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Appendix:Tahitian Swadesh list

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This is a Swadesh list of words in Tahitian, 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

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No. English Tahitian
reo tahiti
1 I au, vau
2 you (singular) 'oe
3 he, she, it 'oia, 'ōna
4 we tātou (inclusive), mātou (exclusive)
5 you (plural) 'outou
6 they rātou
7 this teie
8 that terā
9 here iho nei
10 there iho na
11 who vai (interrogative)
12 what aha (interrogative)
13 where teihea (no movement, interrogative)
14 when ahea (interrogative)
15 how nāhea (interrogative)
16 not 'eiaha
17 all ana'e
18 many rahi
19 some nau, tau
20 few ma'a
21 other 'ē
22 one hō'ē
23 two piti
24 three toru
25 four maha
26 five pae
27 big rahi
28 long roa
29 wide 'ā'ano
30 thick me'ume'u
31 heavy teiaha, taimaha
32 small iti
33 short poto
34 narrow oaoa
35 thin rairai
36 woman vahine
37 man (adult male) tāne
38 man (human being) ta'ata
39 child tamari'i
40 wife vahine fa'aipoipo
41 husband tane fa'aipoipo
42 mother metua vahine
43 father metua tane
44 animal manu, 'ānimara
45 fish i'a
46 bird manu
47 dog 'ūrī
48 louse 'utu
49 snake 'ōfī
50 worm to'e, tu'a
51 tree rā'au
52 forest aru
53 stick rā'au, mauha'a
54 fruit mā'a
55 seed huero
56 leaf rao'ere
57 root a'a
58 bark (of a tree) pa'a, 'iri
59 flower tiare, pua
60 grass matie, 'aihere
61 rope taura
62 skin 'iri
63 meat ina'i
64 blood toto
65 bone ivi
66 fat (noun) hinu
67 egg huero
68 horn tara
69 tail 'aero, hi'u
70 feather huruhuru, hetehete
71 hair rouru
72 head upo'o
73 ear tari'a
74 eye mata
75 nose ihu
76 mouth vaha
77 tooth niho
78 tongue (organ) arero
79 fingernail mai'u'u
80 foot 'āvae
81 leg 'āvae
82 knee turi
83 hand rima
84 wing pererau
85 belly 'ōpū
86 guts 'ā'au
87 neck 'a'ī
88 back tua
89 breast 'ōuma
90 heart māfatu
91 liver 'ūpa'a
92 to drink inu
93 to eat 'amu
94 to bite hōhoni
95 to suck 'ote
96 to spit tuha
97 to vomit piha'e
98 to blow pūhi, farara (wind)
99 to breathe huti i te aho
100 to laugh 'ata
101 to see hi'o
102 to hear fa'aro'o
103 to know 'ite
104 to think mana'o
105 to smell hau'a
106 to fear taiā, mata'u
107 to sleep taoto
108 to live ora
109 to die pohe, mate
110 to kill taparahi-pohe-roa, ha'apohe; tūpa'i (an animal)
111 to fight taputō
112 to hunt a'ua'u pua'a
113 to hit taparahi
114 to cut tāpū
115 to split tuha, vāhi
116 to stab patia
117 to scratch pāra'u
118 to dig pao, tūpā, 'ō
119 to swim 'au
120 to fly ma'ue
121 to walk haere
122 to come haere mai
123 to lie (as in a bed) tārava (state)
124 to sit pārahi (action, state)
125 to stand 'oti'ati'a (action)
126 to turn (intransitive) tīoi
127 to fall topa
128 to give hōro'a
129 to hold mau
130 to squeeze tāmau
131 to rub 'ū'ui, 'ui'ui
132 to wash horoi
133 to wipe horoi
134 to pull 'ume
135 to push tura'i
136 to throw tāora
137 to tie ruru, nati
138 to sew au, nira
139 to count nūmera
140 to say 'ī
141 to sing pehe, hīmene
142 to play ha'uti
143 to float
144 to flow tahe
145 to freeze fa'ato'eto'e roa
146 to swell 'oru
147 sun mahāna
148 moon 'āva'e, marama
149 star feti'a
150 water vai
151 rain ua
152 river 'ānāvai, tahora
153 lake roto
154 sea miti
155 salt miti
156 stone 'ōfa'i
157 sand one
158 dust repo, one
159 earth fenua
160 cloud ata
161 fog rūpehu
162 sky ra'i
163 wind mata'i
164 snow hiona
165 ice pape to'eto'e
166 smoke auauahi
167 fire auahi
168 ash rehu auahi
169 to burn 'ama
170 road e'a tia, purumu
171 mountain mou'a
172 red 'ura
173 green matie
174 yellow re'are'a
175 white 'uo'uo
176 black 'ere'ere
177 night ru'i, pō
178 day mahana
179 year matahiti
180 warm māhanahana
181 cold to'eto'e
182 full api (a room), 'ī (belly)
183 new 'āpī
184 old tahito
185 good maita'i
186 bad 'ino
187 rotten pē
188 dirty repo
189 straight 'āfaro, ti'a
190 round menemene
191 sharp (as a knife) 'ina
192 dull (as a knife) tūmū, mania
193 smooth mānina
194 wet rari
195 dry marō
196 correct ti'a
197 near fatata
198 far ātea
199 right 'atau
200 left 'aui
201 at i
202 in i roto, i
203 with ma
204 and e, ma
205 if 'āhiri
206 because nō te mea
207 name i'oa
  • Orthography :

The orthography used in the list is the one recommended by the Tahitian Academy.

See also

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Bibliography

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  • Les langages de l'humanité (Michel Malherbe), Robert Laffont, Paris 1995 - →ISBN

Further reading

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Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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