Swadesh list

The Swadesh list, [ˈswɒdɛʃ], is a classic compilation of basic concepts for the purposes of historical-comparative linguistics. Translations of the Swadesh list into a set of languages allow researchers to quantify the interrelatedness of those languages. The Swadesh list is named after linguist Morris Swadesh. It is used in lexicostatistics (the quantitative assessment of the genealogical relatedness of languages) and glottochronology (the dating of language divergence). Because there are several different lists, some authors also refer to "Swadesh lists".

In conlanging, the Swadesh list is usually employed by language creators in order to get a sense of conlang's phonological character. It is also popular as a source for the creation of lexical items and in Proto-language group projects, to exemplify the different branches.

Principle

In origin, the words in the Swadesh lists were chosen for their universal, culturally independent availability in as many languages as possible, regardless of their "stability". Nevertheless, the stability of the resulting list of "universal" vocabulary under language change and the potential use of this fact for purposes of glottochronology have been analyzed by numerous authors.

The Swadesh list was put together by Morris Swadesh on the basis of his intuitions. More recent similar lists, such as the Dolgopolsky list (1964) or the Leipzig–Jakarta list (2009), are based on systematic data from many different languages, but they are not yet as widely known nor as widely used as the Swadesh list.

Usage

Lexicostatistical test lists are used in lexicostatistics to define subgroupings of languages, and in glottochronology to "provide dates for branching points in the tree". The task of defining (and counting the number) of cognate words in the list is far from trivial, and often is subject to dispute, because cognates do not necessarily look similar, and recognition of cognates presupposes knowledge of the sound laws of the respective languages. For example, English "wheel" and Sanskrit chakra are cognates, although they are not recognizable as such without knowledge of the history of both languages.

Swadesh 100 original list

Swadesh's final list, published in 1971, contains 100 terms. Explanations of the terms can be found in Swadesh 1952 or, where noted by a dagger (†), in Swadesh 1955. Note that only this original sequence clarifies the correct meaning which is lost in an alphabetical order, e.g., in the case "27. bark" (originally without the specification here added).

1. I (Pers.Pron.1.Sg.)
2. you (2.sg! 1952 thou & ye)
3. we (1955: inclusive)
4. this
5. that
6. who? (“?” not 1971)
7. what? (“?” not 1971)
8. not
9. all (of a number)
10. many
11. one
12. two
13. big
14. long (not wide)
15. small
16. woman
17. man (adult male human)
18. person (individual human)
19. fish (noun)
20. bird
21. dog
22. louse
23. tree (not log)
24. seed (noun)
25. leaf (botanics)
26. root (botanics)
27. bark (of tree)
28. skin (1952: person’s)
29. flesh (1952 meat, flesh)
30. blood
31. bone
32. grease (1952: fat, organic substance)
33. egg
34. horn (of bull etc., not 1952)†
35. tail
36. feather (large, not down)
37. hair (on head of humans)
38. head (anatomic)
39. ear
40. eye
41. nose
42. mouth
43. tooth (front, rather than molar)
44. tongue (anatomical)
45. claw (not in 1952)†
46. foot (not leg)
47. knee (not 1952)†
48. hand
49. belly (lower part of body, abdomen)
50. neck (not nape)
51. breasts (female; 1955 still breast)†
52. heart
53. liver
54. drink (verb)
55. eat (verb)
56. bite (verb)
57. see (verb)
58. hear (verb)
59. know (facts)
60. sleep (verb)
61. die (verb)
62. kill (verb)
63. swim (verb)
64. fly (verb)
65. walk (verb)
66. come (verb)
67. lie (on side, recline)
68. sit (verb)
69. stand (verb)
70. give (verb)
71. say (verb)†
72. sun
73. moon (not 1952)†
74. star
75. water (noun)
76. rain (noun, 1952 verb)
77. stone
78. sand
79. earth (soil)
80. cloud (not fog)
81. smoke (noun, of fire)
82. fire
83. ash(es)
84. burn (verb intr.!)
85. path (1952 road, trail; not street)
86. mountain (not hill)
87. red (color)
88. green (color)
89. yellow (color)
90. white (color)
91. black (color)
92. night
93. hot (adjective; 1952 warm, of weather)
94. cold (of weather)
95. full†
96. new
97. good
98. round (not 1952)†
99. dry (substance)
100. name

"Claw" was only added in 1955, but again replaced by many well-known specialists with "nail", because expressions for "claw" are not available in many old, extinct, or lesser known languages.

The 110-item Global Lexicostatistical Database list uses the original 100-item Swadesh list, in addition to 10 other words from the Swadesh–Yakhontov list.

Swadesh 207 list

The most used list nowadays is the Swadesh 207-word list, adapted from Swadesh 1952.

1. I
2. you (singular)
3. he
4. we
5. you (plural)
6. they
7. this
8. that
9. here
10. there
11. who
12. what
13. where
14. when
15. how
16. not
17. all
18. many
19. some
20. few
21. other
22. one
23. two
24. three
25. four
26. five
27. big
28. long
29. wide
30. thick
31. heavy
32. small
33. short
34. narrow
35. thin
36. woman
37. man (adult male)
38. man (human being)
39. child
40. wife
41. husband
42. mother
43. father
44. animal
45. fish
46. bird
47. dog
48. louse
49. snake
50. worm
51. tree
52. forest
53. stick
54. fruit
55. seed
56. leaf
57. root
58. bark (of a tree)
59. flower
60. grass
61. rope
62. skin
63. meat
64. blood
65. bone
66. fat (noun)
67. egg
68. horn
69. tail
70. feather
71. hair
72. head
73. ear
74. eye
75. nose
76. mouth
77. tooth
78. tongue (organ)
79. fingernail
80. foot
81. leg
82. knee
83. hand
84. wing
85. belly
86. guts
87. neck
88. back
89. breast
90. heart
91. liver
92. to drink
93. to eat
94. to bite
95. to suck
96. to spit
97. to vomit
98. to blow
99. to breathe
100. to laugh
101. to see
102. to hear
103. to know
104. to think
105. to smell
106. to fear
107. to sleep
108. to live
109. to die
110. to kill
111. to fight
112. to hunt
113. to hit
114. to cut
115. to split
116. to stab
117. to scratch
118. to dig
119. to swim
120. to fly
121. to walk
122. to come
123. to lie (as in a bed)
124. to sit
125. to stand
126. to turn (intransitive)
127. to fall
128. to give
129. to hold
130. to squeeze
131. to rub
132. to wash
133. to wipe
134. to pull
135. to push
136. to throw
137. to tie
138. to sew
139. to count
140. to say
141. to sing
142. to play
143. to float
144. to flow
145. to freeze
146. to swell
147. sun
148. moon
149. star
150. water
151. rain
152. river
153. lake
154. sea
155. salt
156. stone
157. sand
158. dust
159. earth
160. cloud
161. fog
162. sky
163. wind
164. snow
165. ice
166. smoke
167. fire
168. ash
169. to burn
170. road
171. mountain
172. red
173. green
174. yellow
175. white
176. black
177. night
178. day
179. year
180. warm
181. cold
182. full
183. new
184. old
185. good
186. bad
187. rotten
188. dirty
189. straight
190. round
191. sharp (as a knife)
192. dull (as a knife)
193. smooth
194. wet
195. dry
196. correct
197. near
198. far
199. right
200. left
201. at
202. in
203. with
204. and
205. if
206. because
207. name

See also

• Basic English
• Dolgopolsky list
• Leipzig–Jakarta list