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Swadesh list: Difference between revisions
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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. | 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. | |||