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 Tocharian Bedit (194) 1 I (1sg )ñäś 2 you (2sg )tuwe 3 he , she , it (3sg )su 4 we (1pl )wes 5 you (2pl )yes 6 they (3pl )cey 7 this se 8 that su samp 9 here tane 10 there tane omp 11 who kᵤse 12 what kᵤse 13 where ente 14 when ente 15 how mäkte 16 not mā 17 all poñc 18 many māka 19 some ṣemi 20 few totka 21 other allek 22 one ṣe 23 two wi 24 three trey 25 four śtwer 26 five piś 27 big orotstse 28 long pärkare 29 wide aurtstse 30 thick ātstse 31 heavy kramartse 32 small lykaśke totka 33 short 34 narrow 35 thin 36 woman klyiye śana 37 man (adult male)eṅkwe 38 man (human being)śaumo 39 child śamaśke 40 wife śana 41 husband petso 42 mother mācer 43 father pācer 44 animal luwo 45 fish laks 46 bird salamo luwo 47 dog ku 48 louse pärśeri 49 snake arṣāklo auk 50 worm yel 51 tree stām 52 forest wartto karāś 53 stick śakāto 54 fruit oko 55 seed sārm śäktālye 56 leaf pilta 57 root witsako 58 bark (of a tree)enmetre 59 flower pyāpyo 60 grass atiyo 61 rope śerkw 62 skin ewe yetse 63 meat misa 64 blood yasar 65 bone āy 66 fat (noun)ṣalype 67 egg 68 horn krorīya 69 tail pako 70 feather paruwa plural 71 hair matsi 72 head āśce 73 ear klautso 74 eye ek 75 nose meli 76 mouth koyṃ 77 tooth keme 78 tongue (organ)kantwo 79 fingernail mekwa 80 foot paiyye 81 leg ckācko 82 knee keni dual 83 hand ṣar 84 wing 85 belly kātso 86 guts kātso 87 neck kor 88 back sark 89 breast canke 90 heart arañce 91 liver wästarye 92 to drink yok- 93 to eat śu- 94 to bite tsāk- 95 to suck tsuk- 96 to spit pitk- 97 to vomit ankaiṃ yām- 98 to blow pin- 99 to breathe anāsk- satāsk- 100 to laugh ker- 101 to see läk- 102 to hear klyaus- 103 to know aik- kärs- 104 to think pälsk- 105 to smell wärsk- 106 to fear pärsk- 107 to sleep klänts- 108 to live śāy- 109 to die sruk- 110 to kill kau- 111 to fight wät- 112 to hunt śer- 113 to hit kärn- 114 to cut kärst- lātk- 115 to split kaut- 116 to stab tsop- 117 to scratch 118 to dig rāp- 119 to swim nāsk- 120 to fly plus- 121 to walk i- 122 to come käm- 123 to lie (as in a bed) lyäk- 124 to sit ṣäm- āsk- 125 to stand käly- 126 to turn (intransitive) klutk- spārtt- 127 to fall klāy- 128 to give ai- 129 to hold täl- 130 to squeeze klup- nusk- 131 to rub lyu- kānt- 132 to wash lik- 133 to wipe li- 134 to pull sälk- 135 to push nätk- 136 to throw kärsk- säl- 137 to tie śänm- kärk- 138 to sew wāp- 139 to count ṣäṃṣ- 140 to say we- 141 to sing pi- 142 to play kāñm- 143 to float plus- 144 to flow resk- 145 to freeze 146 to swell staukk- 147 sun kauṃ 148 moon meñe 149 star ścirye 150 water war 151 rain swese 152 river cake 153 lake lyam 154 sea samudtär 155 salt salyiye 156 stone kärweñe 157 sand warañce 158 dust tweye taur 159 earth keṃ 160 cloud tarkär 161 fog 162 sky iprer 163 wind yente 164 snow śiñce 165 ice 166 smoke 167 fire puwar 168 ash taur tweye ? 169 to burn tsāk- pälk- 170 road ytārye 171 mountain ṣale 172 red ratre 173 green motartstse 174 yellow tute 175 white ārkwi 176 black erkent 177 night yṣiye 178 day kauṃ 179 year pikul 180 warm emalle 181 cold krośce 182 full ite 183 new ñuwe 184 old ktsaitstse ? 185 good kartse 186 bad yolo pakwāre 187 rotten āmpau 188 dirty sal kraketstse 189 straight 190 round 191 sharp (as a knife)mātre akwatse 192 dull (as a knife)mālle ? 193 smooth ṣmare 194 wet karītstse 195 dry asāre 196 correct 197 near akartte ysape etsuwai 198 far lau lauke 199 right saiwai adverb 200 left śwālyai adverb 201 at -ne 202 in -ne 203 with śle 204 and ṣp 205 if krui ente 206 because kuce mäkte 207 name ñem
Swadesh lists
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