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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.
No.
English
Interlingua
1
I
io
2
you (singular)
tu
3
he , she , it
ille
4
we
nos
5
you (plural)
vos
6
they
illes
7
this
iste
8
that
celle , ille
9
here
hic , ci
10
there
illac , ibi , la
11
who
qui
12
what
que
13
where
ubi
14
when
quando
15
how
como
16
not
non
17
all
tote , omne
18
many
multe
19
some
alcun , alicun , qualque
20
few
poc , pauc
21
other
altere
22
one
un
23
two
duo
24
three
tres
25
four
quatro
26
five
cinque
27
big
grande
28
long
longe
29
wide
large
30
thick
spisse
31
heavy
pesante
32
small
parve
33
short
curte
34
narrow
stricte
35
thin
tenue
36
woman
femina
37
man (adult male)
masculo , viro , homine
38
man (human being)
homine , humano , essere human
39
child
infante
40
wife
marita , sposa
41
husband
marito , sposo
42
mother
matre
43
father
patre
44
animal
animal
45
fish
pisce
46
bird
ave
47
dog
can
48
louse
pediculo
49
snake
serpente
50
worm
verme
51
tree
arbore
52
forest
foreste
53
stick
baston
54
fruit
fructo
55
seed
semine
56
leaf
folio
57
root
radice
58
bark (of a tree)
cortice
59
flower
flor
60
grass
herba
61
rope
corda
62
skin
cute , pelle
63
meat
carne
64
blood
sanguine
65
bone
osso
66
fat (noun)
grassia
67
egg
ovo
68
horn
corno
69
tail
cauda
70
feather
pluma , penna
71
hair
pilo , capillos
72
head
capite
73
ear
aure
74
eye
oculo
75
nose
naso
76
mouth
bucca
77
tooth
dente
78
tongue (organ)
lingua
79
fingernail
ungue , ungula
80
foot
pede
81
leg
gamba
82
knee
genu
83
hand
mano
84
wing
ala
85
belly
ventre
86
guts
tripas
87
neck
collo
88
back
dorso
89
breast
pectore
90
heart
corde
91
liver
ficato , hepate
92
to drink
biber
93
to eat
mangiar
94
to bite
morder
95
to suck
suger
96
to spit
sputar
97
to vomit
vomitar
98
to blow
sufflar
99
to breathe
respirar
100
to laugh
rider
101
to see
vider
102
to hear
audir
103
to know
saper
104
to think
pensar
105
to smell
olfacer
106
to fear
timer
107
to sleep
dormir
108
to live
viver
109
to die
morir
110
to kill
occider
111
to fight
luctar
112
to hunt
chassar
113
to hit
colpar
114
to cut
secar
115
to split
finder
116
to stab
dagar
117
to scratch
grattar
118
to dig
foder
119
to swim
natar
120
to fly
volar
121
to walk
ambular , promenar se
122
to come
venir
123
to lie (as in a bed)
jacer
124
to sit
seder
125
to stand
star
126
to turn (intransitive)
girar , rotar
127
to fall
cader
128
to give
dar
129
to hold
tener
130
to squeeze
premer
131
to rub
fricar
132
to wash
lavar
133
to wipe
essugar
134
to pull
tirar
135
to push
pulsar
136
to throw
jectar
137
to tie
ligar
138
to sew
suer
139
to count
contar
140
to say
dicer
141
to sing
cantar
142
to play
jocar
143
to float
flottar
144
to flow
fluer
145
to freeze
gelar
146
to swell
tumer
147
sun
sol
148
moon
luna
149
star
stella
150
water
aqua
151
rain
pluvia
152
river
fluvio
153
lake
laco
154
sea
mar
155
salt
sal
156
stone
petra
157
sand
arena , sablo
158
dust
pulvere
159
earth
terra
160
cloud
nube
161
fog
nebula
162
sky
celo
163
wind
vento
164
snow
nive
165
ice
glacie
166
smoke
fumo
167
fire
foco
168
ash
cinere
169
to burn
arder
170
road
strata
171
mountain
montania
172
red
rubie
173
green
verde
174
yellow
jalne
175
white
blanc
176
black
nigre
177
night
nocte
178
day
die
179
year
anno
180
warm
calide
181
cold
frigide
182
full
plen
183
new
nove
184
old
vetere
185
good
bon
186
bad
mal
187
rotten
putride
188
dirty
immunde
189
straight
recte
190
round
ronde
191
sharp (as a knife)
acute
192
dull (as a knife)
obtuse
193
smooth
lisie
194
wet
humide
195
dry
sic
196
correct
correcte
197
near
proxime
198
far
distante
199
right
dextre
200
left
sinistre , leve
201
at
a , in , apud
202
in
in
203
with
con
204
and
e
205
if
si
206
because
proque
207
name
nomine
When the words have various forms (verbs conjugation, gender and number agreement, declensions), the orthography is the following :
verbs : infinitive
other words : masculine or neutral, singular, nominative (subject) For specific cases (no infinitive, feminine name, plural name for instance), the simplest form is used.
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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