posthumously in 1971.
№ English Aromanianarmãneascã edit (206) 1 I (1sg )mini mine io 2 you (2sg )tini tine 3 he , she , it (3sg )el nãs 4 we (1pl )noi 5 you (2pl )voi 6 they (3pl )ei eli nãsh nãsi 7 this aistu aestu 8 that atsel 9 here aoa ao 10 there aclo aco 11 who cari care cai 12 what tsi tse 13 where iu 14 when cãndu cãnd chend 15 how cum cumu 16 not nu 17 all tut 18 many multsã mults 19 some nishti 20 few putsãn ptsãn 21 other altu 22 one un 23 two doi 24 three trei 25 four patru 26 five tsintsi 27 big mari 28 long lungu 29 wide largu 30 thick gros 31 heavy greu 32 small njic 33 short shcurtu 34 narrow strimtu ngustu 35 thin suptsãri subtsãre 36 woman muljari muljare 37 man (adult male)bãrbat mascur 38 man (human being)om 39 child ficior fcior fãcior 40 wife ãnveastã nveastã 41 husband bãrbat 42 mother mamã 43 father tatã tati 44 animal pravdã 45 fish peashti pescu 46 bird pulj puljiu 47 dog cãni cãne cheni keni 48 louse piduclju 49 snake sharpi 50 worm yermu 51 tree arburi 52 forest pãduri pãdure 53 stick virdzeauã virdzeao 54 fruit fructu frutã 55 seed simintsã 56 leaf frãndzã 57 root rãdãtsinã arãdãtsinã 58 bark (of a tree)shcoarci 59 flower lilici lilice lãluce 60 grass earbã iarbã 61 rope funi 62 skin cheali coaji 63 meat carni carne carre carrã 64 blood sãndzi sãndze sendzi 65 bone os 66 fat (noun)grãsimi grãsime 67 egg ou 68 horn cornu 69 tail coadã 70 feather peanã 71 hair per 72 head cap 73 ear ureaclji 74 eye oclju 75 nose nari nare 76 mouth gurã 77 tooth dinti dinte 78 tongue (organ)limbã 79 fingernail unglji 80 foot cicior 81 leg cicior 82 knee dzenuclju 83 hand mãnã 84 wing arpã 85 belly buric foali 86 guts matsã 87 neck gushi 88 back plãtari spatã spalã 89 breast cheptu chieptu 90 heart inimã 91 liver hicat hecat 92 to drink beau 93 to eat mãc 94 to bite mãshcu mushcu mushc 95 to suck sug 96 to spit ascuchiu 97 to vomit vom vomu 98 to blow suflu sufl 99 to breathe adilju adiyi 100 to laugh arãd arãdu 101 to see ved 102 to hear avdu avd 103 to know shtiu shciu 104 to think minduescu 105 to smell anjurdzescu 106 to fear mi aspar 107 to sleep dormu 108 to live bãnedz bãnedzu 109 to die mor 110 to kill vatãm tsid 111 to fight mi batu alumtu 112 to hunt avin 113 to hit agudescu bat 114 to cut talj taljiu 115 to split disic dischic 116 to stab ãnjungiu pung 117 to scratch scarchin scarchinu 118 to dig arãm arãmu 119 to swim anot notu 120 to fly azboair azbor 121 to walk imnu 122 to come yin 123 to lie (as in a bed) mi culcu (action stau cãlcatã state 124 to sit shed mi ashedz 125 to stand stau 126 to turn (intransitive) mi tornu 127 to fall cad 128 to give dau 129 to hold tsãn 130 to squeeze stringu 131 to rub frec 132 to wash spel aspel 133 to wipe ashtergu ashcergu 134 to pull trag 135 to push pingu 136 to throw aruc 137 to tie leg 138 to sew cos 139 to count numir 140 to say spun dzãc 141 to sing cãntu 142 to play mi gioc 143 to float mplãtescu 144 to flow cur 145 to freeze ãngljets 146 to swell mi umflu 147 sun soari 148 moon lunã 149 star steauã steauo 150 water apã 151 rain ploai 152 river arãu 153 lake lac 154 sea amari amare 155 salt sari sare 156 stone cheatrã chiatrã 157 sand arinã 158 dust pulbiri 159 earth pimintu 160 cloud nior nãur nor 161 fog negurã cãtãhnii eamã 162 sky tser 163 wind vimtu vintu 164 snow neauã neao 165 ice gljets 166 smoke fum 167 fire foc 168 ash cinushi cinushe 169 to burn ardu 170 road cali cale 171 mountain munti munte 172 red arosh rosh 173 green veardi vearde verdi 174 yellow galbin galbãn 175 white albu alb 176 black laiu 177 night noapti noapte 178 day dzuã 179 year an 180 warm caldu 181 cold aratsi aratse frigã 182 full plin mplin 183 new nau 184 old veclju 185 good bun 186 bad arãu 187 rotten putrid putridzãt 188 dirty lãvos 189 straight ãndreptu 190 round gurguljat 191 sharp (as a knife)tãljos sumigos 192 dull (as a knife)193 smooth buimatcu 194 wet ud 195 dry uscat 196 correct ãndreptu 197 near aproapi aproape aproapea 198 far diparti 199 right ãndreptu 200 left stãngu 201 at la 202 in ãn tru 203 with cu 204 and shi 205 if macã disi 206 because cã che 207 name numã numi nume
Swadesh lists Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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