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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 Fiji Hindiedit (207) 1 I (1sg )hum 2 you (2sg )tum informal aap formal 3 he , she , it (3sg )uu ii 4 we (1pl )hum log 5 you (2pl )tum log informal aap log formal 6 they (3pl )uu logan 7 this ii 8 that uu 9 here yaha 10 there waha 11 who kon 12 what ka konchi 13 where kahaan 14 when kab 15 how kaise 16 not nai 17 all sab 18 many bahut dher 19 some thorra 20 few thorra 21 other duusra 22 one ek 23 two dui 24 three tiin 25 four chaar 26 five paanch 27 big barraa bhaari 28 long lamba 29 wide chaurra 30 thick motaa 31 heavy garrhu 32 small chhotaa 33 short poni 34 narrow patraa 35 thin patraa 36 woman aurat 37 man (adult male)admii 38 man (human being)insaan 39 child larrka boy larrki girl 40 wife aurat 41 husband admii 42 mother amma 43 father pitaji/abba 44 animal janwar 45 fish machhri 46 bird chirriya 47 dog kutta 48 louse juan 49 snake saamp 50 worm kirwa 51 tree perr 52 forest jangle 53 stick danda 54 fruit fal 55 seed biya 56 leaf patti 57 root jarr 58 bark (of a tree)chhilka 59 flower fuul 60 grass giraas 61 rope rassi 62 skin chamrraa 63 meat gos 64 blood khuun 65 bone haddi 66 fat (noun)charbi 67 egg anda 68 horn sing 69 tail puuch 70 feather pakhna 71 hair baar 72 head murr 73 ear kaan 74 eye aankhi 75 nose naak 76 mouth muh 77 tooth daanth 78 tongue (organ)jiib 79 fingernail nakkhun 80 foot gorr 81 leg taang 82 knee ghutna 83 hand haanth 84 wing pankha 85 belly pet 86 guts atrri 87 neck gatai 88 back pithi 89 breast chuchi 90 heart dil 91 liver kareja 92 to drink pio 93 to eat khao 94 to bite kaato 95 to suck chuso 96 to spit thuko 97 to vomit chhant karo 98 to blow fuuko 99 to breathe saans lo 100 to laugh hanso 101 to see dekho 102 to hear suno 103 to know jaano 104 to think socho 105 to smell sungho 106 to fear daro 107 to sleep suto 108 to live jio 109 to die mar jao 110 to kill maaro 111 to fight larro 112 to hunt sikaar karo 113 to hit maaro 114 to cut kaato 115 to split baanto give away chiiro tear apart 116 to stab bhoko 117 to scratch khurcho 118 to dig khodo 119 to swim pahurro 120 to fly urro 121 to walk chalo 122 to come aao 123 to lie (as in a bed) leto 124 to sit baitho 125 to stand kharraa ho 126 to turn (intransitive) ghumo 127 to fall giro 128 to give deo 129 to hold pakrro 130 to squeeze dabao 131 to rub malo 132 to wash dho 133 to wipe pochho 134 to pull khiicho 135 to push dhakelo 136 to throw bigo 137 to tie baandho 138 to sew sio 139 to count gino 140 to say bolo 141 to sing gao 142 to play khelo 143 to float utrao 144 to flow baho 145 to freeze jamao 146 to swell fulo 147 sun suraj 148 moon chandarma/chand 149 star taara 150 water paani 151 rain paani 152 river naddi 153 lake talaiya 154 sea samundar 155 salt nimak 156 stone pathar 157 sand baalu 158 dust garda 159 earth jamiin 160 cloud baadal 161 fog dhund 162 sky aasmaan 163 wind hawaa 164 snow barf 165 ice ice 166 smoke dhuuna 167 fire aagi 168 ash raakhi 169 to burn jarao 170 road sarrak 171 mountain pahaarr 172 red laal 173 green hariyar 174 yellow piyar 175 white ujjar 176 black karia 177 night raat 178 day din 179 year saal 180 warm garam 181 cold thandaa 182 full bharaa 183 new nawaa 184 old purana 185 good achchhaa 186 bad kharaab 187 rotten sarraa 188 dirty maila 189 straight sidha 190 round gola 191 sharp (as a knife)chok 192 dull (as a knife)bohtar 193 smooth chikkan 194 wet bhija 195 dry jhuura 196 correct raait 197 near nagiich 198 far duur 199 right right 200 left left 201 at pe 202 in ke saathe 203 with saathe 204 and aur 205 if agar 206 because kaaheki 207 name naam
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
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