Appendix:Antillean Creole Swadesh list

This is a Swadesh list of words in Antillean Creole, compared with definitions in English.

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.

List edit

EnglishAntillean Creole
kreyòl
edit (207)
1I (1sg)mwen
2you (2sg)ou
3he, she, it (3sg)i, li
4we (1pl)nou
5you (2pl)zot
6they (3pl)yo
7thissi
8thatsa
9hereisi
10therela
11whoki, ki moun
12whatkisa
13whereki koté, oti
14when, ki lè
15howkouman, ki mannyè
16notpa
17alltout
18manyanpil, anlo, anchay
19someyonndé
20fewtibwen
21otherlot
22oneyonn, an
23two
24threetwa
25fourkat
26fivesenk, sen
27biggran
28longlong
29widelaj
30thicképé
31heavylou
32smallpiti, ti
33shorttoupiti, pa long
34narrowétwet
35thinfen, piti
36womanfanm
37man (adult male)nonm
38man (human being)moun
39childti mamay
40wifefanm, madanm
41husbandmawi
42mothermanman
43fatherpapa
44animalbet
45fishpwason
46birdzwézo
47dogchyen
48lousepou
49snakesèpan, bet-long
50worm
51treepiébwa
52forestfonbwa, granbwa
53stickbaton
54fruitfwi
55seedgrenn
56leaffey
57rootrasin
58bark (of a tree)lapo piébwa
59flowerflè
60grasszeb
61ropekod
62skinlapo
63meatviann
64bloodsan
65bonezo
66fat (noun)gra
67egg
68hornkonn
69taillatjé
70featherplim
71hairchivé
72headtet
73earzorèy
74eyezié
75nosenen
76mouthdjol
77toothdan
78tongue (organ)lang
79fingernailzong
80footpié
81legjanm
82kneejounou
83handlanmen
84wingzel
85bellybouden
86gutszantray
87neckkou
88backdo
89breastfal, tété
90hearttjè
91liverfwa
92to drinkbwè
93to eatmanjé
94to bitemod
95to sucksisé
96to spitkraché
97to vomitvonmi
98to blowsouflé
99to breatherespiré
100to laughri
101to see
102to heartann
103to knowsav
104to thinksonjé
105to smellpran lodè
106to fear
107to sleepdòmi
108to liveviv
109to die
110to killtjwé
111to fightgoumen
112to huntchasé
113to hitba kou, ba tjok
114to cutkoupé
115to splitfann
116to stabpèsé
117to scratchgrafiyen, tjiré
118to digfouyé
119to swimnajé
120to flyvolé
121to walkmaché
122to comevini, rivé
123to lie (as in a bed)lonjé
124to sitsizé
125to standlévé, doubout
126to turn (intransitive)tounen
127to falltonbé
128to giveba
129to holdtjenbé
130to squeezeséré
131to rubfwoté
132to washlavé
133to wipesuiyé
134to pullralé
135to pushbouré
136to throwladjé atè
137to tielianné
138to sewkoud
139to countkonté
140to saydi
141to singbay lavwa
142to playjwé
143to floatfloté
144to flowkoulé
145to freezeglasé
146to swellanflé
147sunsoley
148moonlalin
149starzétwel
150waterdlo
151rainlapli
152riverlariviè
153lakelak
154sealanmè
155saltsel
156stoneroch
157sandsab
158dustpousiè, rakli
159earthlatè
160cloudniyaj
161fogbwouya
162skysiel
163windvan
164snowlaglas
165iceglas
166smokelafimen
167firedifé
168ashsann
169to burnbrilé
170roadchimen
171mountainmontay, monn
172redwouj
173green
174yellowjonn
175whiteblan
176blacknwè
177nightlannuit
178daylajounen, jou
179yearlanné
180warmcho
181coldfwèt
182fullplen
183newdènié
184oldvié, bon laj
185goodbon
186badmové
187rottenpouri
188dirtysal
189straightdwet
190roundwon
191sharp (as a knife)filé
192dull (as a knife)[[#Antillean Creole|]]
193smoothlis
194wetplen dlo, mouyé
195drysek
196correctvré, korek
197near, pabò, toupré
198farlwen
199rightdwet
200leftgoch
201ata
202inan, adan
203withépi
204andèk, é, épi
205ifsi
206becausepadavré, davré
207namenon
  • Orthography :

Antillean Creole orthography may change from one source to another. However, the orthography of the Creole lessons given by the GEREC-F (Groupe d'Études et de Recherches en Espace Créolophone et Francophone [1]) is widely used.

Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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