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 Ligurianligure edit (207) 1 I (1sg )mi 2 you (2sg )ti 3 he , she , it (3sg )lê 4 we (1pl )noî niâtri 5 you (2pl )voî viâtri 6 they (3pl )lô liâtri 7 this quésto sto 8 that quéllo 9 here chi 10 there la 11 who chi 12 what cöse cösa 13 where dôve 14 when quànde 15 how cómme 16 not no 17 all tùtto 18 many tànto 19 some quàrche 20 few pöco 21 other âtro 22 one un 23 two doî masculine dôe feminine 24 three tréi masculine træ feminine 25 four quàttro 26 five çìnque 27 big grànde 28 long lóngo 29 wide làrgo 30 thick drûo 31 heavy pezànte 32 small picìn 33 short cùrto 34 narrow stréito 35 thin sotî 36 woman dònna 37 man (adult male)òmmo 38 man (human being)persónn-a 39 child figeu 40 wife mogê 41 husband màio marîo 42 mother moæ 43 father poæ 44 animal animâ 45 fish péscio 46 bird öxéllo 47 dog càn 48 louse pighéuggio 49 snake serpénte 50 worm verme 51 tree èrbo 52 forest bosco 53 stick bacco 54 fruit frûta 55 seed armella 56 leaf féuggia 57 root réixe 58 bark (of a tree)scorsa 59 flower sciô 60 grass erba 61 rope corda 62 skin pelle 63 meat carne 64 blood sàngoe 65 bone osso 66 fat (noun)grascia 67 egg êuvo 68 horn corno 69 tail côa 70 feather penna 71 hair cavello 72 head testa 73 ear oêgia 74 eye éuggio 75 nose nâzo 76 mouth bocca 77 tooth dente 78 tongue (organ)léngoa 79 fingernail ongia 80 foot pê 81 leg ganba 82 knee zenoggio 83 hand man 84 wing âa 85 belly pansa 86 guts intestin 87 neck collo 88 back schénn-a 89 breast pêto 90 heart cheu 91 liver figæto 92 to drink béive 93 to eat mangiâ 94 to bite adentâ 95 to suck susâ 96 to spit spuâ 97 to vomit vomitâ 98 to blow sciusciâ 99 to breathe respiâ 100 to laugh rîe 101 to see védde 102 to hear sentî 103 to know savéi 104 to think pensâ 105 to smell ödoâ 106 to fear témme 107 to sleep dormî 108 to live vîve 109 to die moî 110 to kill amasâ 111 to fight conbatte 112 to hunt cacciâ 113 to hit batte 114 to cut tagiâ 115 to split dividde 116 to stab cotelâ 117 to scratch gratâ 118 to dig scavâ 119 to swim nuâ 120 to fly xoâ 121 to walk caminâ 122 to come vegnî 123 to lie (as in a bed) destendise 124 to sit asetâse 125 to stand stâ in piêi126 to turn (intransitive) gjâ 127 to fall càzze 128 to give dâ 129 to hold tegnî 130 to squeeze spremme 131 to rub fretâ 132 to wash lavâ 133 to wipe sciugâ 134 to pull tiâ 135 to push spinze 136 to throw tiâ 137 to tie ligâ 138 to sew cuxî 139 to count contâ 140 to say dî 141 to sing cantâ 142 to play zugâ 143 to float galezâ 144 to flow scorre 145 to freeze zeâ 146 to swell gonfiâ 147 sun sô 148 moon lùnn-a 149 star stélla 150 water ægoa 151 rain ægoa 152 river sciùmme 153 lake lâgo 154 sea mâ 155 salt sâ 156 stone prîa 157 sand ænn-a 158 dust pûa 159 earth tæra 160 cloud nûvia 161 fog nêgia 162 sky çê 163 wind vento 164 snow néive 165 ice giassa 166 smoke fumme 167 fire fêugo 168 ash çeine 169 to burn brüxâ 170 road stradda 171 mountain montagna 172 red rosso 173 green verde 174 yellow giâno 175 white gianco 176 black néigro 177 night néutte 178 day giorno 179 year anno 180 warm câdo 181 cold fréido 182 full pìn 183 new nêuvo nêuo 184 old vêgio 185 good bon 186 bad catîvo 187 rotten marso 188 dirty sücido 189 straight drîto 190 round rióndo 191 sharp (as a knife)afilòu 192 dull (as a knife)smusòu 193 smooth lìscio 194 wet bagnòu 195 dry sécco 196 correct giùsto 197 near arénte vixìn 198 far lontàn 199 right drîta dèstra 200 left mancìnn-a scinìstra 201 at a 202 in in 203 with con 204 and e 205 if se 206 because perché 207 name nómme
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
(edit this template )
