Presentation
edit
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.
As an artistic alien constructed language, not all Swadesh terms have straight Klingon translations.
No.
English
Klingon
1
I
jIH
2
you (singular)
SoH
3
he , she , it
ghaH
4
we
maH
5
you (plural)
tlhIH
6
they
chaH
7
this
-vam
8
that
-vetlh
9
here
naDev
10
there
pa'
11
who
'Iv
12
what
nuq
13
where
nuqDaq
14
when
ghorgh
15
how
chay'
16
not
-be' -Qo'
17
all
Hoch
18
many
law'
19
some
'op
20
few
puS
21
other
latlh
22
one
wa'
23
two
cha'
24
three
wej
25
four
loS
26
five
vagh
27
big
tIn
28
long
tIq nI'
29
wide
vaS
30
thick
jeD
31
heavy
'ugh
32
small
mach
33
short
run ngaj
34
narrow
lang
35
thin
lang
36
woman
be'
37
man (adult male)
loD
38
man (human being)
ghot yoq
39
child
puq
40
wife
be'nal
41
husband
loDnal
42
mother
SoS
43
father
vav
44
animal
Ha'DIbaH
45
fish
ghotI'
46
bird
bo'Degh
47
dog
48
louse
49
snake
ghargh
50
worm
ghargh
51
tree
Sor
52
forest
ngem
53
stick
naQHom
54
fruit
naH
55
seed
raS'IS
56
leaf
por
57
root
'oQqar
58
bark (of a tree)
59
flower
'InSong
60
grass
magh
61
rope
tlhegh
62
skin
DIr
63
meat
Ha'DIbaH
64
blood
'Iw
65
bone
Hom
66
fat (noun)
tlhagh
67
egg
QIm
68
horn
pu'
69
tail
tlhuQ
70
feather
bo
71
hair
pob jIb
72
head
nach
73
ear
teS qogh
74
eye
mIn
75
nose
ghIch
76
mouth
nuj
77
tooth
Ho'
78
tongue (organ)
jat
79
fingernail
nItlhpach
80
foot
qam
81
leg
'uS
82
knee
qIv
83
hand
ghop
84
wing
tel
85
belly
chor
86
guts
87
neck
mong
88
back
Dub
89
breast
ngob'at
90
heart
tIq
91
liver
chej
92
to drink
tlhutlh
93
to eat
Sop
94
to bite
chop
95
to suck
rem
96
to spit
tlhIS tuy'
97
to vomit
'em
98
to blow
jo'
99
to breathe
tlhuH
100
to laugh
Hagh
101
to see
legh
102
to hear
Qoy
103
to know
Sov
104
to think
Qub
105
to smell
largh He'
106
to fear
-vIp
107
to sleep
Qong
108
to live
yIn
109
to die
Hegh
110
to kill
HoH
111
to fight
Suv ghob
112
to hunt
wam
113
to hit
qIp
114
to cut
pe'
115
to split
wav
116
to stab
DuQ
117
to scratch
lot
118
to dig
tlhan
119
to swim
Qal
120
to fly
puv
121
to walk
yIt
122
to come
chol
123
to lie (as in a bed)
Qot
124
to sit
ba'
125
to stand
Qam
126
to turn (intransitive)
tlhe'
127
to fall
pum
128
to give
nob
129
to hold
'uch
130
to squeeze
ngaH
131
to rub
132
to wash
Say'moH
133
to wipe
134
to pull
Hoq Hur
135
to push
yuv
136
to throw
vo'
137
to tie
bagh
138
to sew
139
to count
togh
140
to say
jatlh
141
to sing
bom
142
to play
reH Quj
143
to float
'al
144
to flow
ghIt
145
to freeze
taDmoH
146
to swell
lun
147
sun
jul
148
moon
maS
149
star
Hov
150
water
bIQ
151
rain
SIS
152
river
bIQtIq
153
lake
ngeng
154
sea
155
salt
156
stone
nagh
157
sand
Do'ol
158
dust
Say'qIS
159
earth
lam
160
cloud
'eng
161
fog
vI'laS
162
sky
chal
163
wind
SuS
164
snow
peD
165
ice
chuch
166
smoke
tlhIch
167
fire
qul
168
ash
tIpqan
169
to burn
meQ
170
road
taw
171
mountain
HuD
172
red
Doq
173
green
SuD
174
yellow
SuD
175
white
chIS
176
black
qIj
177
night
ram
178
day
jaj
179
year
DIS
180
warm
ghun
181
cold
bIr
182
full
buy'
183
new
chu'
184
old
ngo' qan
185
good
QaQ
186
bad
qab
187
rotten
non
188
dirty
lam
189
straight
wan
190
round
rutlh
191
sharp (as a knife)
jej
192
dull (as a knife)
jejHa'
193
smooth
Hab
194
wet
yIQ
195
dry
QaD
196
correct
lugh
197
near
Sum
198
far
Hop
199
right
nIH
200
left
poS
201
at
-Daq
202
in
-Daq qoD Daq
203
with
No direct equivalent
204
and
je 'ej
205
if
-chugh
206
because
-mo'
207
name
pong
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
(edit this template )
