Appendix:Swadesh lists
Swadesh lists were originally devised by the linguist Morris Swadesh. In the 1940s to 1950s, Swadesh developed word lists of body parts, verbs, natural phenomena, in order to compute the relationships of languages, and in particular their age, by a method called glottochronology. Swadesh's version of glottochronology is outdated because it used constant replacement rates. There are, of course, many attempts to achieve more realistic rates and thus more realistic results.
A Swadesh list may also be useful to achieve knowledge of some universal terms in other languages. This is because, for basic communication, knowledge of vocabulary is more important than knowledge of grammar and syntax. Sometimes it is even possible to achieve (very) basic communication skills with no knowledge of the target language syntax whatsoever.
To sort the table columns here (or for any other table in any HTML page), copy the javascript link from here (control-click the "sort table" link to copy the link) and once you have come back to this page, paste the javascript code you have copied into your URL window and run it. (The other table scripts there can also be used here.) Alternatively, instead of copying the link, you could drag it into your bookmarks toolbar, allowing the link to be accessible in the future from the toolbar. This sorting feature could be particularly useful if and when the categories of the Swadesh template and/or Basic English template are fleshed out.
Assorted Swadesh lists
[edit]See more at or
Indo-European languages (Proto-Indo-European)
[edit]- Albanian
- Armenian
- Balto-Slavic (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- Baltic languages
- Slavic languages (Proto-Slavic)
- East Slavic (Old East Slavic)
- West Slavic
- Lechitic languages
- Czechoslovak languages
- Sorbian languages
- South Slavic
- Eastern South Slavic languages
- Western South Slavic languages
- Celtic languages (Proto-Celtic)
- Brythonic languages (Proto-Brythonic)
- Goidelic languages (Old Irish)
- Irish
- Scottish Gaelic
- Manx
- Continental Celtic
- Germanic languages (Proto-Germanic)
- West Germanic
- Anglo-Frisian languages
- Anglic languages
- Frisian languages
- Istvaeonic languages
- High German (Old High German)
- Low German
- Nordic languages (Old Norse)
- Anglo-Frisian languages
- East Germanic languages
- West Germanic
- Anatolian languages
- Hellenic
- Indo-Iranian languages (Proto-Indo-Iranian)
- Indo-Aryan languages
- Sanskrit
- Northern Zone
- Central Zone
- Western Zone
- Northwestern Zone
- Eastern Zone
- Southern Zone
- Insular Indic
- Dardic
- Sanskrit
- Iranian languages
- Indo-Aryan languages
- Italic languages (Proto-Italic)
- Latin (Vulgar Latin)
- Italo-Western languages
- Western Romance languages
- Gallo-Romance languages
- Italo-Dalmatian languages
- Iberian languages
- Western Romance languages
- Sardinian
- Eastern Romance languages
- Italo-Western languages
- Latin (Vulgar Latin)
- Tocharian languages
Other Eurasian languages
[edit]Vasconic
[edit]Caucasian languages
[edit]- Northwest Caucasian
- Northeast Caucasian
- Kartvelian
- See the Intercontinental Dictionary Series and NorthEuraLex (2019) for a large selection of topical vocabulary lists of Northeast Caucasian languages.
Dravidian
[edit]- Dravidian languages (see also Appendix:Cognate sets for Dravidian languages and Appendix:Dravidian word lists)
Uralic languages
[edit]- Uralic languages (see also Appendix:Proto-Uralic reconstructions and Appendix:Stable lexical roots in Proto-Uralic)
- Ugric languages
- Hungarian
- Mansi languages
- Mordvinic
- Mari
- Permic
- Sami languages
- Finnic languages
- Samoyedic languages
- Ugric languages
Turkic languages
[edit]- Turkic languages (see also Appendix:Turkic basic vocabulary Appendix:Turkic word lists), (Proto-Turkic)
- Oghuz Turkic languages
- Kipchak languages
- Karluk languages
- Siberian Turkic languages
- Oghur Turkic languages
Northeast Asian
[edit]See also: Appendix:Vocabulary lists of North Eurasian languages
Japonic-Ryukyuan languages
[edit]- Japonic languages — Japanese, and Okinawan
Koreanic languages
[edit]Paleosiberian languages
[edit]- Paleosiberian languages (areal grouping) — Ainu, Nivkh, Chukchi, Yukaghir; see also Appendix:Paleosiberian word lists.
Mongolic languages
[edit]Tungusic languages
[edit]Southeast Asian and Oceanic
[edit]See also: Appendix:Vocabulary lists of Southeast Asian languages and Appendix:Vocabulary lists of Indo-Pacific languages
Austroasiatic languages
[edit]- Austroasiatic languages — Khmer (+ romanized), Mon (+ romanized), Vietnamese, Chewong
- Proto-Austroasiatic
- Aslian
- Khasi-Palaungic
- Khmeric
- Monic
- Munda
- Vietic
- See also the SEAlang Mon-Khmer Etymological Dictionary.
- Proto-Austroasiatic
Austronesian languages
[edit]- Austronesian languages — Ilocano, Malay, Tagalog, Cebuano, Pampangan, Pangasinan, Sasak, Chamorro, Tahitian, Tuvaluan, Maori, and Sundanese
- See also the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database.
- Proto-Austronesian
- Formosan languages
- Malayo-Polynesian languages
- Philippine languages
- Chamic languages
- Malayic
- Javanese
- Buginese
- Madurese
- Makasar
- Sundanese
- Balinese
- Sasak
- Barito
- Chamorro
- Palauan
- Oceanic languages
- Micronesian languages
- Big Nambas
- Fijian
- Polynesian languages
- See also Appendix:Proto-Oceanic animal names.
Pama-Nyungan languages
[edit]Kra-Dai languages
[edit]- Kra–Dai languages — Thai (+ romanized), Lao (+ romanized), Shan (+ romanized), Southern Dong, Gelao, Buyang, Zhuang, Ong Be (Lingao), Hlai (Li), White Hmong
Hmong-Mien languages
[edit]Sino-Tibetan languages
[edit]- Sino-Tibetan languages — Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, Hokkien and Burmese, all with romanizations
- Chinese
- Tibeto-Burman languages — Burmese, Tibetan, Karen, Jingpho, Manange
Language isolates
[edit]Amerindian languages
[edit]- See also: Appendix:Vocabulary lists of Amerindian languages
- See also: Appendix:Eskimo–Aleut basic vocabulary and Indigenous languages of the Americas
North American
[edit]- Dené–Yeniseian languages — Ket, Tlingit, Navajo, Dena'ina, Hupa
- Algonquian and Iroquoian languages — Ojibwe, Lenape, Mohawk, Cherokee, Nottoway, Erie (Language), Huron-wendat
- Siouan and Pawnee languages — Lakota, Dakota dialects, Osage, Crow, Tutelo, Pawnee
- Penutian languages
- Chumashan and Hokan languages — includes Yuman languages of Ipai, Kiliwa, Cocopa
- Kiowa-Tanoan, Keresan and Zuni languages
- Muskogean languages
- Uto-Aztecan languages — Nahuatl, Yaqui, Hopi, Shoshone, O'odham, Cahuilla, Tongva
- Zuni
Central American
[edit]- Oto-Manguean and other Mesoamerican languages — Otomi, Mixtec, Zapotec, Mazahua, Totonac, Popoluca, Huave, Chontal
- Purepecha
- Mayan languages — K'iche', Q'eqchi', Tzotzil, Mam, Yucatec Maya (Proto-Mayan)
South American
[edit]- South Andean region languages — Aymara, Kunza, Wichi, Mapudungun, Rapa Nui, with Spanish
- Tupian languages
- Pirahã
- See the Intercontinental Dictionary Series for a huge selection of topical vocabulary lists of indigenous South American languages.
African languages
[edit]See also: Appendix:Vocabulary lists of African languages
Afroasiatic languages (Proto-Afroasiatic)
[edit]- Afroasiatic languages Syriac (+ romanized), Akkadian (romanized only), and Ge'ez (+ romanized)
- Cushitic languages
- Chadic languages
- Egyptian
- Semitic languages
- West Semitic
- Central Semitic
- South Semitic
- East Semitic
- West Semitic
Khoisan languages
[edit]Niger-Congo languages
[edit]- Niger–Congo languages — Yoruba, Igbo, Mandinka, Wolof
- Fongbe (Fon)
- Igbo
- Wolof
- Mandinka
- Yoruba
- Bantu languages — 36 Bantu languages (Proto-Bantu)
Creoles, pidgins
[edit]- Chinese-based
- English-based
- French-based
- Malay-based
- Portuguese-based
- Spanish-based
Constructed languages
[edit]- Esperanto
- Ido
- Interlingua
- Láadan
- Interlingue (Occidental)
- Lingua Franca Nova
- Lingwa de Planeta
- Lojban
- Neo
- Toki Pona
- Volapük
- Novial
Lists in need of expansion
[edit]- Swadesh list for Abinomn
- Swadesh list for Classical Japanese
- Swadesh lists for Dené-Yeniseian languages
- Swadesh lists for the Dravidian languages of Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu, Gondi, Konda, and Brahui
- Swadesh lists for Italian languages
- Swadesh lists for Mayan languages
- Swadesh lists for Niger-Congo languages
- Swadesh lists for Pama-Nyungan languages
- Swadesh list for Proto-Afroasiatic
Templates
[edit]For a basis to expand this list into other languages see the basic 207-word Swadesh template. See also this Swadesh template containing a comparative table for 8 different languages, and this Swadesh template with categories and parts-of-speech added. To visit a more extensive list of basic words in various languages (not a Swadesh list, though it includes and is cross-referenced to Swadesh words), see the Basic English word list.
- Templates for Swadesh lists
- Template:Swadesh list 207 plain: plain list (English and selected language)
- Template:Swadesh list 207 pronunciation: list with IPA pronunciation
- Template:Swadesh list 207 trans pronunciation: list with transcription and pronunciation
- Template:Swadesh list 207 trans: list with transcription in Latin characters
- Template:Swadesh list 207 trans2: list with two transcriptions
- Wiktionary:Swadesh template categorized
- Templates for boxes
- Template:Swadesh lists: box with all Swadesh lists of individual languages, language families and branches
- Other templates
- Template:Swadesh list presentation: Swadesh list presentation template
- Template:Swadesh list templates: displays all templates
- Template:langlist: used in ordinary dictionary entries of languages
Swadesh list table of Germanic and Romance languages
[edit]The words from Swadesh's original 100-word list are designated by an asterisk (*). In the composite list on this page, there are actually 207 words, since seven of the words in the 100-word list (breast, fingernail, full, horn, knee, moon, round) were not in the original 200-word list.
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]World languages
- Numbers in Over 5000 Languages by Mark Rosenfelder (Scope-wise, probably the best multi-language site. This is the only database on the Internet with nearly all the world's languages in it; however, it only has the numerals 1-10.)
- Numeral Systems of the World's Languages by Eugene Chan
- Intercontinental Dictionary Series (Quality-wise, probably the best multi-language site. Excellent interactive searching and comprehensive topically-organized lists. See also Intercontinental Dictionary Series on Wikipedia.)
- Rosetta Project
- World Loanword Database
- Numeral Systems of the World's Languages
- Unilang (Somewhat disorganized, but great resource for language learning)
- Ethnologue (language demographics only)
- Glottolog
- Common words between languages
World languages — other existing wikis
- http://en.wikivoyage.org/en/Phrasebooks Wikivoyage phrasebooks
- http://wiki.langwiki.info/Main_Page (Wikilang)
Regional languages
- Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database
- http://native-languages.org/ (Amerindian languages)
- http://sealang.net/ (Southeast Asian languages)