Appendix:Amharic Swadesh list
This is a Swadesh list of words in Amharic, compared with definitions in English.
Presentation
[edit]- 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.
List
[edit]| № | English | Amharic አማርኛ (ʾämarña) edit (207) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I (1sg) | እኔ (ʾəne) |
| 2 | you (2sg) | አንተ (ʾäntä), አንቺ (ʾänči), ርስዎ (rəswo) (formal) |
| 3 | he, she, it (3sg) | እሱ (ʾəsu) (masculine), እሷ (ʾəsʷa) (feminine) |
| 4 | we (1pl) | እኛ (ʾəña) |
| 5 | you (2pl) | እናንተ (ʾənantä) |
| 6 | they (3pl) | እነርሱ (ʾənärsu) |
| 7 | this | ይህ (yəh) |
| 8 | that | ያ (ya) |
| 9 | here | እዚህ (ʾəzih) |
| 10 | there | እዚያ (ʾəziya) |
| 11 | who | ማን (man) |
| 12 | what | ምን (mən) |
| 13 | where | የት (yät) |
| 14 | when | መቼ (mäče) |
| 15 | how | እንዴት (ʾəndet) |
| 16 | not | አይደለም (ʾäydäläm) |
| 17 | all | ሁሉም (hulum) |
| 18 | many | ብዙ (bəzu) |
| 19 | some | የተወሰነ (yätäwäsänä) |
| 20 | few | ጥቂት (ṭəḳit) |
| 21 | other | ሌላ (lela) |
| 22 | one | አንድ (ʾänd) |
| 23 | two | ሁለት (hulät) |
| 24 | three | ሶስት (sost) |
| 25 | four | አራት (ʾärat) |
| 26 | five | አምስት (ʾämsət) |
| 27 | big | ትልቅ (təlḳ) |
| 28 | long | ረዝም (räzm) |
| 29 | wide | ሰፊ (säfi) |
| 30 | thick | ደንዳና (dändana ) |
| 31 | heavy | ከባድ (käbad) |
| 32 | small | ትንሽ (tənš) |
| 33 | short | አጭር (ʾäč̣r) |
| 34 | narrow | ጠባብ (ṭäbab) |
| 35 | thin | ቀጭን (ḳäč̣n) |
| 36 | woman | ሴትዮ (setyo ) |
| 37 | man (adult male) | ጎልማሳ (golmasa ) |
| 38 | man (human being) | ሰዉ (säwu) |
| 39 | child | ህጻን (həṣan) |
| 40 | wife | ሚስት (mist) |
| 41 | husband | ባል (bal) |
| 42 | mother | እናት (ʾənat) |
| 43 | father | አባት (ʾäbat) |
| 44 | animal | እንስሳ (ʾənsəsa) |
| 45 | fish | አሳ (ʾäsa) |
| 46 | bird | ወፍ (wäf) |
| 47 | dog | ዉሻ (wuša) |
| 48 | louse | ቅማል (ḳəmal) |
| 49 | snake | እባብ (ʾəbab) |
| 50 | worm | ትል (təl) |
| 51 | tree | ዛፍ (zaf) |
| 52 | forest | ደን (dän) |
| 53 | stick | ልምጭ (ləmč̣) |
| 54 | fruit | ፍራፍሬ (fərafre) |
| 55 | seed | ዘር (zär) |
| 56 | leaf | ቅጠል (ḳəṭäl) |
| 57 | root | ስር (sər) |
| 58 | bark (of a tree) | ቅርፊት (ḳərfit) |
| 59 | flower | አበባ (ʾäbäba) |
| 60 | grass | ሳር (sar) |
| 61 | rope | ገመድ (gämäd) |
| 62 | skin | ቆዳ (ḳoda) |
| 63 | meat | ስጋ (səga) |
| 64 | blood | ደም (däm) |
| 65 | bone | አጥንት (ʾäṭnət) |
| 66 | fat (noun) | ሥብ (śəb) |
| 67 | egg | እንቁላል (ʾənḳulal) |
| 68 | horn | ቀንድ (ḳänd) |
| 69 | tail | ጅራት (ǧərat) |
| 70 | feather | ላባ (laba) |
| 71 | hair | ጸጉር (ṣägur) |
| 72 | head | ጭንቅላት (č̣ənḳəlat) |
| 73 | ear | ጆሮ (ǧoro) |
| 74 | eye | አይን (ʾäyn) |
| 75 | nose | አፍንጫ (ʾäfnəč̣a) |
| 76 | mouth | አፍ (ʾäf) |
| 77 | tooth | ጥርስ (ṭərs) |
| 78 | tongue (organ) | ምላስ (məlas) |
| 79 | fingernail | ጥፍር (ṭəfr) |
| 80 | foot | የእግር መዳፍ (yäʾgər mädaf) |
| 81 | leg | እግር (ʾəgr) |
| 82 | knee | ጉልበት (gulbät) |
| 83 | hand | እጅ (ʾəǧ) |
| 84 | wing | ክንፍ (kənf) |
| 85 | belly | ሆድ (hod) |
| 86 | guts | ጉሮሮ (guroro) |
| 87 | neck | አንገት (ʾängät) |
| 88 | back | ጀርባ (ǧärba) |
| 89 | breast | ጡት (ṭut) |
| 90 | heart | ልብ (ləb) |
| 91 | liver | ጉበት (gubät) |
| 92 | to drink | መጠጣት (mäṭäṭat) |
| 93 | to eat | መብላት (mäblat) |
| 94 | to bite | መንከስ (mänkäs) |
| 95 | to suck | መጥባት (mäṭbat) |
| 96 | to spit | መትፋት (mätfat) |
| 97 | to vomit | ማስታወክ (mastawäk) |
| 98 | to blow | መንፈስ (mänfäs) |
| 99 | to breathe | መተንፈስ (mätänfäs) |
| 100 | to laugh | መሳቅ (mäsaḳ) |
| 101 | to see | ማየት (mayät) |
| 102 | to hear | መስማት (mäsmat) |
| 103 | to know | ማዎቅ (mawoḳ) |
| 104 | to think | ማሰብ (masäb) |
| 105 | to smell | ማሽተት (maštät) |
| 106 | to fear | መፍራት (mäfrat) |
| 107 | to sleep | መተኛት (mätäñat) |
| 108 | to live | መኖር (mänor) |
| 109 | to die | መሞት (mämot) |
| 110 | to kill | መግደል (mägdäl) |
| 111 | to fight | መታገል (mätagäl) |
| 112 | to hunt | ማደን (madän) |
| 113 | to hit | መምታት (mämtat) |
| 114 | to cut | መቁረጥ (mäḳuräṭ) |
| 115 | to split | መነጣጠል (mänäṭaṭäl) |
| 116 | to stab | መዉጋት (mäwugat) |
| 117 | to scratch | መፋቅ (mäfaḳ) |
| 118 | to dig | መቆፈር (mäḳofär) |
| 119 | to swim | መዋኘት (mäwañät) |
| 120 | to fly | መብረር (mäbrär) |
| 121 | to walk | መሄድ (mähed) |
| 122 | to come | መምጣት (mämṭat) |
| 123 | to lie (as in a bed) | መጋደም (mägadäm) |
| 124 | to sit | መቀመጥ (mäḳämäṭ) |
| 125 | to stand | መቆም (mäḳom) |
| 126 | to turn (intransitive) | መታጠፍ (mätaṭäf) |
| 127 | to fall | መዉደቅ (mäwudäḳ) |
| 128 | to give | መስጠት (mäsṭät) |
| 129 | to hold | መያዝ (mäyaz) |
| 130 | to squeeze | መጫን (mäč̣an) |
| 131 | to rub | መቦረሽ (mäboräš) |
| 132 | to wash | ማጠብ (maṭäb) |
| 133 | to wipe | ማሸት(መፈተግ) (mašät(mäfätäg)) |
| 134 | to pull | መጎተት (mägotät) |
| 135 | to push | መግፋት (mägfat) |
| 136 | to throw | መወርወር (mäwärwär) |
| 137 | to tie | ማሰር (masär) |
| 138 | to sew | ሰስፋት (säsfat) |
| 139 | to count | መቁጠር (mäḳuṭär) |
| 140 | to say | መናገር (mänagär) |
| 141 | to sing | መዘመር (mäzämär) |
| 142 | to play | መጫወት (mäč̣awät) |
| 143 | to float | መንሳፈፍ (mänsafäf) |
| 144 | to flow | መዉረድ (mäwuräd) |
| 145 | to freeze | መቀዝቀዝ (mäḳäzḳäz) |
| 146 | to swell | ማበጥ (mabäṭ) |
| 147 | sun | ጸሀይ (ṣähäy) |
| 148 | moon | ጨረቃ (č̣äräḳa) |
| 149 | star | ኮከብ (kokäb) |
| 150 | water | ዉሃ (wuha) |
| 151 | rain | ዝናብ (zənab) |
| 152 | river | ወንዝ (wänz) |
| 153 | lake | ሀይቅ (häyḳ) |
| 154 | sea | ባህር (bahr) |
| 155 | salt | ጨዉ (č̣äwu) |
| 156 | stone | ድንጋይ (dəngay) |
| 157 | sand | አሸዋ (ʾäšäwa) |
| 158 | dust | አባራ (ʾäbara) |
| 159 | earth | መሬት (märet) |
| 160 | cloud | ደመና (dämäna) |
| 161 | fog | ጭጋግ (č̣əgag) |
| 162 | sky | ሰማይ (sämay) |
| 163 | wind | ነፋስ (näfas) |
| 164 | snow | ብናኝ (bənañ) |
| 165 | ice | በረዶ (bärädo) |
| 166 | smoke | ጭስ (č̣əs) |
| 167 | fire | እሳት (ʾəsat) |
| 168 | ash | አመድ (ʾämäd) |
| 169 | to burn | ማቃጠል (maḳaṭäl) |
| 170 | road | መንገድ (mängäd) |
| 171 | mountain | ተራራ (tärara) |
| 172 | red | ቀይ (ḳäy) |
| 173 | green | አረንገዴ (ʾärängäde) |
| 174 | yellow | ቢጫ (bič̣a) |
| 175 | white | ነጭ (näč̣) |
| 176 | black | ጥቁር (ṭəḳur) |
| 177 | night | ሌሊት (lelit) |
| 178 | day | ቀን (ḳän) |
| 179 | year | አመት (ʾämät) |
| 180 | warm | ሙቅ (muḳ) |
| 181 | cold | ቀዝቃዛ (ḳäzḳaza) |
| 182 | full | ሙሉ (mulu) |
| 183 | new | አዲስ (ʾädis) |
| 184 | old | አሮጌ (ʾäroge) |
| 185 | good | ጥሩ (ṭəru) |
| 186 | bad | መጥፎ (mäṭfo) |
| 187 | rotten | የገማ (yägäma) |
| 188 | dirty | ቆሻሻ (ḳošaša) |
| 189 | straight | ቀጥታ (ḳäṭta) |
| 190 | round | ክብ (kəb) |
| 191 | sharp (as a knife) | ስለት (səlät) |
| 192 | dull (as a knife) | የዶለዶመ (yädolädomä) |
| 193 | smooth | ለስላሳ (läslasa) |
| 194 | wet | ርጥብ (rəṭb) |
| 195 | dry | ደረቅ (däräḳ) |
| 196 | correct | ትክክል (təkkəl) |
| 197 | near | ቅርብ (ḳərb) |
| 198 | far | ሩቅ (ruḳ) |
| 199 | right | ቀኝ (ḳäñ) |
| 200 | left | ግራ (gəra) |
| 201 | at | ላይ (lay) |
| 202 | in | ዉስጥ (wusṭ ) |
| 203 | with | ከ….ጋር (kä….gar) |
| 204 | and | እና (ʾəna) |
| 205 | if | ቢሆን (bihon) |
| 206 | because | ምክንያቱም (məknəyatum) |
| 207 | name | ስም (səm) |