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.