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 |
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, levi |
|
| 10 |
there |
leva |
|
| 11 |
who |
ma |
|
| 12 |
what |
ma |
|
| 13 |
where |
ma |
|
| 14 |
when |
ma |
|
| 15 |
how |
ma |
|
| 16 |
not |
na'e, no'e |
|
| 17 |
all |
rolo |
|
| 18 |
many |
so'i |
|
| 19 |
some |
su'o |
|
| 20 |
few |
so'u |
|
| 21 |
other |
drata |
|
| 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) |
nakpre |
|
| 38 |
man (human) |
nanmu |
|
| 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 |
|
|
| 58 |
bark (of a tree) |
|
|
| 59 |
flower |
|
|
| 60 |
grass |
srasu |
|
| 61 |
rope |
|
|
| 62 |
skin |
|
|
| 63 |
meat |
|
|
| 64 |
blood |
|
|
| 65 |
bone |
|
|
| 66 |
fat (noun) |
|
|
| 67 |
egg |
sovda |
|
| 68 |
horn |
|
|
| 69 |
tail |
|
|
| 70 |
feather |
pimlu |
|
| 71 |
hair |
|
|
| 72 |
head |
|
|
| 73 |
ear |
|
|
| 74 |
eye |
|
|
| 75 |
nose |
|
|
| 76 |
mouth |
|
|
| 77 |
tooth |
|
|
| 78 |
tongue |
|
|
| 79 |
fingernail |
xandegycalku |
|
| 80 |
foot |
jamfu |
|
| 81 |
leg |
|
|
| 82 |
knee |
|
|
| 83 |
hand |
|
|
| 84 |
wing |
|
|
| 85 |
belly |
|
|
| 86 |
guts |
|
|
| 87 |
neck |
|
|
| 88 |
back |
|
|
| 89 |
breast |
|
|
| 90 |
heart |
risna |
|
| 91 |
liver |
|
|
| 92 |
to drink |
|
|
| 93 |
to eat |
|
|
| 94 |
to bite |
|
|
| 95 |
to suck |
|
|
| 96 |
to spit |
|
|
| 97 |
to vomit |
|
|
| 98 |
to blow |
|
|
| 99 |
to breathe |
|
|
| 100 |
to laugh |
cmila |
|
| 101 |
to see |
|
|
| 102 |
to hear |
|
|
| 103 |
to know |
|
|
| 104 |
to think |
|
|
| 105 |
to smell |
|
|
| 106 |
to fear |
|
|
| 107 |
to sleep |
sipna |
|
| 108 |
to live |
|
|
| 109 |
to die |
mrobi'o |
|
| 110 |
to kill |
catra |
|
| 111 |
to fight |
damba |
|
| 112 |
to hunt |
|
|
| 113 |
to hit |
|
|
| 114 |
to cut |
|
|
| 115 |
to split |
|
|
| 116 |
to stab |
|
|
| 117 |
to scratch |
sraku |
|
| 118 |
to dig |
|
|
| 119 |
to swim |
|
|
| 120 |
to fly |
|
|
| 121 |
to walk |
cadzu |
|
| 122 |
to come |
|
|
| 123 |
to lie (as in a bed) |
|
|
| 124 |
to sit |
|
|
| 125 |
to stand |
sanli |
|
| 126 |
to turn (intransitive) |
|
|
| 127 |
to fall |
|
|
| 128 |
to give |
dunda |
|
| 129 |
to hold |
|
|
| 130 |
to squeeze |
|
|
| 131 |
to rub |
|
|
| 132 |
to wash |
|
|
| 133 |
to wipe |
|
|
| 134 |
to pull |
|
|
| 135 |
to push |
|
|
| 136 |
to throw |
|
|
| 137 |
to tie |
ciljongau, jgegau |
|
| 138 |
to sew |
|
|
| 139 |
to count |
|
|
| 140 |
to say |
|
|
| 141 |
to sing |
|
|
| 142 |
to play |
|
|
| 143 |
to float |
|
|
| 144 |
to flow |
|
|
| 145 |
to freeze |
dunja |
|
| 146 |
to swell |
|
|
| 147 |
sun |
|
|
| 148 |
moon |
|
|
| 149 |
star |
|
|
| 150 |
water |
djacu |
|
| 151 |
rain |
|
|
| 152 |
river |
|
|
| 153 |
lake |
|
|
| 154 |
sea |
|
|
| 155 |
salt |
silna |
|
| 156 |
stone |
|
|
| 157 |
sand |
|
|
| 158 |
dust |
|
|
| 159 |
earth |
terdi |
|
| 160 |
cloud |
dilnu |
|
| 161 |
fog |
|
|
| 162 |
sky |
|
|
| 163 |
wind |
|
|
| 164 |
snow |
|
|
| 165 |
ice |
|
|
| 166 |
smoke |
danmo, damtu'u |
|
| 167 |
fire |
fagri |
|
| 168 |
ash |
fagyfesti |
|
| 169 |
to burn |
jelca |
|
| 170 |
road |
dargu |
|
| 171 |
mountain |
|
|
| 172 |
red |
|
|
| 173 |
green |
|
|
| 174 |
yellow |
|
|
| 175 |
white |
blabi |
|
| 176 |
black |
xekri |
|
| 177 |
night |
nicte |
|
| 178 |
day |
donri |
|
| 179 |
year |
|
|
| 180 |
warm |
|
|
| 181 |
cold |
|
|
| 182 |
full |
|
|
| 183 |
new |
|
|
| 184 |
old |
|
|
| 185 |
good |
xamgu |
|
| 186 |
bad |
xlali |
|
| 187 |
rotten |
|
|
| 188 |
dirty |
|
|
| 189 |
straight |
|
|
| 190 |
round |
|
|
| 191 |
sharp (as a knife) |
kinli |
|
| 192 |
dull (as a knife) |
kandi |
|
| 193 |
smooth |
xutla |
|
| 194 |
wet |
|
|
| 195 |
dry |
|
|
| 196 |
correct |
|
|
| 197 |
near |
|
|
| 198 |
far |
|
|
| 199 |
right |
pritu |
|
| 200 |
left |
zunle |
|
| 201 |
at |
|
|
| 202 |
in |
|
|
| 203 |
with |
|
|
| 204 |
and |
|
|
| 205 |
if |
|
|
| 206 |
because |
ki'u, mu'i |
|
| 207 |
name |
cmene, cmevla |
|
Sources [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 |
