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 Old Czechčeščina edit (207) 1 I (1sg )jáz 2 you (2sg )ty 3 he , she , it (3sg )on ona ono 4 we (1pl )my 5 you (2pl )vy 6 they (3pl )oni ony ona 7 this tento tato toto sen sie se 8 that onen ona ono 9 here tu zde sde 10 there tame tamo onde 11 who kto 12 what čso 13 where kde 14 when kdy 15 how jako jake jak kako kak 16 not ne 17 all veš všě vše 18 many mnoho 19 some několiko několik 20 few málo nemnoho 21 other druhý jiný 22 one jeden 23 two dva 24 three třie 25 four čtyřie 26 five pět 27 big velký 28 long dlúhý 29 wide široký 30 thick tlustý 31 heavy těžký 32 small malý 33 short krátký 34 narrow úzký 35 thin tenký 36 woman žena 37 man (adult male)muž 38 man (human being)člověk 39 child dietě 40 wife malženka žena chot 41 husband malžen muž chot 42 mother máti matka 43 father otec 44 animal zvieřě 45 fish ryba 46 bird pták 47 dog pes 48 louse veš 49 snake had 50 worm črv 51 tree strom 52 forest les 53 stick hól klát kyj prut tyčě 54 fruit ovoce plod 55 seed siemě 56 leaf list 57 root kořen 58 bark (of a tree)kóra 59 flower květ 60 grass tráva 61 rope lana povraz šňóra 62 skin kóžě 63 meat maso 64 blood krev 65 bone kost 66 fat (noun)tuk sádlo 67 egg vajce 68 horn roh 69 tail ocas chvost 70 feather pero péro 71 hair vlas 72 head hlava 73 ear ucho 74 eye oko 75 nose nos 76 mouth usta 77 tooth zub 78 tongue (organ)jazyk 79 fingernail nohet nehet 80 foot chodidlo noha 81 leg noha 82 knee koleno 83 hand ruka 84 wing křídlo 85 belly břuch(o) břich(o) teřich 86 guts útroba třěvo 87 neck krk šíjě 88 back chřbet zád 89 breast prs 90 heart srdce 91 liver játry 92 to drink píti 93 to eat jiesti 94 to bite kúsati hrýzti hryzati 95 to suck ssáti srkati 96 to spit pľvati 97 to vomit bľvati vracěti 98 to blow fúkati dúti vieti 99 to breathe dychati 100 to laugh smieti sě 101 to see viděti 102 to hear slyšěti 103 to know věděti znáti 104 to think mysliti mnieti 105 to smell cútiti čúti voněti 106 to fear báti sě strachovati sě 107 to sleep spáti 108 to live žíti 109 to die mřieti umřieti zemřieti 110 to kill zabiti usmrtiti unaviti 111 to fight bojovati válčiti 112 to hunt loviti 113 to hit udeřiti 114 to cut řězati krájeti sieci 115 to split rozděliti 116 to stab bósti píchati 117 to scratch škrabati drápati 118 to dig kopati rýti 119 to swim plavati 120 to fly letěti létati 121 to walk jíti choditi 122 to come přijíti 123 to lie (as in a bed) ležěti 124 to sit seděti 125 to stand státi 126 to turn (intransitive) obrátiti 127 to fall pásti padati 128 to give dáti dávati 129 to hold držěti 130 to squeeze stlačiti zmačkati stisknúti 131 to rub třieti 132 to wash mýti práti 133 to wipe utierati 134 to pull vláčěti smýkati táhati 135 to push tlačiti 136 to throw hoditi házěti 137 to tie vázati 138 to sew šíti 139 to count čísti počítati 140 to say mluviti řiekati věcěti 141 to sing pieti zpievati 142 to play jhráti 143 to float plúti 144 to flow téci 145 to freeze mrznúti 146 to swell otéci opuchnúti 147 sun slunce slnce 148 moon měsiec luna 149 star hvězda 150 water voda 151 rain déšč 152 river řěka 153 lake jezero 154 sea moře 155 salt sól 156 stone kámen 157 sand piesek 158 dust prach prst 159 earth země 160 cloud mrak oblak 161 fog mhla 162 sky nebe 163 wind vietr 164 snow snieh 165 ice led 166 smoke dým 167 fire oheň 168 ash popel 169 to burn hořěti 170 road cěsta silnicě stzě stezka 171 mountain hora 172 red črvený rudý 173 green zelený 174 yellow žlutý 175 white bielý 176 black črný 177 night noc 178 day den 179 year rok léto summer 180 warm teplý 181 cold studený chladný 182 full plný 183 new nový 184 old starý 185 good dobrý 186 bad zlý špatný 187 rotten shnilý 188 dirty špinavý 189 straight přiemý prostý 190 round okrúhlý 191 sharp (as a knife)ostrý 192 dull (as a knife)tupý 193 smooth hladký 194 wet mokrý vlhký 195 dry suchý 196 correct správný 197 near blízký 198 far daleký 199 right pravý 200 left levý 201 at při u 202 in v ve 203 with s se 204 and a i 205 if jestli jestliže pokud 206 because bo protože jelikož poňavadž 207 name jmě
Swadesh lists
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