Appendix:Scottish Gaelic Swadesh list

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This is a Swadesh list of words in Scottish Gaelic, compared with definitions in 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.

List[edit]

No. English Scottish Gaelic
Gàidhlig
1 I mi
2 you (singular) thu
3 he, she, it e
4 we sinn
5 you (plural) sibh
6 they iad
7 this seo
8 that sin, siud
9 here an seo
10 there an sin, an siud
11 who (interrogative)
12 what ciod, dè (interrogative)
13 where càite (interrogative)
14 when cuin (interrogative)
15 how ciamar, cionnas (interrogative)
16 not cha, chan
17 all uile
18 many mòran
19 some cuid, feadhainn
20 few beagan
21 other eile
22 one aon
23 two
24 three trì
25 four ceithir
26 five còig
27 big mòr
28 long fada
29 wide leathann
30 thick tiugh
31 heavy trom
32 small beag
33 short goirid, geàrr
34 narrow cumhang
35 thin tana, caol
36 woman bean
37 man (adult male) fear
38 man (human being) duine
39 child leanabh, pàiste
40 wife bean-phòsta
41 husband fear-pòsta
42 mother màthair
43 father athair
44 animal ainmhidh
45 fish iasg
46 bird eun
47 dog
48 louse mial
49 snake nathair
50 worm cnuimh, boiteag
51 tree craobh
52 forest coille
53 stick bata
54 fruit toradh, meas
55 seed sìol
56 leaf duilleag
57 root freumh
58 bark (of a tree) rùsg
59 flower dithean, flùr
60 grass feur
61 rope ròpa
62 skin craiceann
63 meat feòil
64 blood fuil
65 bone cnàmh
66 fat (noun) saill
67 egg ugh
68 horn adharc
69 tail earball
70 feather ite
71 hair falt, gruag
72 head ceann
73 ear cluas
74 eye sùil
75 nose sròn
76 mouth beul
77 tooth fiacail
78 tongue (organ) teanga
79 fingernail ìne
80 foot cas
81 leg cas
82 knee glùn
83 hand làmh
84 wing sgiath
85 belly brù, broinn
86 guts mionach, caolain
87 neck muineal
88 back druim
89 breast cìoch
90 heart cridhe
91 liver adha
92 to drink òl
93 to eat ith
94 to bite bìd
95 to suck sùigh
96 to spit tilg smugaid
97 to vomit sgeith
98 to blow sèid
99 to breathe tarraing anail
100 to laugh gàir, dèan gàire
101 to see faic
102 to hear cluinn
103 to know tha fios aig
104 to think smaoinich
105 to smell feuch fàileadh
106 to fear gabh eagal
107 to sleep caidil
108 to live bi beò
109 to die bàsaich
110 to kill marbh
111 to fight sabaid
112 to hunt sealg
113 to hit buail
114 to cut geàrr
115 to split sgoilt
116 to stab sàth
117 to scratch sgròb
118 to dig cladhaich
119 to swim snàmh
120 to fly itealaich
121 to walk coisich
122 to come thig
123 to lie (as in a bed) laigh (state)
124 to sit suidh (state)
125 to stand seas (state)
126 to turn (intransitive) tionndaidh
127 to fall tuit
128 to give thoir
129 to hold cùm
130 to squeeze teannaich
131 to rub suath
132 to wash nigh
133 to wipe suath
134 to pull tarraing
135 to push brùth
136 to throw tilg
137 to tie ceangail
138 to sew fuaigh
139 to count cùnnt
140 to say abair, can
141 to sing seinn
142 to play cluich
143 to float bi a' fleòdradh
144 to flow ruith
145 to freeze reòdh
146 to swell at
147 sun grian
148 moon gealach
149 star rionnag
150 water uisge, bùrn
151 rain uisge
152 river abhainn
153 lake loch
154 sea muir, cuan, fairge
155 salt salann
156 stone clach
157 sand gainmheach
158 dust stùr, duslach
159 earth talamh
160 cloud sgòth, neul
161 fog ceò
162 sky adhar, speuran
163 wind gaoth
164 snow sneachd
165 ice deigh, eighre
166 smoke ceò, toit
167 fire teine
168 ash luath
169 to burn loisg
170 road rathad
171 mountain beinn
172 red ruadh, dearg
173 green glas, uaine
174 yellow buidhe
175 white geal
176 black dubh
177 night oidhche
178 day
179 year bliadhna
180 warm blàth
181 cold fuar
182 full làn
183 new ùr, nuadh
184 old sean
185 good math
186 bad dona, olc
187 rotten grod, loibhte
188 dirty salach
189 straight dìreach
190 round cruinn
191 sharp (as a knife) geur
192 dull (as a knife) maol
193 smooth mìn
194 wet fliuch
195 dry tioram
196 correct ceart
197 near faisg
198 far fada
199 right deas
200 left clì
201 at aig
202 in ann
203 with còmhla ri, le
204 and agus
205 if ma, nan/nam
206 because oir
207 name ainm

See also[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Les langages de l'humanité (Michel Malherbe), Robert Laffont, Paris 1995 - →ISBN

Further reading[edit]

Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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