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Appendix:Spanish Swadesh list

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

This is a Swadesh list of words in Spanish, compared with definitions in English.

Presentation

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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]
EnglishSpanish
español
edit (207)
1I (1sg)yo
2you (2sg), vos, usted (formal)
3he, she, it (3sg)él, ella
4we (1pl)nosotros, nosotras
5you (2pl)vosotros, vosotras, ustedes
6they (3pl)ellos, ellas
7thiseste
8thatese, aquel
9hereaquí, acá
10thereahí
11whoquién
12whatqué
13wheredónde
14whencuándo
15howcómo
16notno
17alltodo
18manymucho
19somealguno
20fewpoco
21otherotro
22oneuno
23twodos
24threetres
25fourcuatro
26fivecinco
27biggrande
28longlargo
29wideancho
30thickgrueso
31heavypesado
32smallpequeño
33shortcorto
34narrowestrecho, angosto
35thindelgado, flaco
36womanmujer
37man (adult male)varón
38man (human being)hombre
39childniño
40wifeesposa, mujer
41husbandesposo, marido
42mothermadre
43fatherpadre
44animalanimal
45fishpez, pescado
46birdpájaro
47dogperro
48lousepiojo
49snakeserpiente, víbora, culebra
50wormgusano
51treeárbol
52forestbosque
53stickpalo
54fruitfruta
55seedsemilla
56leafhoja
57rootraíz
58bark (of a tree)corteza
59flowerflor
60grasshierba, grama
61ropecuerda
62skinpiel
63meatcarne
64bloodsangre
65bonehueso
66fat (noun)grasa
67egghuevo
68horncuerno
69tailcola
70featherpluma
71hairpelo, cabello
72headcabeza
73earoreja
74eyeojo
75nosenariz
76mouthboca
77toothdiente
78tongue (organ)lengua
79fingernailuña
80footpie
81legpierna
82kneerodilla
83handmano
84wingala
85bellybarriga, vientre
86gutstripas
87neckcuello
88backespalda
89breastpecho
90heartcorazón
91liverhígado
92to drinkbeber
93to eatcomer
94to bitemorder
95to suckchupar
96to spitescupir
97to vomitvomitar
98to blowsoplar
99to breatherespirar
100to laughreír
101to seever
102to hearoír
103to knowsaber
104to thinkpensar
105to smelloler
106to feartemer
107to sleepdormir
108to livevivir
109to diemorir
110to killmatar
111to fightpelear
112to huntcazar
113to hitgolpear
114to cutcortar
115to splitpartir
116to stabapuñalar
117to scratcharañar, rascar
118to digcavar, excavar
119to swimnadar
120to flyvolar
121to walkcaminar
122to comevenir
123to lie (as in a bed)echarse (action), yacer, estar en el suelo (state)
124to sitsentarse, estar sentado (state)
125to standlevantarse, estar de pie
126to turn (intransitive)girar, dar una vuelta
127to fallcaer
128to givedar
129to holdtener
130to squeezeapretar
131to rubfrotar
132to washlavar
133to wipelimpiar
134to pulltirar de, jalar, halar
135to pushempujar
136to throwtirar, arrojar
137to tieatar
138to sewcoser
139to countcontar
140to saydecir
141to singcantar
142to playjugar
143to floatflotar
144to flowfluir
145to freezecongelarse, helar
146to swellhincharse
147sunsol
148moonluna
149starestrella
150wateragua
151rainlluvia
152riverrío
153lakelago
154seamar
155saltsal
156stonepiedra
157sandarena
158dustpolvo
159earthtierra
160cloudnube
161fogniebla
162skycielo
163windviento
164snownieve
165icehielo
166smokehumo
167firefuego
168ashcenizas
169to burnquemar
170roadcamino
171mountainmontaña
172redrojo
173greenverde
174yellowamarillo
175whiteblanco
176blacknegro
177nightnoche
178daydía
179yearaño
180warmcaliente, cálido
181coldfrío
182fulllleno
183newnuevo
184oldviejo
185goodbueno
186badmalo
187rottenpodrido
188dirtysucio
189straightrecto
190roundredondo
191sharp (as a knife)agudo, afilado
192dull (as a knife)sin filo, desafilado, embotado, romo
193smoothliso
194wetmojado
195dryseco
196correctcorrecto
197nearcerca
198farlejos
199rightderecha
200leftizquierda
201aten, a
202inen
203withcon
204andy, e
205ifsi
206becauseporque
207namenombre

Bibliography

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  • Dictionnaire de poche français-espagnol / espagnol-français, Hachette & Vox, Paris 2005 - →ISBN
  • Les langages de l'humanité (Michel Malherbe), Robert Laffont, Paris 1995 - →ISBN
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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