From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
This is a Swadesh list of words in Sicilian , 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 Siciliansicilianu edit (207) 1 I (1sg )jù 2 you (2sg )tu 3 he , she , it (3sg )iḍḍu 4 we (1pl )nuautri 5 you (2pl )vuautri 6 they (3pl )iḍḍi 7 this chistu 8 that chiḍḍu 9 here cca 10 there ḍḍà , ḍḍocu 11 who cui 12 what chi , zoccu 13 where unni 14 when quannu 15 how comu 16 not no , noni 17 all tuttu 18 many assai 19 some quarchi 20 few picca 21 other autru 22 one unu 23 two dui 24 three tri 25 four quattru 26 five cincu 27 big granni 28 long longu 29 wide largu 30 thick nfutu , spissu 31 heavy pisanti 32 small nicu 33 short curtu 34 narrow strittu 35 thin màguru , siccu 36 woman fìmmina 37 man (adult male)omu 38 man (human being)omu 39 child picciriḍḍu 40 wife mugghieri 41 husband maritu 42 mother matri 43 father patri 44 animal armalu 45 fish pisci 46 bird aceḍḍu 47 dog cani 48 louse pidocchiu 49 snake sirpenti 50 worm vermi 51 tree chianta 52 forest voscu 53 stick vastuni 54 fruit fruttu 55 seed simenza 56 leaf fogghia 57 root ràdica 58 bark (of a tree)scorcia 59 flower ciuri 60 grass erba 61 rope corda 62 skin peḍḍi 63 meat carni 64 blood sangu 65 bone ossu 66 fat (noun)grassu , sivu 67 egg ovu 68 horn cornu 69 tail cuda 70 feather pinna 71 hair capiḍḍu 72 head capu , testa 73 ear aricchia 74 eye occhiu 75 nose nasu 76 mouth vucca 77 tooth denti 78 tongue (organ)lingua 79 fingernail ugna 80 foot pedi 81 leg gamma 82 knee dinocchiu 83 hand manu 84 wing ala 85 belly panza 86 guts vureḍḍu 87 neck coḍḍu 88 back carina 89 breast pettu 90 heart cori 91 liver fìcatu 92 to drink vìviri 93 to eat manciari , pistiari 94 to bite muzzicari 95 to suck sucari 96 to spit sputari 97 to vomit sbummicari 98 to blow ciusciari 99 to breathe ciatari 100 to laugh rìdiri 101 to see vìdiri 102 to hear sèntiri 103 to know sapiri 104 to think pinzari 105 to smell ciagurari 106 to fear scantàrisi 107 to sleep dòrmiri 108 to live campari 109 to die mòriri 110 to kill accìdiri , ammazzari 111 to fight cummàttiri 112 to hunt cacciari 113 to hit cafuḍḍari 114 to cut tagghiari 115 to split spàrtiri 116 to stab tagghiari , cutiḍḍijari 117 to scratch grattari 118 to dig scavari 119 to swim natari 120 to fly vulari 121 to walk caminari 122 to come vèniri 123 to lie (as in a bed) curcàrisi 124 to sit assittàrisi 125 to stand stari â dritta126 to turn (intransitive) girari , firrijari 127 to fall càdiri 128 to give dari 129 to hold tèniri 130 to squeeze mùnciri 131 to rub stricari 132 to wash lavari 133 to wipe asciucari , astujari 134 to pull tirari 135 to push ammuttari 136 to throw jittari 137 to tie attaccari 138 to sew cùsiri 139 to count cuntari 140 to say cuntari 141 to sing cantari 142 to play jucari 143 to float galliggiari 144 to flow scùrriri 145 to freeze gnilari 146 to swell vunchiari 147 sun suli 148 moon luna 149 star stiḍḍa 150 water acqua 151 rain chiuvia 152 river ciumi 153 lake lacu 154 sea mari 155 salt sali 156 stone petra 157 sand rina 158 dust pùrbiri 159 earth munnu , terra 160 cloud nèvula 161 fog negghia 162 sky celu 163 wind ventu 164 snow nivi 165 ice jelu 166 smoke fumu 167 fire focu 168 ash cìnniri 169 to burn abbruciari 170 road strata 171 mountain muntagna 172 red russu 173 green virdi 174 yellow giarnu 175 white jancu , viancu 176 black nìguru 177 night notti 178 day jornu 179 year annu 180 warm càudu 181 cold friddu 182 full chinu 183 new novu 184 old vecchiu 185 good bonu 186 bad malu 187 rotten purritu 188 dirty lurdu , nzivatu 189 straight drittu 190 round tunnu 191 sharp (as a knife)affilatu 192 dull (as a knife)smanciatu 193 smooth lisciu 194 wet moḍḍu 195 dry siccu 196 correct giustu 197 near vicinu 198 far luntanu 199 right ritta 200 left manca 201 at nne 202 in 'n , ta 203 with cu 204 and e 205 if si 206 because pirchì 207 name nomu
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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