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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.
No.
English
Tashelhit
1
I
nkki
2
you (singular)
kyyi (m kmmi (f
3
he , she , it
ntta (m nttat (f
4
we
nkkʷni (m nkkʷnti (f
5
you (plural)
kʷnni (m kʷnninti (f
6
they
nttni (m nttnti (f
7
this
ɣad , ad
8
that
ɣan , an
9
here
ɣid
10
there
ɣin
11
who
ma(n) (interrogative)
12
what
mi(t) (interrogative)
13
where
mani (interrogative)
14
when
manago (interrogative)
15
how
manik , mamnk (interrogative)
16
not
or
17
all
akkʷ , kollo
18
many
kada , mnnaw
19
some
yan mnnaw
20
few
imik
21
other
wayyaḍ (m tayyaḍ (f
22
one
yan
23
two
sin
24
three
kraḍ
25
four
kkoz
26
five
smmos
27
big
imqqur
28
long
uɣzif , iɣzzif
29
wide
yusɛa
30
thick
iṭṭubz , iḍni
31
heavy
iẓẓay
32
small
imzziy
33
short
igzzul
34
narrow
ikrruz
35
thin
icḍaḍ , isdid
36
woman
tamɣart
37
man (adult male)
argaz
38
man (human being)
afgan
39
child
afrux
40
wife
tamɣart , lahl
41
husband
argaz
42
mother
inna , immi
43
father
baba
44
animal
lbhimt , lhwaych
45
fish
islm
46
bird
agḍiḍ
47
dog
aydi
48
louse
tilkit
49
snake
alkmaḍ , ablinka
50
worm
tawkka , tabxxuyt
51
tree
taddagt
52
forest
tagant
53
stick
akccuḍ
54
fruit
55
seed
amod
56
leaf
ifr
57
root
aẓur
58
bark (of a tree)
tifrkkit (f ifrkki (m
59
flower
ajddig
60
grass
tuga , afar
61
rope
ccriṭṭ , izikr
62
skin
ilm
63
meat
tifyyi
64
blood
idamn
65
bone
ixss
66
fat (noun)
tadunt
67
egg
taglayt
68
horn
isk
69
tail
acṭṭab , acwwaḍ
70
feather
abzzir
71
hair
azzar , ajaffa
72
head
agayyu
73
ear
amzzuɣ
74
eye
tiṭṭ
75
nose
inxar
76
mouth
imi
77
tooth
axs
78
tongue (organ)
ils
79
fingernail
iskr
80
foot
abaklla , aḍar , tiqqrt
81
leg
tiqqrt
82
knee
afud
83
hand
afus
84
wing
ifr
85
belly
aḥlig , adis , ahbbuḍ , aḥrur
86
guts
ibaɛlal , ilawan , irawdan
87
neck
iggi umggrḍ , amggrḍ
88
back
tiɣraḍ , timzaḍin
89
breast
admr
90
heart
ul
91
liver
tasa
92
to drink
su
93
to eat
c , ic , ctta
94
to bite
bbi
95
to suck
ssum
96
to spit
ssufs
97
to vomit
trra
98
to blow
suff
99
to breathe
cuncḍ
100
to laugh
ḍssa
101
to see
ẓr , mnid , smuqql
102
to hear
slla , slla
103
to know
ssn
104
to think
swingm
105
to smell
kḍu
106
to fear
kṣuḍ
107
to sleep
ṭs
108
to live
sul , ddr
109
to die
mmt
110
to kill
nɣ
111
to fight
mmaɣ
112
to hunt
gmr
113
to hit
ut
114
to cut
bbi
115
to split
bḍu
116
to stab
117
to scratch
krrj
118
to dig
ɣz
119
to swim
aɛwm
120
to fly
ayl
121
to walk
fttu
122
to come
ackd , actt , aywad
123
to lie (as in a bed)
gn
124
to sit
ggawr
125
to stand
bidd
126
to turn (intransitive)
ssutl
127
to fall
ḍr
128
to give
fk
129
to hold
amẓ , zzga
130
to squeeze
ẓm
131
to rub
ḥukku
132
to wash
ssird
133
to wipe
ṣfḍ
134
to pull
awk
135
to push
dḥi
136
to throw
luḥ
137
to tie
ass , krs
138
to sew
gnu
139
to count
ḥasb
140
to say
ini
141
to sing
tirir
142
to play
hḍr
143
to float
aywul
144
to flow
ngi
145
to freeze
sɣr
146
to swell
uff
147
sun
tafukt
148
moon
ayyur
149
star
titrit
150
water
aman
151
rain
anẓar
152
river
asif
153
lake
tamda
154
sea
lbḥr
155
salt
tisnt
156
stone
aẓru
157
sand
amlal
158
dust
agḍrur
159
earth
akal
160
cloud
amdlu
161
fog
tagut
162
sky
ignna
163
wind
aḍu
164
snow
adfl
165
ice
166
smoke
aggu
167
fire
lɛfit , takat
168
ash
iɣd
169
to burn
jdr
170
road
aɣaras
171
mountain
amadl , adrar
172
red
azggaɣ
173
green
azgzaw
174
yellow
awraɣ
175
white
umlil , acumlil
176
black
axḍri , asggan
177
night
iḍ
178
day
ass
179
year
asggʷas
180
warm
tirɣi
181
cold
aṣmmiḍ
182
full
iktar
183
new
ljdid
184
old
aqdim
185
good
ifulki
186
bad
ixcn
187
rotten
ihlk
188
dirty
irkal
189
straight
yuɣd
190
round
issutl
191
sharp (as a knife)
imsad
192
dull (as a knife)
iḥfa
193
smooth
iḥrar
194
wet
ibdag
195
dry
izwa
196
correct
iṣḥa
197
near
yaẓ
198
far
yaggug
199
right
afasi
200
left
aẓlmaḍ
201
at
ɣ
202
in
ɣ
203
with
d
204
and
d
205
if
iɣ
206
because
acku
207
name
ism
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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