Swadesh List

The list is, as you'd guess, controversial. The colors list, for example, raises problems for anthropologists. Wierzbicka, as we've seen, sees much more cultural variation. For a fuller discussion, see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swadesh_list

1. I (first person singular pronoun)

2. you (second person singular pronoun; 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)†1

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 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 intransitive)

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