From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
This is a Swadesh list of words in Latvian , compared with definitions in English .
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.
№ English Latvianedit (207) 1 I (1sg )es 2 you (2sg )tu 3 he , she , it (3sg )viņš 4 we (1pl )mēs 5 you (2pl )jūs 6 they (3pl )viņi 7 this šis 8 that tas 9 here šeit 10 there tur 11 who kurš 12 what kas 13 where kur 14 when kad 15 how kā 16 not ne 17 all viss 18 many daudz 19 some daži 20 few nedaudzi 21 other cits 22 one viens 23 two divi 24 three trīs 25 four četri 26 five pieci 27 big liels 28 long garš 29 wide plats 30 thick biezs 31 heavy smags 32 small mazs 33 short īss 34 narrow šaurs 35 thin tievs 36 woman sieviete 37 man (adult male)vīrietis 38 man (human being)cilvēks 39 child bērns 40 wife sieva 41 husband vīrs 42 mother māte 43 father tēvs 44 animal dzīvnieks , zvērs 45 fish zivs 46 bird putns 47 dog suns 48 louse uts 49 snake čūska 50 worm tārps 51 tree koks 52 forest mežs 53 stick žagars , miets , nūja 54 fruit auglis 55 seed sēkla 56 leaf lapa 57 root sakne 58 bark (of a tree)miza 59 flower zieds , puķe 60 grass zāle 61 rope aukla , virve , striķis 62 skin āda 63 meat gaļa , miesa 64 blood asinis 65 bone kauls 66 fat (noun)tauki 67 egg ola 68 horn rags 69 tail aste 70 feather spalva 71 hair mats 72 head galva 73 ear auss 74 eye acs 75 nose deguns 76 mouth mute 77 tooth zobs 78 tongue (organ)mēle 79 fingernail nags 80 foot pēda 81 leg kāja 82 knee celis 83 hand roka 84 wing spārns 85 belly vēders 86 guts zarnas , iekšas 87 neck kakls 88 back mugura 89 breast krūts 90 heart sirds 91 liver aknas 92 to drink dzert 93 to eat ēst 94 to bite kost 95 to suck sūkt 96 to spit spļaut 97 to vomit vemt 98 to blow pūst 99 to breathe elpot 100 to laugh smieties 101 to see redzēt 102 to hear dzirdēt 103 to know zināt 104 to think domāt 105 to smell ost , saost , smaržot 106 to fear baidīties 107 to sleep gulēt , dusēt , čučēt 108 to live dzīvot 109 to die mirt 110 to kill nogalināt 111 to fight cīnīties , kauties 112 to hunt medīt 113 to hit sist 114 to cut griezt 115 to split sadalīt , sašķelt 116 to stab durt 117 to scratch skrāpēt 118 to dig rakt 119 to swim peldēt 120 to fly lidot 121 to walk iet 122 to come nākt 123 to lie (as in a bed) gulēt , gulties 124 to sit sēdēt , sēsties 125 to stand stāvēt , stāties 126 to turn (intransitive) griezties 127 to fall krist 128 to give dot 129 to hold turēt 130 to squeeze spiest , žmiegt 131 to rub berzēt 132 to wash mazgāt 133 to wipe slaucīt 134 to pull vilkt 135 to push stumt , grūst 136 to throw mest , sviest 137 to tie siet 138 to sew šūt 139 to count skaitīt 140 to say teikt , sacīt 141 to sing dziedāt 142 to play spēlēt 143 to float peldēt , pludināt 144 to flow tecēt 145 to freeze salt , stingt 146 to swell uztūkt , piebriest 147 sun saule 148 moon mēness 149 star zvaigzne 150 water ūdens 151 rain lietus 152 river upe 153 lake ezers 154 sea jūra 155 salt sāls 156 stone akmens 157 sand smiltis 158 dust putekļi 159 earth zeme , augsne 160 cloud mākonis 161 fog migla 162 sky debess , debesis 163 wind vējš 164 snow sniegs 165 ice ledus 166 smoke dūmi 167 fire uguns 168 ash pelni 169 to burn degt 170 road ceļš 171 mountain kalns 172 red sarkans , ruds 173 green zaļš 174 yellow dzeltens 175 white balts 176 black melns 177 night nakts 178 day diena 179 year gads 180 warm silts 181 cold auksts 182 full pilns 183 new jauns 184 old vecs , sens 185 good labs 186 bad slikts , ļauns 187 rotten sapuvis 188 dirty netīrs 189 straight taisns , tiešs 190 round apaļš 191 sharp (as a knife)ass 192 dull (as a knife)truls 193 smooth gluds 194 wet mitrs , slapjš 195 dry sauss 196 correct pareizs 197 near tuvs 198 far tāls 199 right labais , pa labi 200 left kreisais , pa kreisi 201 at pie 202 in iekš 203 with ar 204 and un 205 if ja 206 because tāpēc , jo 207 name vārds , nosaukums
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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