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
Lojban jbobau
IPA pronunciation
1
I
mi
2
you (singular)
do
3
he
ko'a
4
we
mi , mi'o , mi'a , ma'a
5
you (plural)
do'o
6
they
ko'a
7
this
ti
8
that
ta , tu
9
here
vi
10
there
va
11
who
ma
12
what
ma
13
where
bu'u ma
14
when
ca ma , cu'e
15
how
ta'i ma , tai ma
16
not
na , na'e , no'e
17
all
ro
18
many
so'i
19
some
su'o
20
few
so'u
21
other
drata
/ˈdrata/
22
one
pa
23
two
re
24
three
ci
25
four
vo
26
five
mu
27
big
barda
28
long
clani , clatei
29
wide
ganra
30
thick
rotsu
31
heavy
tilju
32
small
cmalu
33
short
tordu , tortei
34
narrow
jarki
35
thin
cinla , tolplana
36
woman
ninmu
37
man (male)
nanmu
38
man (human)
remna
39
child
verba
40
wife
fetspe
41
husband
nakspe
42
mother
mamta
43
father
patfu
44
animal
danlu
45
fish
finpe
46
bird
cipni
47
dog
gerku
48
louse
civla
49
snake
since
50
worm
curnu
51
tree
tricu
52
forest
ricfoi
53
stick
grana
54
fruit
grute
55
seed
tsiju
56
leaf
pezli
57
root
genja
58
bark (of a tree)
korka
59
flower
xrula
60
grass
srasu
61
rope
skori
62
skin
skapi
63
meat
rectu
64
blood
ciblu
65
bone
bongu
66
fat (noun)
grasu
67
egg
sovda
68
horn
jirna
69
tail
rebla
70
feather
pimlu
71
hair
kerfa
72
head
stedu
73
ear
kerlo
74
eye
kanla
75
nose
nazbi
76
mouth
moklu
/ˈmok.lu/
77
tooth
denci
/ˈden.ʃi/
78
tongue
tance
/ˈtan.ʃe/
79
fingernail
degycalku , jgalu
/ˈʒɡalu/
80
foot
jamfu
81
leg
tuple
82
knee
cidni
83
hand
xance
84
wing
nalci
85
belly
betfu
86
guts
canti
87
neck
cnebo
88
back
cutyti'e , bekpi
89
breast
tatru
90
heart
risna
91
liver
livga
92
to drink
pinxe
93
to eat
citka
94
to bite
batci
95
to suck
sakci
96
to spit
sputu
97
to vomit
vamtu
98
to blow
tolsakci
99
to breathe
vasxu
100
to laugh
cmila
101
to see
viska
102
to hear
tirna
103
to know
djuno , slabu
104
to think
pensi
105
to smell
panci
106
to fear
terpa
107
to sleep
sipna
108
to live
jmive
109
to die
mrobi'o
110
to kill
catra
111
to fight
damba
112
to hunt
kalte
113
to hit
darxi
114
to cut
katna
115
to split
fendi
116
to stab
tunta
117
to scratch
sraku
118
to dig
kakpa
119
to swim
limna
120
to fly
vofli , voikla
121
to walk
cadzu
122
to come
klama
123
to lie (as in a bed)
vreta , pinvre
124
to sit
zutse
125
to stand
sanli
126
to turn (intransitive)
carna
127
to fall
farlu
128
to give
dunda
129
to hold
jgari
130
to squeeze
131
to rub
termosygau
132
to wash
lumci
133
to wipe
134
to pull
lacpu
135
to push
catke , ca'ermuvgau
136
to throw
renro
137
to tie
ciljongau , jgegau
138
to sew
fenso
139
to count
kancu , nacpoiba'u
140
to say
cusku
141
to sing
sanga
142
to play
kelci , zdizu'e
143
to float
fulta
144
to flow
flecu
145
to freeze
dunja
146
to swell
147
sun
solri
148
moon
lunra
149
star
tarci
150
water
djacu
151
rain
carvi
152
river
rirxe
153
lake
lalxu
154
sea
xamsi
155
salt
silna
156
stone
rokci
157
sand
canre
158
dust
pulce
159
earth
terdi
160
cloud
dilnu
161
fog
bumru
162
sky
tsani
163
wind
brife
164
snow
snime
165
ice
bisli
166
smoke
danmo
167
fire
fagri
168
ash
fagyfesti
169
to burn
jelca
170
road
dargu
171
mountain
cmana
172
red
xunre
173
green
crino
174
yellow
pelxu
175
white
blabi
176
black
xekri
177
night
nicte
178
day
donri
179
year
nanca , detna'a
180
warm
kufygla , mligla , glamli
181
cold
tolkuflenku , lenku
182
full
culno , tolxagji
183
new
cnino
184
old
tolci'o , laldo
185
good
xamgu
186
bad
xlali
187
rotten
fusra
188
dirty
toljinsa
189
straight
sirji
190
round
bolci , cukla
191
sharp (as a knife)
kinli
192
dull (as a knife)
kandi
193
smooth
xutla
194
wet
cilmo
195
dry
sudga
196
correct
drani , smudra
197
near
jibni , zvajbi
198
far
darno
199
right
pritu , ri'u
200
left
zunle , zu'a
201
at
zvati , bu'u
202
in
nenri , ne'i
203
with
se pi'o , ka'ai
204
and
je , .e , gi'e , jo'u
205
if
va'o , ja nai , a nai , gi'a nai
206
because
ki'u , mu'i , ri'a , ni'i
207
name
cmene , cmevla
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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