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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 Pirahãxapaitíiso edit (149) 1 I (1sg )ti 2 you (2sg )gi gíxai 3 he , she , it (3sg )hi 4 we (1pl )ti gíxai ti hi ti xogiáagaó 5 you (2pl )gíxai hi gi xogiáagaó gíxai xogiáagaó 6 they (3pl )hi xogiáagaó 7 this gíiso 8 that 9 here gái 10 there aaxái 11 who káóí 12 what gó 13 where góó 14 when 15 how gó-gíís-ó 16 not kaba 17 all xógió ogiáogao 18 many báagi hoí 19 some 20 few hói 21 other 22 one 23 two 24 three 25 four 26 five 27 big xogiái 28 long piixi 29 wide 30 thick xíbigái 31 heavy itaí 32 small xóóí 33 short 34 narrow 35 thin hioxoi 36 woman xipóihií ipóihi 37 man (adult male)xigihí higihí 38 man (human being)39 child tioáaxai 40 wife hibaítihi 41 husband hibaítihi 42 mother báixi ípoihi 43 father báixi hígihi 44 animal xísi 45 fish taoíxihiai 46 bird hoasaisí 47 dog giopai giopaí giopaixi 48 louse tihiíhi 49 snake baítoi baítogi tigaíti 50 worm iobíxi 51 tree ií 52 forest xóoí xóóí 53 stick 54 fruit tioíhi 55 seed xoosí aísi 56 leaf xitaí pí 57 root sáai 58 bark (of a tree)íoi 59 flower iihoáóbai 60 grass piixíhi 61 rope báaigihi 62 skin xaoí xawí ói 63 meat xísi 64 blood bii ibíi 65 bone sáai 66 fat (noun)xísiisí 67 egg xísitoí 68 horn kábati sápaii 69 tail igátoi 70 feather xísiitai 71 hair xáápá-itai 72 head xaapaí xísapaí 73 ear xáoói aópai 74 eye kosi aópai 75 nose itaópai 76 mouth xíkao kaópai 77 tooth aítopai 78 tongue (organ)ípopai 79 fingernail 80 foot áapai 81 leg ápopai 82 knee aópai 83 hand xoi ópai 84 wing xísipóaí 85 belly kóxopai 86 guts koxohóisi 87 neck boítopai 88 back ígapai 89 breast bópai 90 heart aióopai 91 liver ibíopai 92 to drink xit-áipí 93 to eat kohóaipí 94 to bite kaab-áobí 95 to suck 96 to spit 97 to vomit 98 to blow hoapiigí xob-opi 99 to breathe 100 to laugh 101 to see kobai 102 to hear 103 to know kos-aagá 104 to think 105 to smell 106 to fear baiai 107 to sleep xait-áhóí 108 to live 109 to die 110 to kill koabáipí 111 to fight xotí 112 to hunt xoho-áopí 113 to hit xibí 114 to cut xib-óít-áipí 115 to split 116 to stab xib-áboí 117 to scratch 118 to dig 119 to swim pi-ó kaobíi 120 to fly kahápi 121 to walk xááhaí 122 to come hoagái 123 to lie (as in a bed) 124 to sit xáb-áipí 125 to stand xísitoi 126 to turn (intransitive) 127 to fall kaobí 128 to give hoi ho-áboí 129 to hold xóí 130 to squeeze kaap-ábogí 131 to rub báopi 132 to wash xib-áit-ópí 133 to wipe xo-áop-ápí 134 to pull kaábi 135 to push xob-opi 136 to throw 137 to tie gáigí 138 to sew 139 to count 140 to say gái 141 to sing xisa-áipí 142 to play 143 to float 144 to flow 145 to freeze 146 to swell 147 sun hísi 148 moon káhaixaii 149 star pogoisái 150 water pí 151 rain pí 152 river pí 153 lake aáboi 154 sea 155 salt sígihi 156 stone áxati 157 sand táhoasi 158 dust nihóaai 159 earth bígi 160 cloud hoáaxai 161 fog pihoa áxai 162 sky bígi 163 wind ióhoi 164 snow 165 ice 166 smoke tíhi 167 fire hoaí hoaxaí 168 ash hoatíi 169 to burn 170 road 171 mountain 172 red biisai 173 green ahoasaaga 174 yellow biisai 175 white kobiai 176 black biopaiai 177 night áhoai 178 day kíbigáopi 179 year píhoihiai 180 warm 181 cold agíxi 182 full kaábi 183 new xáási 184 old 185 good ibáaai 186 bad 187 rotten 188 dirty xoígi 189 straight 190 round 191 sharp (as a knife)192 dull (as a knife)193 smooth ó oxoi 194 wet íhoa 195 dry hiaíxi 196 correct xaió 197 near ígiaigo 198 far káoxaága 199 right 200 left 201 at 202 in 203 with xáo kao 204 and pió 205 if 206 because 207 name higóokasigiaixi
Swadesh lists
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Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
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