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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
Middle French François
1
I
ie
2
you (singular)
tu
3
he , she , it
il
4
we
nous
5
you (plural)
vous
6
they
ils elles
7
this
cest cestui
8
that
cest cestui
9
here
ci
10
there
la
11
who
qui
12
what
que
13
where
ou
14
when
quand
15
how
comment
16
not
ne
17
all
tout
18
many
moult
19
some
des
20
few
peu
21
other
aultre
22
one
un
23
two
deux
24
three
troys
25
four
quatre
26
five
cinc
27
big
grand
28
long
long
29
wide
?
30
thick
espés
31
heavy
?
32
small
petit
33
short
court
34
narrow
estroit
35
thin
meigre
36
woman
dame damoisele
37
man (adult male)
homme
38
man (human being)
homme
39
child
enfant
40
wife
femme
41
husband
mari
42
mother
mere
43
father
pere
44
animal
beste
45
fish
poisson
46
bird
oisel
47
dog
chien
48
louse
?
49
snake
serpent
50
worm
?
51
tree
arbre
52
forest
forest
53
stick
baston
54
fruit
fruit fruict
55
seed
?
56
leaf
fueille foille
57
root
?
58
bark (of a tree)
?
59
flower
fleur
60
grass
herbe
61
rope
?
62
skin
pel
63
meat
chair
64
blood
sang
65
bone
os
66
fat (noun)
?
67
egg
oeuf
68
horn
corne
69
tail
?
70
feather
plume
71
hair
cheveu
72
head
teste chef
73
ear
oreille aureille
74
eye
oeil
75
nose
nés
76
mouth
bouche
77
tooth
dent
78
tongue (organ)
langue
79
fingernail
?
80
foot
pied
81
leg
jambe
82
knee
genou
83
hand
main
84
wing
?
85
belly
ventre
86
guts
?
87
neck
col coul
88
back
dos
89
breast
?
90
heart
coeur cueur
91
liver
?
92
to drink
boire
93
to eat
manger
94
to bite
mordre
95
to suck
?
96
to spit
?
97
to vomit
?
98
to blow
?
99
to breathe
respirer
100
to laugh
rire
101
to see
veoir voir
102
to hear
oïr
103
to know
savoir congnoistre
104
to think
penser
105
to smell
?
106
to fear
?
107
to sleep
dormir
108
to live
vivre
109
to die
morir
110
to kill
occire tuer
111
to fight
(se) battre
112
to hunt
chacer chasser
113
to hit
battre
114
to cut
colper couper
115
to split
?
116
to stab
?
117
to scratch
?
118
to dig
?
119
to swim
?
120
to fly
?
121
to walk
se pasmer
122
to come
venir
123
to lie (as in a bed)
gesir
124
to sit
?
125
to stand
?
126
to turn (intransitive)
retorner
127
to fall
?
128
to give
doner
129
to hold
tenir
130
to squeeze
?
131
to rub
?
132
to wash
laver
133
to wipe
?
134
to pull
traire tirer
135
to push
?
136
to throw
iecter jecter
137
to tie
lier
138
to sew
?
139
to count
?
140
to say
dire
141
to sing
chanter canter
142
to play
iouer jouer
143
to float
floter
144
to flow
?
145
to freeze
?
146
to swell
?
147
sun
soleil
148
moon
lune
149
star
estoile
150
water
eau
151
rain
?
152
river
riviere fleuve
153
lake
lac
154
sea
mer
155
salt
?
156
stone
pierre
157
sand
?
158
dust
?
159
earth
terre
160
cloud
?
161
fog
?
162
sky
ciel
163
wind
vent
164
snow
?
165
ice
?
166
smoke
fum
167
fire
feu
168
ash
?
169
to burn
ardre ardoir brusler
170
road
chemin voie route
171
mountain
montaigne
172
red
rouge
173
green
vert
174
yellow
?
175
white
blanc
176
black
noir
177
night
nuict nuit
178
day
iour jour
179
year
an
180
warm
chaud ( adjective ) , chaloir ( noun )
181
cold
froid ( adjective ) , froidure ( noun )
182
full
plain plein
183
new
novel
184
old
vieu ancien
185
good
bon
186
bad
maulvais mauvais
187
rotten
?
188
dirty
?
189
straight
?
190
round
rond
191
sharp (as a knife)
?
192
dull (as a knife)
?
193
smooth
?
194
wet
?
195
dry
sec
196
correct
bon iuste
197
near
?
198
far
loing
199
right
destre
200
left
senestre gausche
201
at
a ad
202
in
en
203
with
avoec avuec
204
and
et
205
if
si
206
because
car
207
name
nom
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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