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Swadesh list: Difference between revisions
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(Created page with "The '''Swadesh list''', [{{IPA|ˈswɒdɛʃ}}], is a classic compilation of basic concepts for the purposes of w:historical-comparative linguistics|historical-comparative lin...") |
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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. | 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. | |||