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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 Upper Sorbianhornjoserbšćina edit (207) 1 I (1sg )ja 2 you (2sg )ty 3 he , she , it (3sg )wón 4 we (1pl )my 5 you (2pl )wy 6 they (3pl )woni 7 this tón ta to 8 that tamny 9 here jow jowle tu tule 10 there tam 11 who štó 12 what što 13 where hdźe 14 when hdy 15 how kak 16 not nje- 17 all wšo wšitke wšitcy 18 many wjele 19 some někotre 20 few mało 21 other druhi 22 one jedyn 23 two dwaj 24 three tři 25 four štyri 26 five pjeć 27 big wulki 28 long dołhi 29 wide šěroki 30 thick tołsty 31 heavy ćežki 32 small mały 33 short krótki 34 narrow wuski 35 thin ćeńki 36 woman žona 37 man (adult male)muž 38 man (human being)čłowjek 39 child dźěćo 40 wife mandźelska žona 41 husband mandźelski muž 42 mother mać 43 father nan 44 animal zwěrjo 45 fish ryba 46 bird ptačk ptak 47 dog psyk 48 louse woš 49 snake had 50 worm waka čerw 51 tree štom 52 forest lěs 53 stick kij 54 fruit płód 55 seed symjo 56 leaf lisćo 57 root korjeń 58 bark (of a tree)skora 59 flower kwětka 60 grass trawa 61 rope powjaz 62 skin koža 63 meat mjaso 64 blood krej 65 bone kósć 66 fat (noun)tuk 67 egg jejo 68 horn róh 69 tail wopuš 70 feather pjerjo 71 hair włosy 72 head hłowa 73 ear wucho 74 eye wóčko 75 nose nós 76 mouth huba 77 tooth zub 78 tongue (organ)jazyk 79 fingernail nochć 80 foot noha 81 leg noha 82 knee koleno 83 hand ruka 84 wing křidło 85 belly brjuch 86 guts črjewa 87 neck šija 88 back chribjet 89 breast hrudź 90 heart wutroba 91 liver jatra 92 to drink pić 93 to eat jěsć 94 to bite kusać 95 to suck cycać 96 to spit pluwać 97 to vomit wróćeć bluwać 98 to blow duć 99 to breathe dychać 100 to laugh smjeć 101 to see widźeć 102 to hear słyšeć 103 to know wědźeć 104 to think myslić 105 to smell čuć 106 to fear bojeć 107 to sleep spać 108 to live živy być109 to die wumrěć 110 to kill zabić kóncować 111 to fight wojować 112 to hunt hońtwjerić 113 to hit bić 114 to cut rězać 115 to split šćěpić pačić 116 to stab štapać 117 to scratch drapać 118 to dig ryć kopać 119 to swim płuwać 120 to fly lećeć lětać 121 to walk hić chodźić 122 to come přińć přijěć dóńć 123 to lie (as in a bed) ležeć 124 to sit sedźeć 125 to stand stać 126 to turn (intransitive) wobroćić 127 to fall padać 128 to give dać dawać 129 to hold dźeržeć 130 to squeeze tłóčić 131 to rub šudrować šurować 132 to wash myć 133 to wipe trěć 134 to pull ćahać 135 to push tłóčić 136 to throw mjetać 137 to tie wjazać 138 to sew šić 139 to count ličić 140 to say rěčeć 141 to sing spěwać 142 to play hrać hrajkać 143 to float płuwać 144 to flow běžeć ćec 145 to freeze mjerznyć 146 to swell zaćekać 147 sun słónco słónčko 148 moon měsačk 149 star hwězda 150 water woda 151 rain dešć 152 river rěka 153 lake jězor 154 sea morjo 155 salt sól 156 stone kamjeń 157 sand pěsk 158 dust proch 159 earth zemja 160 cloud mróčel 161 fog kurjawa mhła 162 sky njebjo 163 wind wětřik 164 snow sněh 165 ice lód 166 smoke kur dym 167 fire woheń 168 ash popjeł 169 to burn palić 170 road puć 171 mountain hora 172 red čerwjeny 173 green zeleny 174 yellow žołty 175 white běły 176 black čorny 177 night nóc 178 day dźeń 179 year lěto 180 warm ćopły 181 cold zymny chłódny 182 full połny 183 new nowy 184 old stary 185 good dobry 186 bad hubjeny špatny zły 187 rotten zhniły 188 dirty mazany 189 straight runy 190 round kulojty kulowaty 191 sharp (as a knife)wótry 192 dull (as a knife)tupy 193 smooth hładki 194 wet mokry 195 dry suchi 196 correct prawy 197 near bliski 198 far daloki 199 right prawy 200 left lěwy 201 at při 202 in w we 203 with z ze 204 and a 205 if hdyž 206 because dokelž přetož 207 name mjeno
Swadesh lists
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