This is a Swadesh list of words in Maltese English .
Presentation [ edit ] 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.
№ English MalteseMalti edit (207) 1 I (1sg )jien jiena 2 you (2sg )int inti 3 he , she , it (3sg )hu masculine huwa masculine hi feminine hija feminine 4 we (1pl )aħna 5 you (2pl )intom 6 they (3pl )huma 7 this dan 8 that dak 9 here hawn 10 there hemm 11 who min 12 what x’inhu għal xiex x’ 13 where fejn 14 when meta 15 how kif 16 not mhux 17 all kull 18 many ħafna 19 some xi 20 few ftit 21 other ieħor 22 one wieħed 23 two tnejn żewġ 24 three tlieta 25 four erbgħa 26 five ħamsa 27 big kbir 28 long twil 29 wide wiesa’ 30 thick oħxon 31 heavy tqil 32 small żgħir 33 short qasir 34 narrow dejjaq 35 thin irqiq 36 woman mara 37 man (adult male)raġel 38 man (human being)bniedem uman 39 child tifel 40 wife mara 41 husband raġel 42 mother omm 43 father missier 44 animal annimal 45 fish ħut 46 bird għasfur 47 dog kelb 48 louse qamla 49 snake serp 50 worm dudu 51 tree siġra 52 forest foresta 53 stick bastun ħatar stikka 54 fruit frott 55 seed żerriegħa 56 leaf werqa 57 root għerq 58 bark (of a tree)qoxra 59 flower fjura warda 60 grass ħaxix 61 rope ħabel 62 skin ġilda 63 meat laħam 64 blood demm 65 bone għadma 66 fat (noun)xaħam 67 egg bajda 68 horn qarn 69 tail denb 70 feather rixa 71 hair xagħar 72 head ras 73 ear widna 74 eye għajn 75 nose mnieħer 76 mouth ħalq 77 tooth sinna 78 tongue (organ)lsien 79 fingernail difer 80 foot sieq 81 leg riġel 82 knee rkoppa 83 hand id 84 wing ġewnaħ 85 belly żaqq 86 guts msaren 87 neck għonq 88 back dahar 89 breast sider ħodon żejża 90 heart qalb 91 liver fwied 92 to drink xorob 93 to eat kiel 94 to bite gidem 95 to suck reda’ 96 to spit beżaq 97 to vomit qala’ 98 to blow nefaħ 99 to breathe ħa nifs 100 to laugh daħaq 101 to see ra 102 to hear sema’ 103 to know jaf 104 to think ħaseb 105 to smell xamm 106 to fear beża’ 107 to sleep raqad 108 to live għex 109 to die miet 110 to kill qatel 111 to fight ġġieled tqabad tqatel 112 to hunt kkaċċja 113 to hit laqat 114 to cut qata’ 115 to split qasam 116 to stab ġerraħ 117 to scratch barax giref ħakk 118 to dig ħaffer 119 to swim għam 120 to fly tar 121 to walk mexa 122 to come ġie 123 to lie (as in a bed) mtedd 124 to sit poġġa 125 to stand waqaf 126 to turn (intransitive) dar 127 to fall waqa’ 128 to give ta 129 to hold żamm 130 to squeeze għafas 131 to rub ħakk għorok 132 to wash ħasel 133 to wipe mesaħ 134 to pull ġibed 135 to push deffes 136 to throw rema 137 to tie rabat 138 to sew ħiet 139 to count għadd 140 to say qal 141 to sing għanna kanta 142 to play lagħab 143 to float żamm fil-wiċċ 144 to flow ġera 145 to freeze inġazza ffriża 146 to swell żżembaħ 147 sun xemx 148 moon qamar 149 star stilla niġma kewkba 150 water ilma 151 rain xita 152 river xmara 153 lake għadira 154 sea baħar 155 salt melħ 156 stone ġebla ħaġra 157 sand ramel 158 dust trab 159 earth ħamrija art 160 cloud sħaba 161 fog ċpar 162 sky sema 163 wind riħ 164 snow silġ borra 165 ice silġ 166 smoke duħħan 167 fire nar 168 ash rmied 169 to burn ħaraq 170 road triq 171 mountain muntanja 172 red aħmar 173 green aħdar 174 yellow isfar 175 white abjad 176 black iswed 177 night lejl 178 day jum nhar ġurnata 179 year sena 180 warm sħun 181 cold kiesaħ 182 full mimli 183 new ġdid 184 old qadim antik xiħ 185 good tajjeb 186 bad ħażin 187 rotten mħassar 188 dirty maħmuġ 189 straight dritt 190 round tond 191 sharp (as a knife)qattiegħi 192 dull (as a knife)193 smooth lixx 194 wet mxarrab 195 dry niexef xott 196 correct tajjeb korrett 197 near ħdejn 198 far bogħod 199 right lemin 200 left xellug 201 at għand 202 in f’ 203 with ma’ b’ 204 and u 205 if jekk 206 because għax 207 name isem
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