From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
This is a Swadesh list of words in Neapolitan , 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 Neapolitannapulitano edit (207) 1 I (1sg )io 2 you (2sg )tu 3 he , she , it (3sg )isso 4 we (1pl )nuje 5 you (2pl )vuje 6 they (3pl )lloro 7 this chisto 8 that chillo 9 here ccà 10 there lloco 11 who chi 12 what che 13 where addò 14 when quanno 15 how comme 16 not nun , no 17 all tutto 18 many assaje 19 some cocche 20 few poco 21 other ato 22 one uno 23 two dduje (masculine ) , ddoje (feminine )24 three tre 25 four quatto 26 five cinche 27 big gruosso 28 long luongo 29 wide largo , chiatto 30 thick spisso 31 heavy pesante , gravante 32 small piccerillo 33 short curto 34 narrow strinto 35 thin fino , sicco 36 woman femmena 37 man (adult male)ommo 38 man (human being)crestiano , perzona 39 child criaturo , ninno 40 wife mugliera 41 husband marito 42 mother mate 43 father pate 44 animal anemale , nimmale 45 fish pesce 46 bird auciello 47 dog cane 48 louse chiattillo , peducchio 49 snake serpa 50 worm vierme 51 tree chianta , arvulo 52 forest furesta , vosco , arvorata 53 stick mazza , varra 54 fruit frutta 55 seed semmento 56 leaf fronna , foglia 57 root recina , radeca 58 bark (of a tree)scuorcio , scuorzo 59 flower sciore 60 grass evera 61 rope zoca , fona 62 skin pelle , cuorio 63 meat carna 64 blood sanghe 65 bone uosso 66 fat (noun)ciuotto , grasso 67 egg uovo 68 horn cuorno 69 tail coda 70 feather penna 71 hair capillo 72 head capa 73 ear recchia 74 eye uocchio 75 nose naso 76 mouth vocca 77 tooth diente 78 tongue (organ)lengua 79 fingernail ogna 80 foot pede 81 leg cossa , jamma 82 knee denucchio 83 hand mana 84 wing scella 85 belly panza 86 guts stentino 87 neck cuollo 88 back rina , schina 89 breast pietto , zizza 90 heart core 91 liver fecheto , fecato 92 to drink vevere 93 to eat magnà 94 to bite muzzecà 95 to suck zucà , surchià 96 to spit sputà 97 to vomit vummecà , reverzà 98 to blow sciuscià 99 to breathe resciatà 100 to laugh ride 101 to see vedé 102 to hear sentere 103 to know sapé 104 to think penzà 105 to smell osemà , fetere 106 to fear spagnà 107 to sleep durmì , dormere 108 to live campà , vivere 109 to die murì 110 to kill accidere 111 to fight cummattere 112 to hunt caccià 113 to hit vattere , culpì 114 to cut taglià 115 to split spartere , sengà 116 to stab curtellià 117 to scratch scippà , graffià 118 to dig scavà , scafutà 119 to swim natà 120 to fly vulà 121 to walk cammenà 122 to come venì 123 to lie (as in a bed) cuccà 124 to sit assettà 125 to stand iriere , stà aizato126 to turn (intransitive) girà , avutà 127 to fall cadé , cascà 128 to give dà 129 to hold tené 130 to squeeze nzeppà , spremmere 131 to rub scerià 132 to wash lavà 133 to wipe asciuttà 134 to pull tirà 135 to push vuttà 136 to throw lancià , jettà 137 to tie allevrecà 138 to sew cosere 139 to count cuntà 140 to say dicere 141 to sing cantà 142 to play pazzià , jucà 143 to float galleggià 144 to flow scorrere 145 to freeze jaccià , gelà 146 to swell ntucià 147 sun sole 148 moon luna 149 star stella 150 water acqua 151 rain chioggia , chioppeta 152 river sciummo 153 lake laco 154 sea mare 155 salt sale 156 stone preta 157 sand rena 158 dust povera 159 earth munno 160 cloud nuvula 161 fog neglia 162 sky cielo 163 wind viento 164 snow neva 165 ice jaccio , chiatro 166 smoke fummo 167 fire fuoco 168 ash cennera 169 to burn brucià 170 road strata 171 mountain muntagna 172 red russo 173 green verde 174 yellow giallo 175 white ghianco , janco 176 black niro 177 night notte 178 day juorno 179 year anno 180 warm caudo 181 cold friddo 182 full chieno 183 new nuovo 184 old viecchio 185 good buono 186 bad cattivo , malamente 187 rotten fraceto , speruto 188 dirty zuozzo , sivo 189 straight deritto 190 round tunno 191 sharp (as a knife)prufilato , puntuto 192 dull (as a knife)sfastriuso 193 smooth muollo , liscio 194 wet umeto , nfuso 195 dry sicco 196 correct justo 197 near vecino , azzico 198 far luntano , arrasso 199 right deritta , canzo 200 left smerza 201 at a 202 in dinto , in 203 with cu 204 and e 205 if si 206 because pecché 207 name nomme
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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