This is a Swadesh list of words in Low German , 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.
No.
English
Low Saxon Plattdütsch , Platt
1
I
ik (ick )
2
you (singular)
du
3
he , she , it
he
4
we
wi
5
you (plural)
ji
6
they
se
7
this
düsse , düt
8
that
de , dat
9
here
hier
10
there
dor
11
who
wokeen
12
what
wat
13
where
woneem , wo
14
when
wannehr , wann
15
how
wo , woans
16
not
nich
17
all
all
18
many
veel , männich
19
some
enige , somige
20
few
wenig
21
other
anner
22
one
een
23
two
twee
24
three
dree
25
four
veer
26
five
fief
27
big
groot
28
long
lang
29
wide
breet , wiet
30
thick
dick
31
heavy
swoor
32
small
lütt , kleen
33
short
kort
34
narrow
small , nau
35
thin
dünn
36
woman
Fro
37
man (adult male)
Mann
38
man (human being)
Minsch
39
child
Kind
40
wife
Fro , Ehfro
41
husband
Mann , Ehmann
42
mother
Moder
43
father
Vader
44
animal
Deert
45
fish
Fisch
46
bird
Vagel
47
dog
Hund
48
louse
Luus
49
snake
Slang , Snaak
50
worm
Worm
51
tree
Boom
52
forest
Woold
53
stick
Stock
54
fruit
Frucht , Aavt
55
seed
Saat
56
leaf
Blatt
57
root
Wortel
58
bark (of a tree)
Bork , Bünn
59
flower
Bloom
60
grass
Gras
61
rope
Reep , Seel
62
skin
Huut
63
meat
Fleesch
64
blood
Bloot
65
bone
Knaken , Been
66
fat (noun)
Fett
67
egg
Ei
68
horn
Hoorn
69
tail
Steert
70
feather
Fedder
71
hair
Hoor
72
head
Kopp , Hööft
73
ear
Ohr
74
eye
Oog
75
nose
Nees
76
mouth
Mund
77
tooth
Tähn
78
tongue (organ)
Tung
79
fingernail
Nagel , Fingernagel
80
foot
Foot
81
leg
Been
82
knee
Knee
83
hand
Hand
84
wing
Flögel , Flücht
85
belly
Buuk
86
guts
Gedärm , Darm
87
neck
Hals , Nack
88
back
Rüch , Back
89
breast
Bost
90
heart
Hart
91
liver
Lever
92
to drink
drinken
93
to eat
eten
94
to bite
bieten
95
to suck
sugen
96
to spit
spütten
97
to vomit
övergeven , breken
98
to blow
blasen , weihen
99
to breathe
aten
100
to laugh
lachen
101
to see
sehn
102
to hear
hören
103
to know
weten
104
to think
denken
105
to smell
rüken
106
to fear
früchten
107
to sleep
slapen
108
to live
leven
109
to die
dootblieven , starven
110
to kill
dootmaken , dootslaan
111
to fight
fechten
112
to hunt
jagen
113
to hit
slaan
114
to cut
snieden
115
to split
splieten , klöven
116
to stab
steken
117
to scratch
kleien
118
to dig
graven , buddeln
119
to swim
swemmen
120
to fly
flegen
121
to walk
lopen , wanneln
122
to come
kamen
123
to lie (as in a bed)
liggen , leggen
124
to sit
sitten
125
to stand
stahn
126
to turn (intransitive)
dreihen
127
to fall
fallen
128
to give
geven
129
to hold
holen
130
to squeeze
drücken , quettern
131
to rub
rieven , wrieven
132
to wash
waschen
133
to wipe
wischen
134
to pull
trecken , tehn
135
to push
drücken
136
to throw
smieten
137
to tie
binnen
138
to sew
neihen
139
to count
tellen
140
to say
seggen
141
to sing
singen
142
to play
spelen
143
to float
sweven , swemmen
144
to flow
fleten , strömen
145
to freeze
freren , fresen
146
to swell
swellen
147
sun
Sünn
148
moon
Maan
149
star
Steern
150
water
Water
151
rain
Regen
152
river
Stroom
153
lake
See , Meer
154
sea
See
155
salt
Solt
156
stone
Steen
157
sand
Sand
158
dust
Stoff , Dust
159
earth
Eerd , Bodden
160
cloud
Wulk
161
fog
Nevel , Mist
162
sky
Lucht , Himmel
163
wind
Wind
164
snow
Snee
165
ice
Ies
166
smoke
Rook , Smook
167
fire
Füer
168
ash
Asch
169
to burn
brennen
170
road
Straat , Weg
171
mountain
Barg
172
red
root
173
green
gröön
174
yellow
geel
175
white
witt
176
black
swatt
177
night
Nacht
178
day
Dag
179
year
Johr
180
warm
warm
181
cold
koolt
182
full
vull
183
new
nee
184
old
oolt
185
good
goot
186
bad
slecht
187
rotten
rott
188
dirty
fuul , smuddelig
189
straight
graad , jüst
190
round
rund
191
sharp (as a knife)
scharp
192
dull (as a knife)
stuuf , stump
193
smooth
glatt , even
194
wet
natt
195
dry
dröög
196
correct
richtig
197
near
dichtbi
198
far
wiet , feern
199
right
rechts
200
left
links
201
at
bi
202
in
in
203
with
mit
204
and
un
205
if
wenn , as
206
because
wielt , wieldat
207
name
Naam
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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