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
Norwegian Nynorsk
1
I
eg
2
you (singular)
du , De
3
he , she , it
han
4
we
vi , me
5
you (plural)
de , De
6
they
dei
7
this
denne , dette
8
that
den , det
9
here
her
10
there
der
11
who
kven
12
what
kva
13
where
kvar
14
when
kva tid , når
15
how
korleis , koss
16
not
ikkje , ei
17
all
alt , alle
18
many
mange
19
some
noko , somt
20
few
få
21
other
anna , annan
22
one
ein , ei
23
two
to
24
three
tre , tri
25
four
fire
26
five
fem
27
big
stor
28
long
lang
29
wide
brei , vid
30
thick
tjukk
31
heavy
tung
32
small
liten , litle
33
short
kort , stutt
34
narrow
smal , trong
35
thin
tynn
36
woman
kvinne
37
man (adult male)
mann , kar
38
man (human being)
menneske
39
child
barn , unge
40
wife
kone , hustru
41
husband
mann
42
mother
mor , mamma
43
father
far , pappa
44
animal
dyr
45
fish
fisk
46
bird
fugl
47
dog
hund
48
louse
lus
49
snake
orm , slange
50
worm
makk , orm
51
tree
tre
52
forest
skog
53
stick
pinne , kjepp
54
fruit
frukt
55
seed
frø , sæd
56
leaf
blad , lauv
57
root
rot
58
bark (of a tree)
bork , never
59
flower
blome , blom
60
grass
gras
61
rope
reip , tog
62
skin
hud
63
meat
kjøtt
64
blood
blod
65
bone
bein
66
fat (noun)
feitt
67
egg
egg
68
horn
horn
69
tail
hale
70
feather
fjør
71
hair
hår
72
head
hovud
73
ear
øyre
74
eye
auga
75
nose
nase
76
mouth
munn
77
tooth
tann , tonn
78
tongue (organ)
tunge , tunga
79
fingernail
nagl
80
foot
fot
81
leg
bein
82
knee
kne
83
hand
hand
84
wing
veng
85
belly
mage , buk
86
guts
invollar
87
neck
nakke , hals
88
back
rygg , bak
89
breast
bryst
90
heart
hjarta
91
liver
lever
92
to drink
drikka
93
to eat
eta , spisa
94
to bite
bita
95
to suck
suga
96
to spit
spytta
97
to vomit
spy , kasta opp
98
to blow
blåsa
99
to breathe
anda , pusta
100
to laugh
le
101
to see
sjå
102
to hear
høyra
103
to know
veta
104
to think
tenkja
105
to smell
lukta
106
to fear
ottast
107
to sleep
sova
108
to live
leva
109
to die
døy
110
to kill
drepa
111
to fight
slåst
112
to hunt
jakta , veida
113
to hit
slå
114
to cut
skjera
115
to split
kløyva, skilja
116
to stab
stikka , stinga
117
to scratch
kleia, klå
118
to dig
grava
119
to swim
symja
120
to fly
fly , flyga
121
to walk
gå
122
to come
koma
123
to lie (as in a bed)
liggja
124
to sit
sitja
125
to stand
stå , standa
126
to turn (intransitive)
snu , venda
127
to fall
falla , detta
128
to give
gje , gjeva
129
to hold
halda
130
to squeeze
klemma , trykkja
131
to rub
gnida , gnu
132
to wash
vaska , två
133
to wipe
tørka
134
to pull
dra , draga
135
to push
dytta , skuva
136
to throw
kasta , slengja
137
to tie
binda , knyta
138
to sew
sy , sauma
139
to count
telja
140
to say
seia
141
to sing
syngja
142
to play
leika
143
to float
flyta
144
to flow
fløma, renna
145
to freeze
frysa
146
to swell
hovna, svella
147
sun
sol
148
moon
måne
149
star
stjerne
150
water
vatn
151
rain
regna
152
river
elv
153
lake
innsjø , vatn
154
sea
hav , sjø
155
salt
salt
156
stone
stein
157
sand
sand
158
dust
bos , støv
159
earth
jord
160
cloud
sky
161
fog
tåke , skodde
162
sky
himmel
163
wind
vind
164
snow
snø
165
ice
is
166
smoke
røyk
167
fire
eld
168
ash
oske
169
to burn
brenna
170
road
veg
171
mountain
fjell
172
red
raud
173
green
grøn
174
yellow
gul
175
white
kvit
176
black
svart
177
night
natt
178
day
dag
179
year
år
180
warm
varm , logn
181
cold
kald
182
full
full
183
new
ny
184
old
gamal
185
good
god , bra
186
bad
ill , vond
187
rotten
roten
188
dirty
møkut, skiten
189
straight
rett , bein
190
round
rund
191
sharp (as a knife)
skarp , kvass
192
dull (as a knife)
slø
193
smooth
jamn , slett
194
wet
våt , blaut
195
dry
tørr
196
correct
rett
197
near
nær
198
far
langt
199
right
høgre
200
left
venstre
201
at
hjå , hos , på
202
in
i
203
with
med
204
and
og
205
if
om
206
because
av di
207
name
namn
This Swadesh list was copied from the French Nynorsk Swadesh list.
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
(edit this template )
