Appendix:Iu Mien Swadesh list

This is a Swadesh list of words in Iu Mien, compared with definitions in English.

Presentation

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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.

List

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No. English Iu Mien
Mienh, Mienh waac
1 I yie
2 you (singular) meih
3 he, she, it ninh
4 we mbuo (inclusive), yie mbuo (exclusive)
5 you (plural) meih mbuo
6 they ninh mbuo
7 this naaiv (singular), naaiv deix (plural)
8 that naaic (medial, singular), wuov (distal, singular),
naaic deix (medial, plural), wuov deix (distal, plural)
9 here naaiv
10 there naaic (medial), wuov (distal)
11 who haaix dauh, haiv dau
12 what haaix, haaix nyungc, haiv nyungc
13 where yiem haaix, haaix ndau, haiv ndau
14 when haaix zanc, haiv zanc (future), ziagnx haaix (past)
15 how fungc
16 not maiv, mv
17 all yietc zungv
18 many camv
19 some ziex, deix
20 few zoqc
21 other
22 one yietc
23 two i
24 three buo
25 four biei
26 five biaa
27 big hlo
28 long ndaauv
29 wide jangv
30 thick hoz
31 heavy hniev
32 small faix
33 short nangv (length), aiv (height)
34 narrow hepc
35 thin jaic (skinny)
36 woman m’sieqv dorn
37 man (adult male) m’jangc dorn
38 man (human being) mienh
39 child gu’nguaaz
40 wife auv
41 husband nqox
42 mother maa
43 father die
44 animal saeng-kuv
45 fish mbiauz
46 bird norqc
47 dog juv
48 louse nzeiv (head)
49 snake naang
50 worm naang-nzung (earthworm)
51 tree ndiangx
52 forest lomc
53 stick biaav
54 fruit biouv
55 seed nyim
56 leaf normh, ndiangx-normh
57 root ndiangx-nzungh
58 bark (of a tree) ndiangx-ndopv
59 flower biangh
60 grass miev
61 rope hlaang
62 skin ndopv
63 meat orv
64 blood nziaamv
65 bone mbungv
66 fat (noun)
67 egg jaux
68 horn jorng
69 tail dueiv
70 feather norqv-biei
71 hair biei, mba’biei
72 head m’nqorngv
73 ear n’normh
74 eye m’zing
75 nose mba’zorng
76 mouth nzuih, nzuih baengx
77 tooth nyaah
78 tongue (organ) mbietc
79 fingernail buoz-ndoqv-nquaiz
80 foot zaux
81 leg zaux
82 knee cingh mborqc
83 hand buoz
84 wing ndaatv
85 belly ga’sie
86 guts jaangh
87 neck jaang
88 back
89 breast nyorx
90 heart hnyouv
91 liver hlan
92 to drink hopv
93 to eat nyanc
94 to bite ngaatc
95 to suck sorqv
96 to spit tuiv
97 to vomit louv
98 to blow biomv
99 to breathe tauv
100 to laugh jatv
101 to see buatc
102 to hear haiz
103 to know hiuv
104 to think hnamv
105 to smell duqv nziaau, zueix
106 to fear gamh nziex
107 to sleep bueix
108 to live yiem
109 to die daic
110 to kill daix
111 to fight borngz, mborqv
112 to hunt zunc orv
113 to hit mborqv
114 to cut gaatv, japv
115 to split
116 to stab nzopv
117 to scratch nyaiv
118 to dig wetv
119 to swim ziouh
120 to fly ndaix
121 to walk yangh
122 to come daaih
123 to lie (as in a bed) bueix
124 to sit zueiz
125 to stand souv
126 to turn (intransitive) daaux
127 to fall ndortv
128 to give bun
129 to hold qam
130 to squeeze nanv
131 to rub sortv
132 to wash nzaaux
133 to wipe sortv
134 to pull baeng
135 to push
136 to throw guangc, zoi
137 to tie ndoh, nyatv
138 to sew lunh
139 to count funx
140 to say gorngv
141 to sing baaux
142 to play nziaauc
143 to float mbiouh
144 to flow liouc
145 to freeze gitv
146 to swell
147 sun mba’hnoi
148 moon hlaax
149 star hleix
150 water wuom
151 rain mbiungc
152 river ndoqv
153 lake koiv-dorn
154 sea koiv
155 salt nzauv
156 stone la’bieiv
157 sand saaiv-ziou
158 dust
159 earth ndau
160 cloud mouc
161 fog mbuonx
162 sky lungh
163 wind nziaaux
164 snow sorng
165 ice
166 smoke douz-sioux, sioux
167 fire douz
168 ash saaiv
169 to burn buov
170 road jauv
171 mountain mbong
172 red siqv
173 green maeng
174 yellow yangh
175 white baeqc
176 black jieqv
177 night muonz
178 day hnoi
179 year hnyangx
180 warm siouv
181 cold namx
182 full buangv
183 new siang
184 old loz (inanimate), gox (animate)
185 good longx, kuv, yaauc
186 bad waaic
187 rotten
188 dirty laih hlopv, la’hlopv
189 straight zaqc
190 round junh
191 sharp (as a knife) laic
192 dull (as a knife) ndorngv
193 smooth
194 wet ndorn
195 dry haanz, nqaai
196 correct zeiz
197 near fatv
198 far go
199 right mbiaauc
200 left zaaic
201 at yiem
202 in yiem
203 with caux
204 and caux
205 if se gorngv
206 because weic zuqc, yien weic
207 name mbuox