This is an Swadesh list of words in English and Hungarian.
Presentation [edit]
At the end of the 1940s, new insights of radiocarbon dating became known to the public. Linguist Morris Swadesh believed that words decayed with age in a roughly similar way and therefore applied similar methods to determine the relationship of 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.
- For further information, including the full final version, read the Wikipedia article: Swadesh list.
| No. |
English |
Hungarian
magyar |
| 1 |
I |
én |
| 2 |
you (singular) |
te |
| 3 |
he |
ő |
| 4 |
we |
mi |
| 5 |
you (plural) |
ti |
| 6 |
they |
ők |
| 7 |
this |
ez |
| 8 |
that |
az |
| 9 |
here |
itt |
| 10 |
there |
ott |
| 11 |
who |
ki? |
| 12 |
what |
mi? |
| 13 |
where |
hol? |
| 14 |
when |
mikor? |
| 15 |
how |
hogy?, (hogyan?) |
| 16 |
not |
nem, ne! |
| 17 |
all |
mind, (minden) |
| 18 |
many |
sok |
| 19 |
some |
néhány |
| 20 |
few |
kevés |
| 21 |
other |
más |
| 22 |
one |
egy |
| 23 |
two |
kettő |
| 24 |
three |
három |
| 25 |
four |
négy |
| 26 |
five |
öt |
| 27 |
big |
nagy |
| 28 |
long |
hosszú |
| 29 |
wide |
széles |
| 30 |
thick |
vastag |
| 31 |
heavy |
nehéz |
| 32 |
small |
kis |
| 33 |
short |
rövid |
| 34 |
narrow |
szűk |
| 35 |
thin |
vékony |
| 36 |
woman |
nő |
| 37 |
man (adult male) |
férfi |
| 38 |
man (human being) |
ember |
| 39 |
child |
gyerek, gyermek |
| 40 |
wife |
feleség |
| 41 |
husband |
férj |
| 42 |
mother |
anya |
| 43 |
father |
apa |
| 44 |
animal |
állat |
| 45 |
fish |
hal |
| 46 |
bird |
madár |
| 47 |
dog |
kutya |
| 48 |
louse |
tetű |
| 49 |
snake |
kígyó |
| 50 |
worm |
féreg |
| 51 |
tree |
fa |
| 52 |
forest |
erdő |
| 53 |
stick |
bot |
| 54 |
fruit |
gyümölcs |
| 55 |
seed |
mag |
| 56 |
leaf |
levél |
| 57 |
root |
gyökér |
| 58 |
bark (of a tree) |
kéreg |
| 59 |
flower |
virág |
| 60 |
grass |
fű |
| 61 |
rope |
kötél |
| 62 |
skin |
bőr |
| 63 |
meat |
hús |
| 64 |
blood |
vér |
| 65 |
bone |
csont |
| 66 |
fat (noun) |
háj |
| 67 |
egg |
tojás |
| 68 |
horn |
szarv |
| 69 |
tail |
farok |
| 70 |
feather |
toll |
| 71 |
hair |
haj |
| 72 |
head |
fej |
| 73 |
ear |
fül |
| 74 |
eye |
szem |
| 75 |
nose |
orr |
| 76 |
mouth |
száj |
| 77 |
tooth |
fog |
| 78 |
tongue (organ) |
nyelv |
| 79 |
fingernail |
köröm |
| 80 |
foot |
lábfej |
| 81 |
leg |
láb |
| 82 |
knee |
térd |
| 83 |
hand |
kéz |
| 84 |
wing |
szárny |
| 85 |
belly |
has |
| 86 |
guts |
bél |
| 87 |
neck |
nyak |
| 88 |
back |
hát |
| 89 |
breast |
mell |
| 90 |
heart |
szív |
| 91 |
liver |
máj |
| 92 |
to drink |
iszik |
| 93 |
to eat |
eszik |
| 94 |
to bite |
harap |
| 95 |
to suck |
szop, szopik |
| 96 |
to spit |
köp |
| 97 |
to vomit |
hány |
| 98 |
to blow |
fúj |
| 99 |
to breathe |
lélegzik |
| 100 |
to laugh |
nevet |
| 101 |
to see |
lát |
| 102 |
to hear |
hall |
| 103 |
to know |
tud |
| 104 |
to think |
gondol |
| 105 |
to smell |
szagol |
| 106 |
to fear |
fél |
| 107 |
to sleep |
alszik |
| 108 |
to live |
él |
| 109 |
to die |
meghal |
| 110 |
to kill |
öl |
| 111 |
to fight |
harcol |
| 112 |
to hunt |
vadászik |
| 113 |
to hit |
üt |
| 114 |
to cut |
vág |
| 115 |
to split |
hasít |
| 116 |
to stab |
szúr |
| 117 |
to scratch |
vakar |
| 118 |
to dig |
ás |
| 119 |
to swim |
úszik |
| 120 |
to fly |
repül |
| 121 |
to walk |
jár |
| 122 |
to come |
jön |
| 123 |
to lie (as in a bed) |
fekszik |
| 124 |
to sit |
ül |
| 125 |
to stand |
áll |
| 126 |
to turn (intransitive) |
fordul |
| 127 |
to fall |
esik |
| 128 |
to give |
ad |
| 129 |
to hold |
tart |
| 130 |
to squeeze |
sajtol |
| 131 |
to rub |
dörgöl |
| 132 |
to wash |
mos |
| 133 |
to wipe |
töröl |
| 134 |
to pull |
húz |
| 135 |
to push |
tol |
| 136 |
to throw |
hajít |
| 137 |
to tie |
köt |
| 138 |
to sew |
varr |
| 139 |
to count |
számol |
| 140 |
to say |
mond |
| 141 |
to sing |
énekel |
| 142 |
to play |
játszik |
| 143 |
to float |
lebeg |
| 144 |
to flow |
folyik |
| 145 |
to freeze |
megfagy |
| 146 |
to swell |
dagad |
| 147 |
sun |
nap |
| 148 |
moon |
hold |
| 149 |
star |
csillag |
| 150 |
water |
víz |
| 151 |
rain |
eső |
| 152 |
river |
folyó |
| 153 |
lake |
tó |
| 154 |
sea |
tenger |
| 155 |
salt |
só |
| 156 |
stone |
kő |
| 157 |
sand |
homok |
| 158 |
dust |
por |
| 159 |
earth |
föld |
| 160 |
cloud |
felhő |
| 161 |
fog |
köd |
| 162 |
sky |
ég (noun) |
| 163 |
wind |
szél |
| 164 |
snow |
hó |
| 165 |
ice |
jég |
| 166 |
smoke |
füst |
| 167 |
fire |
tűz |
| 168 |
ash |
hamu |
| 169 |
to burn |
ég (verb) |
| 170 |
road |
út |
| 171 |
mountain |
hegy |
| 172 |
red |
piros, vörös |
| 173 |
green |
zöld |
| 174 |
yellow |
sárga |
| 175 |
white |
fehér |
| 176 |
black |
fekete |
| 177 |
night |
éj |
| 178 |
day |
nap |
| 179 |
year |
év |
| 180 |
warm |
meleg |
| 181 |
cold |
hideg |
| 182 |
full |
teli |
| 183 |
new |
új |
| 184 |
old |
öreg (being), régi (thing) |
| 185 |
good |
jó |
| 186 |
bad |
rossz |
| 187 |
rotten |
rohadt |
| 188 |
dirty |
piszkos |
| 189 |
straight |
egyenes |
| 190 |
round |
kerek |
| 191 |
sharp (as a knife) |
éles |
| 192 |
dull (as a knife) |
tompa |
| 193 |
smooth |
sima |
| 194 |
wet |
nedves |
| 195 |
dry |
száraz |
| 196 |
correct |
helyes |
| 197 |
near |
közel |
| 198 |
far |
távol |
| 199 |
right |
jobb |
| 200 |
left |
bal |
| 201 |
at |
-nál, -nél (the adessive case; no specific word) |
| 202 |
in |
-ban, -ben (the inessive case; no specific word) |
| 203 |
with |
-val, -vel (the instrumental-comitative case; no specific word) |
| 204 |
and |
és |
| 205 |
if |
ha |
| 206 |
because |
mert |
| 207 |
name |
név |
When the words have various forms (verbs conjugation, gender and number agreement, declensions), the orthography is the following :
-
- verbs : 3rd person, singular, indicative present
- other words : neutral or masculine, singular, nominative (subject)
For specific cases (no infinitive, feminine name, plural name for instance), the simplest form is used.
Hungarian is a postpositional language. Hence 'in','on','with' etc are shown as -word. As Hungarian has vowel harmony, those postpositionals appear here in both their forms. Lastly, 'with' is a special case and might change its 'v' to match the final consonant of the noun with which it is associated.
Bibliography [edit]
- Dictionnaire pour touristes hongrois-français / français-hongrois, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 2004 - ISBN 963-05-6304-5
- Les langages de l'humanité (Michel Malherbe), Robert Laffont, Paris 1995 - ISBN 2-221-05947-6
External links [edit]
| Swadesh lists |
| Individual languages |
|
Afrikaans – Albanian – Antillean Creole – Arabic (standard) (p), Egyptian Arabic (p), Palestinian Arabic (p), Tunisian Arabic (t) – Armenian (t,p) – Aromanian – Bangala – Bashkir – Basque – Belarusian – Breton – Bulgarian (t) – Burmese (t,p) – Catalan – Chechen – Chinese: Cantonese, Gan (p), Mandarin (t,p), Min Nan (Amoy) (p), Old Chinese (p) – Croatian – Czech – Danish – Dutch (p) – Egyptian (Middle) – Esperanto – Estonian – Finnish – Fiji Hindi – Fijian – French (p) – Frisian (West) – Friulian – Georgian (t,p) – German (p) – Greek (modern) (p), Greek (ancient) – Guaraní – Haida – Haitian Creole – Hausa – Hawaiian – Hindi (t) – Hittite – Hmong (White) (p) – Hungarian – Icelandic – Indonesian – Irish (p) – Istro-Romanian – Italian (p) – Japanese (t) – Kashubian – Khmer (p) – Korean (t) – Kurdish – Latin – Latvian – Lingala – Lingua Franca Nova – Lithuanian – Luwian – Macedonian (t) – Malagasy – Malay – Maltese – Megleno-Romanian – Mongolian (t) – Old Portuguese (p) – Ossetian (p) – Polish (p) – Portuguese (p) – Proto-Indo-European – Purepecha – Quechua – Romani – Romanian – Russian (p) – Sanskrit (t) – Scottish Gaelic – Serbo-Croatian – Sinhalese – Slovenian – Spanish (p) – Sranan – Swahili – Swedish – Tagalog – Tajik (t) – Tahitian – Thai (t) – Tocharian B – Tok Pisin – Turkish – Ukrainian – Vietnamese – Walloon – Zulu
|
| Language families and family branches |
|
Afro-Asiatic – Algonquian – Altaic – Araucanian – Austro-Asiatic – Australian – Austronesian – Baltic-Finnic – Bantu – Celtic – Dené–Yeniseian – Dravidian – Finno-Ugric – Frisian – Germanic – Hokan – Iberian – Italian – Indo-Iranian – Indo-Iranian (extended) – Mayan – Muskogean – Niger–Congo – Oto-Manguean – Paleosiberian – Penutian – Romance – Sino-Tibetan – Slavic – Siouan – Tai–Kadai – Tibeto-Burman – Tupi–Guarani – Turkic – Uto-Aztecan
|
| The list may also include: (t) the transcription in Latin characters; (p) the phonetic transcription |