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For further information, including the full final version of the list, read the Wikipedia article: Swadesh list .
American linguist Morris Swadesh believed that languages changed at measurable rates and that these could be determined even for languages without written precursors. Using vocabulary lists, he sought to understand not only change over time but also the relationships of extant languages. To be able to compare languages from different cultures, he based his lists on meanings he presumed would be available in as many cultures as possible. He then used the fraction of agreeing cognates between any two related languages to compute their divergence time by some (still debated) algorithms. Starting in 1950 with 165 meanings, his list grew to 215 in 1952, which was so expansive that many languages lacked native vocabulary for some terms. Subsequently, it was reduced to 207, and reduced much further to 100 meanings in 1955. A reformulated list was published posthumously in 1971.
â English Turkishtürk dili edit (207) 1 I (1sg )ben 2 you (2sg )sen , siz 3 he , she , it (3sg )o 4 we (1pl )biz 5 you (2pl )siz 6 they (3pl )onlar 7 this bu 8 that Åu , o 9 here burada 10 there Åurada , orada 11 who kim 12 what ne 13 where nerede 14 when ne zaman 15 how nasıl 16 not deÄil 17 all bütün , tüm 18 many çok 19 some biraz , birkaç , bazı 20 few az 21 other baÅka , diÄer , öbür , öteki 22 one bir 23 two iki 24 three üç 25 four dört 26 five beÅ 27 big büyük 28 long uzun 29 wide geniÅ 30 thick kalın 31 heavy aÄır 32 small küçük 33 short kısa 34 narrow dar 35 thin ince 36 woman kadın 37 man (adult male)adam 38 man (human being)insan , kiÅi 39 child çocuk 40 wife karı 41 husband koca 42 mother anne , ana 43 father baba , ata 44 animal hayvan 45 fish balık 46 bird kuÅ 47 dog köpek , it 48 louse bit 49 snake yılan 50 worm solucan , kurt 51 tree aÄaç 52 forest orman 53 stick çubuk , deÄnek , çıta 54 fruit meyve , meyva 55 seed tohum 56 leaf yaprak 57 root kök 58 bark (of a tree)kabuk 59 flower çiçek 60 grass ot , çimen , çim 61 rope ip , halat 62 skin deri , ten 63 meat et 64 blood kan 65 bone kemik 66 fat (noun)yaÄ 67 egg yumurta 68 horn boynuz 69 tail kuyruk 70 feather tüy 71 hair saç , kıl 72 head baÅ , kafa 73 ear kulak 74 eye göz 75 nose burun 76 mouth aÄız 77 tooth diÅ 78 tongue (organ)dil 79 fingernail tırnak 80 foot ayak 81 leg bacak 82 knee diz 83 hand el 84 wing kanat 85 belly karın , göbek 86 guts baÄırsak , barsak 87 neck boyun 88 back arka , sırt 89 breast göÄüs 90 heart yürek , kalp 91 liver karaciÄer , ciÄer 92 to drink içmek 93 to eat yemek 94 to bite ısırmak 95 to suck emmek 96 to spit tükürmek 97 to vomit kusmak 98 to blow üflemek 99 to breathe soluk almak , solumak , nefes almak 100 to laugh gülmek 101 to see görmek 102 to hear iÅitmek , duymak 103 to know bilmek 104 to think düÅünmek 105 to smell koklamak , kokmak 106 to fear korkmak 107 to sleep uyumak 108 to live yaÅamak , oturmak 109 to die ölmek 110 to kill öldürmek 111 to fight dövüÅmek , kavga etmek 112 to hunt avlamak 113 to hit vurmak 114 to cut kesmek 115 to split yarmak , ayırmak 116 to stab bıçaklamak 117 to scratch kaÅımak 118 to dig kazmak 119 to swim yüzmek 120 to fly uçmak 121 to walk yürümek 122 to come gelmek 123 to lie (as in a bed) yatmak , uzanmak 124 to sit oturmak 125 to stand durmak , dikilmek 126 to turn (intransitive) dönmek 127 to fall düÅmek 128 to give vermek 129 to hold tutmak 130 to squeeze sıkmak 131 to rub sürmek , sürtmek , uÄmak 132 to wash yıkamak , yunmak 133 to wipe silmek 134 to pull çekmek 135 to push itmek 136 to throw atmak 137 to tie baÄlamak 138 to sew dikmek 139 to count saymak 140 to say demek , söylemek 141 to sing Åarkı söylemek 142 to play oynamak 143 to float yüzmek 144 to flow akmak 145 to freeze donmak , dondurmak 146 to swell ÅiÅmek 147 sun güneÅ 148 moon ay 149 star yıldız 150 water su 151 rain yaÄmur 152 river ırmak , nehir 153 lake göl 154 sea deniz 155 salt tuz 156 stone taÅ 157 sand kum 158 dust toz 159 earth yer , yeryüzü , dünya 160 cloud bulut 161 fog sis 162 sky gök , gökyüzü 163 wind yel , rüzgâr 164 snow kar 165 ice buz 166 smoke duman 167 fire od , ateÅ 168 ash kül 169 to burn yakmak , yanmak 170 road yol 171 mountain daÄ 172 red kızıl , kırmızı 173 green yeÅil 174 yellow sarı 175 white ak , beyaz 176 black kara , siyah 177 night gece 178 day gün , gündüz 179 year yıl , sene 180 warm sıcak , ılık 181 cold soÄuk , serin 182 full dolu 183 new yeni 184 old eski , yaÅlı 185 good iyi 186 bad kötü 187 rotten çürük 188 dirty pis , kirli 189 straight düz , düzgün , doÄru 190 round yuvarlak , toparlak 191 sharp (as a knife)keskin 192 dull (as a knife)kör 193 smooth pürüzsüz , düzgün 194 wet ıslak , nemli 195 dry kuru 196 correct doÄru , gerçek 197 near yakın 198 far uzak 199 right saÄ 200 left sol 201 at -da , -de , -a , -e 202 in -da , -de , içinde , içerisinde 203 with ile , -le 204 and ve , ile 205 if -sa , -se , ise , eÄer 206 because çünkü 207 name ad , isim
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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