Appendix:Polish Swadesh list

This is a Swadesh list of words in English and Polish.

Presentation

At the end of the 1940s new insights of radiocarbon dating became known to the public. The linguist Morris Swadesh believed that words decayed in a roughly similar way and therefore undertook to transfer these methods to determine the relationship of languages. To be able to compare languages from different cultures, he based his lists on meanings presumed to be universal, that means to be available in as many as possible cultures. He then used the fraction of agreeing cognates between any two related languages to compute their divergence time by some (still debated) algorithms. Starting 1950 with 165 meanings, his list grew up in 1952 to 215 meanings, which, however, turned out to be not universal enough. Subsequently it was reduced to 207, and 1955 to 100 meanings, again reformulated and published posthumous in 1971.

For further information, including the full final version, read the Wikipedia article: Swadesh list.

Note that Swadesh lists are not to be considered as an elementary lexicon to communicate with speakers of a given language; for such a purpose, please refer to the numerous existing Wikitravel.

List

No.	English	Polish polski	IPA pronunciation
1	I	ja *	[ja]
2	you (singular)	ty *, Pan/Pani (formal)	[tɨ], [pan]
3	he	on *	[ɔn]
4	we	my *	[mɨ]
5	you (plural)	wy *, Państwo (formal)	[vɨ], [ˈpaɲstfɔ]
6	they	oni *	[ˈɔni]
7	this	to	[tɔ]
8	that	tamto	[ˈtamtɔ]
9	here	tu	[tu]
10	there	tam	[tam]
11	who	kto	[ktɔ]
12	what	co	[ʦɔ]
13	where	gdzie	[ɡdzʲɛ]
14	when	kiedy	[ˈkʲɛdɨ]
15	how	jak	[jak]
16	not	nie	[ɲɛ]
17	all	każdy	[ˈkaʒdɨ]
18	many	dużo, wiele	[ˈduʒɔ]
19	some	kilka	[ˈkʲilka]
20	few	mało	[ˈmawɔ]
21	other	drugi	[ˈdruɡi]
22	one	jeden	[ˈjɛdɛn]
23	two	dwa	[dva]
24	three	trzy	[tʃɨ]
25	four	cztery	[ˈʧtɛrɨ]
26	five	pięć	[pʲɛ̃tɕ]
27	big	wielki	[ˈvʲɛlkʲi]
28	long	długi	[ˈdwuɡi]
29	wide	szeroki	[ʃɛˈrɔki]
30	thick	gęsty	[ˈɡɛ̃stɨ]
31	heavy	ciężki	[ˈʨɛ̃ʃki]
32	small	mały	[ˈmawɨ]
33	short	krótki	[ˈkrutkʲi]
34	narrow	wąski	[ˈvɔ̃ski]
35	thin	cienki	[ˈʨɛ̃nkʲi]
36	woman	kobieta	[kɔˈbʲɛta]
37	man (male)	mężczyzna	[mɛ̃ˈʃʧɨzna]
38	man (human)	człowiek	[ˈʧwɔvʲɛk]
39	child	dziecko	[ˈʥɛʦkɔ]
40	wife	żona, małżonka	[ˈʒɔna], [mawˈʒɔnka]
41	husband	mąż, małżonek	[ˈmɔ̃ʒ], [mawˈʒɔnɛk]
42	mother	matka	[ˈmatka]
43	father	ojciec	[ˈɔjʨɛʦ]
44	animal	zwierzę	[ˈzvʲɛʒɛ̃]
45	fish	ryba	[rˈɨba]
46	bird	ptak	[ptak]
47	dog	pies	[pʲɛs]
48	louse	wesz	[vˈɛʃ]
49	snake	wąż	[vɔ̃ʒ]
50	worm	robak	[ˈrɔbak]
51	tree	drzewo	[ˈdʒɛvɔ]
52	forest	las	[las]
53	stick	laska	[ˈlaska]
54	fruit	owoc	[ˈɔvɔʦ]
55	seed	ziarno	[ˈʑarnɔ]
56	leaf	liść	[ʎiɕʨ]
57	root	korzeń	[ˈkɔʒɛɲ]
58	bark (of a tree)	kora	[ˈkɔra]
59	flower	kwiat	[kfʲat]
60	grass	trawa	[ˈtrava]
61	rope	sznur	[ʃnur]
62	skin	skóra	[ˈskura]
63	meat	mięso	[ˈmʲɛ̃sɔ]
64	blood	krew	[krɛf]
65	bone	kość	[kɔɕʨ]
66	fat (noun)	tłuszcz	[twuʃʧ]
67	egg	jajko	[ˈjajkɔ]
68	horn	róg	[ruk]
69	tail	ogon	[ˈɔɡɔn]
70	feather	pióro	[ˈpʲurɔ]
71	hair	włos	[vwɔs]
72	head	głowa	[ˈɡwɔva]
73	ear	ucho	[ˈuxɔ]
74	eye	oko	[ˈɔkɔ]
75	nose	nos	[nɔs]
76	mouth	usta (plural only)	[ˈusta]
77	tooth	ząb	[zɔ̃p]
78	tongue	język	[ˈjɛ̃zɨk]
79	fingernail	paznokieć	[paˈznɔkʲɛʨ]
80	foot	stopa	[ˈstɔpa]
81	leg	noga	[ˈnɔɡa]
82	knee	kolano	[kɔˈlanɔ]
83	hand	ręka	[ˈrɛ̃ka]
84	wing	skrzydło	[ˈskʃɨdwɔ]
85	belly	brzuch	[bʒux]
86	guts	wnętrzności (plural only)	[vnɛ̃ˈʧnɔɕʨi]
87	neck	szyja	[ʃɨja]
88	back	plecy (plural only)	[plɛʦɨ]
89	breast	pierś	[ˈpʲɛrɕ]
90	heart	serce	[ˈsɛrʦɛ]
91	liver	wątroba	[vɔ̃ˈtrɔba]
92	to drink	pić	[pʲiʨ]
93	to eat	jeść	[jɛɕʨ]
94	to bite	gryźć	[ɡrɨɕʨ]
95	to suck	ssać	[ˈssaʨ]
96	to spit	pluć	[ˈpluʨ]
97	to vomit	wymiotować, rzygać	[vɨmʲɔˈtɔvaʨ],[ˈʒɨgaʨ]
98	to blow	dmuchać	[ˈdmuxaʨ]
99	to breathe	oddychać	[ɔdˈdixaʨ]
100	to laugh	śmiać się	[ɕmʲaʨ ɕɛ̃]
101	to see	widzieć	[ˈvʲiʥɛʨ]
102	to hear	słyszeć	[ˈswɨʃɛʨ]
103	to know	wiedzieć	[ˈvʲɛʥɛʨ]
104	to think	myśleć	[ˈmɨɕlɛʨ]
105	to smell	czuć	[ʧuʨ]
106	to fear	bać się	[ˈbaʨ ɕɛ̃]
107	to sleep	spać	[spaʨ]
108	to live	żyć	[ʒɨʨ]
109	to die	umierać	[uˈmʲɛraʨ]
110	to kill	zabijać	[ˈzabʲiʨ]
111	to fight	walczyć	[ˈvalʧɨʨ]
112	to hunt	polować	[pɔˈlɔvaʨ]
113	to hit	uderzać	[uˈdɛ̃ʒaʨ]
114	to cut	ciąć	[ʨɔ̃ʨ]
115	to split	rąbać	[ˈrɔ̃baʨ]
116	to stab	pchnąć nożem	[pxnɔ̃ʨ nuʃɛm]
117	to scratch	drapać	[ˈdrapaʨ]
118	to dig	drążyć	[ˈdrɔ̃ʒɨʨ]
119	to swim	pływać	[ˈpwɨvaʨ]
120	to fly	latać	[ˈlataʨ]
121	to walk	iść	[iɕʨ]
122	to come	przychodzić	[pʃɨˈxɔʥiʨ]
123	to lie (as in a bed)	leżeć (action)
124	to sit	siadać (action)	[ˈɕadaʨ]
125	to stand	wstawać (action)
126	to turn (intransitive)	skręcać	[ˈskrɛ̃ʦiʨ]
127	to fall	padać	[ˈpadaʨ]
128	to give	dawać	[ˈdavaʨ]
129	to hold	trzymać	[ˈtʃɨmaʨ]
130	to squeeze	ściskać	[ˈɕʨiskaʨ]
131	to rub	trzeć	[ˈtʃɛʨ]
132	to wash	myć	[mɨʨ]
133	to wipe	wycierać	[vɨˈʨɛraʨ]
134	to pull	ciągnąć	[ˈʨɔ̃ɡnɔ̃ʨ]
135	to push	pchać	[pxaʨ]
136	to throw	rzucać	[ˈʒuʦaʨ]
137	to tie	wiązać	[ˈvʲɔ̃zaʨ]
138	to sew	szyć	[ʃɨʨ]
139	to count	liczyć	[ˈʎiʧɨʨ]
140	to say	mówić	[ˈmuviʨ]
141	to sing	śpiewać	[ˈɕpʲɛvaʨ]
142	to play	bawić się	[ˈbavʲiʨ ɕɛ̃]
143	to float	pływać	[ˈpwɨvaʨ]
144	to flow	płynąć	[ˈpwɨnɔ̃ʨ]
145	to freeze	marznąć	[ˈmarznɔ̃ʨ]
146	to swell	pęcznieć	[ˈpɛ̃ʧɲɛʨ]
147	sun	słońce	[ˈswɔɲʦɛ]
148	moon	księżyc	[ˈkɕɛ̃ʒɨʦ]
149	star	gwiazda	[ˈɡvʲazda]
150	water	woda	[ˈvɔda]
151	rain	deszcz	[dɛʃʧ]
152	river	rzeka	[ˈʒɛka]
153	lake	jezioro	[jɛˈʑɔrɔ]
154	sea	morze	[ˈmɔʒɛ]
155	salt	sól	[sul]
156	stone	kamień	[ˈkamʲɛɲ]
157	sand	piasek	[ˈpʲasɛk]
158	dust	kurz	[kuʃ]
159	earth	ziemia	[ˈʑɛmʲa]
160	cloud	chmura	[ˈxmura]
161	fog	mgła	[mɡwa]
162	sky	niebo	[ˈɲɛbɔ]
163	wind	wiatr	[vʲiatr]
164	snow	śnieg	[ɕɲɛk]
165	ice	lód	[lut]
166	smoke	dym	[dɨm]
167	fire	ogień	[ˈɔɡʲɛɲ]
168	ash	popiół	[ˈpɔpʲuw]
169	to burn	palić się	[ˈpaʎiʨ ɕɛ̃]
170	road	droga	[ˈdrɔɡa]
171	mountain	góra	[ˈɡura]
172	red	czerwony	[ʧɛrˈvɔnɨ]
173	green	zielony	[ʑɛˈlɔnɨ]
174	yellow	żółty	[ˈʒuwtɨ]
175	white	biały	[ˈbʲawɨ]
176	black	czarny	[ˈʧarnɨ]
177	night	noc	[nɔʦ]
178	day	dzień	[ʥɛɲ]
179	year	rok	[rɔk]
180	warm	ciepło	[ˈʨɛpwɔ]
181	cold	zimno	[ˈʑimnɔ]
182	full	pełny	[ˈpɛwnɨ]
183	new	nowy	[ˈnɔvɨ]
184	old	stary	[ˈstarɨ]
185	good	dobry	[ˈdɔbrɨ]
186	bad	zły	[zwɨ]
187	rotten	zgniły	[ˈzɡɲiwɨ]
188	dirty	brudny	[ˈbrudnɨ]
189	straight	prosty	[ˈprɔstɨ]
190	round	okrągły	[ɔˈkrɔ̃ɡwɨ]
191	sharp (as a knife)	ostry	[ˈɔstrɨ]
192	dull (as a knife)	tępy	[ˈtɛ̃pɨ]
193	smooth	gładki	[ˈɡwatkɨ]
194	wet	mokry	[ˈmɔkrɨ]
195	dry	suchy	[ˈsuxɨ]
196	correct	poprawny, prawidłowy	[pɔˈpravnɨ]
197	near	blisko	[ˈbʎiskɔ]
198	far	daleko	[daˈlɛkɔ]
199	right	prawy	[ˈpravɨ]
200	left	lewy	[ˈlɛvɨ]
201	at	do	[dɔ]
202	in	w	[v]
203	with	z	[z]
204	and	i	[i]
205	if	jeżeli	[jɛˈʒɛʎɨ]
206	because	bo	[bɔ]
207	name	imię	[ˈimʲɛ̃]

* the personal pronouns are frequently omitted

• Orthography :

When the words have various forms (verbs conjugation, gender and number agreement, declensions), the orthography is the following :

• verbs : infinitive
• other words : masculine or neutral, singular, nominative (subject)

For specific cases (no infinitive, feminine name, plural name for instance), the simplest form is used.

Bibliography

• Dictionnaire de poche français-polonais / polonais-français, Wiedza Powszechna, Warszawa 2004 - ISBN 83-214-0938-5
• Les langages de l'humanité (Michel Malherbe), Robert Laffont, Paris 1995 - ISBN 2-221-05947-6

External links

• Polish dictionaries (Lexilogos)
• Multilanguage dictionary
• Wiktionary : Swadesh list
• Wikisłownik (Polish Wiktionary)

Swadesh lists
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 – Chinese: Cantonese, Gan (p), Mandarin (t), Min Nan (Amoy), Old Chinese (p) – Croatian – Czech – Danish – Dutch – Egyptian (Middle)  – Esperanto – Estonian – Finnish – Fiji Hindi – French (p) – Frisian (West) – Friulian – Georgian (t,p) – German (p) – Greek (modern) (p), Greek (ancient) – Guaraní – Haida – Haitian Creole – Hausa – Hindi – Hittite – Hmong (White) – Hungarian – Icelandic – Indonesian – Irish – Istro-Romanian – Italian (p) – Japanese (t) – Kashubian – Khmer (p) – Korean (t) – Kurdish – Latvian – Lingala – Lithuanian – Luwian – Macedonian (t) – Malagasy – Malay – Maltese – Megleno-Romanian – Mongolian – Old Portuguese (p) – Ossetian (p) – Polish (p) – Portuguese (p) – Proto-Indo-European – Purepecha – Quechua – Romani – Romanian – Russian – Sanskrit (t) – Scottish Gaelic – Serbian – Slovenian – Spanish (p) – Sranan – Swahili – Swedish – Tagalog – Tajik (t) – Tahitian – Thai (t) – Tocharian B – Turkish – Vietnamese – Walloon – Zulu
The list may also include: (t) the transcription in Latin characters; (p) the phonetic transcription