Appendix:Egyptian Swadesh list

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This is a Swadesh list of words in Egyptian, compared with definitions in English.

Presentation

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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.

List

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Note: The writing system of Egyptian was almost exclusively consonantal. The vowels have not yet been reconstructed with certainty, and are thus not included.


No. English Egyptian
r(ꜣ) n(j) kmt
1 I jnk
2 you (singular) Old Egyptian: ṯwt (m.), ṯmt (f.)
Middle Egyptian: ntk (m.), ntṯ (f.)
Late Egyptian: mntk (m.), mntt (f.)
3 he, she, it Old Egyptian: swt (m.), stt (f.)
Middle Egyptian: ntf (m.), nts (f.)
Late Egyptian: mntf (m.), mntst (f.)
4 we jnn
5 you (plural) Old and Middle Egyptian: ntṯn
Late Egyptian: mnttn
6 they Old and Middle Egyptian: ntsn
Late Egyptian: mntw
7 this Old Egyptian: pj, pw, pn (m. det.), tj, tw, tn (f. det.), nw, nn (pron.)
Middle Egyptian: pn (m.), tn (f.), nn (pl.)
Late Egyptian: pꜣj (m.), tꜣj (f.), nꜣj (pl.)
8 that Old Egyptian: pf (m. det.), tf (f. det.), nf (pron.)
Middle Egyptian: pf (m.), tf (f.), nf (pl.)
Late Egyptian: pꜣj (m.), tꜣj (f.), nꜣj (pl.)
9 here ꜥn, ꜥꜣ
10 there ꜥf
11 who mj
12 what mj, jḫ, jšst
13 where ṯnj
14 when zy nw
15 how mj mj, mj jḫ
16 not Old Egyptian: nj
Middle Egyptian: nj, nn
Late Egyptian: bw, bn
17 all nb
18 many ꜥšꜣ
19 some nhj
20 few nhj
21 other ky
22 one wꜥ
23 two snwj
24 three ḫmtw
25 four jfdw
26 five djw
27 big ꜥꜣ, wr
28 long ꜣw
29 wide wsḫ
30 thick wmt
31 heavy dns
32 small Old and Middle Egyptian: nḏs
Late Egyptian: šrr
33 short ḥwꜥ
34 narrow gꜣw, ḥns
35 thin pꜣq
36 woman zt, ḥmt
37 man (adult male) z
38 man (human being) rmṯ
39 child ẖrd, ms
40 wife ḥmt
41 husband hj
42 mother mwt
43 father jt
44 animal ꜥwt (four-legged animals)
45 fish rm
46 bird ꜣpd
47 dog ṯzm
48 louse ktt
49 snake ḥfꜣw (m.), ḥfꜣt (f.)
50 worm fnṯ
51 tree nht, šn
52 forest
53 stick ḫt
54 fruit dqr, jšdt
55 seed prt
56 leaf gꜣbt
57 root wꜣb, mnyt
58 bark (of a tree) qqtj
59 flower ḥrrt, wnb
60 grass ꜥnb
61 rope nwḥ
62 skin jnm
63 meat jwf
64 blood znf
65 bone qs
66 fat (noun) mrḥt
67 egg swḥt
68 horn ꜥb, ḥnwt, db
69 tail ḫbzt, sd
70 feather šwt
71 hair šnj
72 head chiefly Old and Middle Egyptian: tp
chiefly Late Egyptian: ḏꜣḏꜣ
73 ear msḏr
74 eye jrt
75 nose fnḏ
76 mouth r(ꜣ)
77 tooth jbḥ, nḥḏt
78 tongue (organ) ns
79 fingernail ꜥnt
80 foot rd
81 leg wꜥrt, sbq
82 knee pꜣḏ
83 hand ḏrt,
84 wing ḏnḥ, dmꜣt
85 belly ẖt
86 guts mẖtw, ꜣjs
87 neck ḫḫ, nḥbt
88 back sꜣ, psḏ, jꜣt
89 breast mnḏ
90 heart jb, ḥꜣtj
91 liver mjzt
92 to drink Old Egyptian: zwr
Middle and Late Egyptian: zwj
93 to eat wnm
94 to bite pzḥ
95 to suck snq
96 to spit bšj, psg, tf
97 to vomit qꜣꜥ, qjs
98 to blow nfj
99 to breathe ssn, tpr
100 to laugh zbṯ
101 to see mꜣꜣ
102 to hear sḏm
103 to know rḫ
104 to think ḫmt
105 to smell sn
106 to fear snḏ
107 to sleep qdd
108 to live ꜥnḫ
109 to die mwt
110 to kill ẖdb
111 to fight ꜥḥꜣ
112 to hunt nw, bḥs
113 to hit ḥwj, zḫj
114 to cut šꜥd, šꜥ
115 to split wpj
116 to stab ḫmt, dm
117 to scratch ꜣẖꜥ, nqꜥ
118 to dig šꜣd
119 to swim nbj, mḥj
120 to fly pꜣj, ꜥpj
121 to walk ḫpj
122 to come jj, jwj
123 to lie (as in a bed) sḏr
124 to sit ḥmsj
125 to stand ꜥḥꜥ
126 to turn (intransitive) pẖr
127 to fall ḫr
128 to give rḏj
129 to hold mḥ
130 to squeeze jꜥf
131 to rub zjn
132 to wash jꜥj
133 to wipe sk
134 to pull sṯꜣ, jtḥ
135 to push wdj
136 to throw qmꜣ
137 to tie ṯz
138 to sew sṯꜣ, jtḥ
139 to count ḥsb
140 to say ḏd
141 to sing ḥsj
142 to play ḥꜥb
143 to float
144 to flow ḫdj, ꜥnq
145 to freeze ḥs
146 to swell šfw
147 sun rꜥ
148 moon jꜥḥ
149 star sbꜣ
150 water mw
151 rain ḥwt
152 river jtrw
153 lake š, ḥnt
154 sea wꜣḏ-wr
155 salt ḥmꜣt
156 stone jnr
157 sand šꜥy
158 dust ḫmw
159 earth tꜣ
160 cloud sṯzw, gp
161 fog sjm
162 sky pt
163 wind ṯꜣw
164 snow Old and Middle Egyptian: —
Late Egyptian: sꜣrꜣqw
165 ice
166 smoke ḥtj
167 fire sḏt, ḫt
168 ash ssf, later sfsf
169 to burn ḏꜣf, rkḥ, mꜣẖ
170 road wꜣt
171 mountain ḏw
172 red dšr (including pink, orange, brown)
173 green wꜣḏ (including blue)
174 yellow qnjt
175 white ḥḏ
176 black km
177 night grḥ
178 day hrw
179 year rnpt
180 warm šm
181 cold qb
182 full mḥ
183 new mꜣw
184 old jꜣw
185 good nfr
186 bad bjn
187 rotten ḥwꜣ
188 dirty ꜥb
189 straight ꜥqꜣ
190 round dbn, šn
191 sharp (as a knife) spd
192 dull (as a knife) nẖs
193 smooth nꜥꜥ
194 wet bꜣ
195 dry šw
196 correct ꜥqꜣ, mꜣꜥ, mtj
197 near tkn
198 far wꜣ, ḥr
199 right wnmj, jmn
200 left smḥj, jꜣbj
201 at ḥr, m
202 in m
203 with ḥnꜥ, ḫr
Late Egyptian: also jrm
204 and
205 if jr
206 because ḏr ntt, n ntt, ḥr ntt
207 name rn
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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