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 TagalogTagalog edit (207) 1 I (1sg )ako 2 you (2sg )ikaw kayo 3 he , she , it (3sg )siya 4 we (1pl )tayo inclusive kami exclusive 5 you (2pl )kayo 6 they (3pl )sila 7 this ito 8 that iyan far from speaker but closer to person being spoken to iyon far from speaker and person being speaker to 9 here dito 10 there diyan far from speaker but closer to person being spoken to doon far from speaker and person being speaker to 11 who sino 12 what ano 13 where saan 14 when kailan 15 how paano 16 not hindi 17 all lahat 18 many marami 19 some ilan 20 few kaunti 21 other iba 22 one isa 23 two dalawa 24 three tatlo 25 four apat 26 five lima 27 big malaki 28 long mahaba 29 wide malapad 30 thick makapal 31 heavy mabigat 32 small maliit munti pandak of stature 33 short maiksi maikli 34 narrow makitid 35 thin manipis payat 36 woman babae 37 man (adult male)lalaki 38 man (human being)tao 39 child anak bata 40 wife asawa 41 husband asawa 42 mother ina 43 father ama 44 animal hayop 45 fish isda 46 bird ibon 47 dog aso 48 louse kuto 49 snake ahas 50 worm uod 51 tree puno 52 forest gubat 53 stick patpat 54 fruit bunga 55 seed buto binhi 56 leaf dahon 57 root ugat 58 bark (of a tree)balat 59 flower bulaklak 60 grass damo 61 rope lubid 62 skin balat 63 meat laman 64 blood dugo 65 bone buto 66 fat (noun)taba 67 egg itlog 68 horn sungay 69 tail buntot 70 feather balahibo 71 hair buhok 72 head ulo 73 ear tainga 74 eye mata 75 nose ilong 76 mouth bibig 77 tooth ngipin 78 tongue (organ)dila 79 fingernail kuko 80 foot paa 81 leg binti 82 knee tuhod 83 hand kamay 84 wing pakpak 85 belly tiyan 86 guts bituka 87 neck leeg 88 back likod 89 breast suso 90 heart puso 91 liver atay 92 to drink uminom 93 to eat kumain 94 to bite kumagat 95 to suck sumipsip 96 to spit dumura 97 to vomit sumuka 98 to blow umihip 99 to breathe huminga 100 to laugh tumawa 101 to see makita 102 to hear marinig 103 to know umalam 104 to think mag-isip 105 to smell umamoy 106 to fear matakot 107 to sleep matulog 108 to live mabuhay 109 to die mamatay 110 to kill pumatay 111 to fight lumaban 112 to hunt mangaso 113 to hit tumama 114 to cut pumutol 115 to split humati 116 to stab sumaksak 117 to scratch magkamot 118 to dig maghukay 119 to swim lumangoy 120 to fly lumipad 121 to walk maglakad 122 to come dumating 123 to lie (as in a bed) humiga 124 to sit umupo 125 to stand tumayo 126 to turn (intransitive) lumiko 127 to fall mahulog 128 to give magbigay 129 to hold humawak 130 to squeeze pumusil 131 to rub magkuskos 132 to wash maghugas 133 to wipe magpunas 134 to pull humila 135 to push tumulak 136 to throw magtapon 137 to tie magtali 138 to sew magtahi 139 to count magbilang 140 to say magsabi 141 to sing umawit 142 to play maglaro 143 to float lumutang 144 to flow umagos 145 to freeze tumigas 146 to swell mamaga 147 sun araw 148 moon buwan 149 star bituin 150 water tubig 151 rain ulan 152 river ilog 153 lake lawa 154 sea dagat 155 salt asin 156 stone bato 157 sand buhangin 158 dust alikabok 159 earth lupa 160 cloud ulap 161 fog hamog 162 sky langit 163 wind hangin 164 snow niyebe 165 ice yelo 166 smoke usok 167 fire apoy 168 ash abo 169 to burn magsunog 170 road daan 171 mountain bundok 172 red pula 173 green luntian 174 yellow dilaw 175 white puti 176 black itim 177 night gabi 178 day araw 179 year taon 180 warm mainit 181 cold malamig 182 full puno 183 new bago 184 old luma inanimate matanda animate 185 good mabuti 186 bad masama 187 rotten bulok 188 dirty marumi 189 straight tuwid 190 round bilog 191 sharp (as a knife)matalim 192 dull (as a knife)mapurol 193 smooth makinis 194 wet basa 195 dry tuyo 196 correct tama 197 near malapit 198 far malayo 199 right kanan 200 left kaliwa 201 at sa 202 in sa 203 with kasama 204 and at 205 if kung 206 because dahil 207 name ngalan
Parlons tagalog (Marina Pottier), L'Harmattan, Paris 1999 - →ISBN
Les langages de l'humanité (Michel Malherbe), Robert Laffont, Paris 1995 - →ISBN
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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