This is a Swadesh list of words in Etruscan , 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.
β English Etruscanedit (46) 1 I (1sg )ππ ( mi ) 2 you (2sg )π
π ( vn ) 3 he , she , it (3sg )ππ ( an ) 4 we (1pl )πππ ( mir ) 5 you (2pl )6 they (3pl )πππ ( ein ) 7 this ππ ( ca ) , ππ ( ta ) 8 that ππ ( ca ) , ππ ( ta ) 9 here ππ
π ( ΞΈ γγΌγ vi) 10 there 11 who 12 what 13 where 14 when 15 how ππ ( ic ) , ππ ( ix ) , πππ ( nac ) , πππππ ( ixnac ) 16 not πππ ( ein ) 17 all πππ
π ( heva ) 18 many 19 some 20 few 21 other 22 one ππ ( ΞΈ γγΌγ u) 23 two πππ ( zal ) 24 three ππ ( ci ) 25 four ππ ( Εa ) 26 five πππ ( maΟ γγ ) 27 big 28 long 29 wide 30 thick 31 heavy 32 small 33 short 34 narrow 35 thin 36 woman ππ
ππ ( pvia ) 37 man (adult male)38 man (human being)39 child ππ
π ( hvs ) 40 wife ππ
ππ ( pvia ) 41 husband 42 mother πππ ( ati ) 43 father πππ ( apa ) 44 animal ππ
πππ ( zvsle ) 45 fish 46 bird 47 dog 48 louse 49 snake 50 worm 51 tree 52 forest 53 stick 54 fruit 55 seed 56 leaf 57 root 58 bark (of a tree)59 flower 60 grass 61 rope 62 skin 63 meat 64 blood 65 bone 66 fat (noun)67 egg 68 horn 69 tail 70 feather 71 hair 72 head 73 ear 74 eye 75 nose 76 mouth 77 tooth 78 tongue (organ)79 fingernail 80 foot 81 leg 82 knee 83 hand 84 wing 85 belly 86 guts 87 neck 88 back 89 breast 90 heart 91 liver 92 to drink ππππ ( spet ) 93 to eat 94 to bite 95 to suck 96 to spit 97 to vomit 98 to blow 99 to breathe 100 to laugh 101 to see πππ
( tev ) , ππππ ( tnam ) 102 to hear 103 to know 104 to think 105 to smell 106 to fear 107 to sleep 108 to live ππ
ππ ( sval ) 109 to die ππππ ( lein ) , ππ
ππ
( lvpv ) , πππ ( nes ) 110 to kill 111 to fight 112 to hunt 113 to hit 114 to cut 115 to split 116 to stab 117 to scratch 118 to dig 119 to swim 120 to fly 121 to walk 122 to come 123 to lie (as in a bed) 124 to sit 125 to stand 126 to turn (intransitive) 127 to fall 128 to give ππ ( al ) , ππ ( as ) , πππ ( les ) , πππ ( mal ) , ππ
ππ ( tvΞΈ γγΌγ i ) , ππ
π ( tvr ) 129 to hold 130 to squeeze 131 to rub 132 to wash 133 to wipe 134 to pull 135 to push πππ ( ars ) 136 to throw πππ
π ( trvΞΈ γγΌγ ) 137 to tie 138 to sew 139 to count 140 to say 141 to sing 142 to play 143 to float 144 to flow 145 to freeze 146 to swell 147 sun π
πππ ( vsil ) , π
πππ ( vΕil ) 148 moon πππ
( tiv ) , πππ
π ( tivr ) 149 star ππ
ππ
π ( pvlvm ) 150 water ππππ ( neri ) 151 rain 152 river 153 lake 154 sea 155 salt 156 stone πππππ
ππ ( penΞΈ γγΌγ vna ) , ππππππ ( penΞΈ γγΌγ na ) , ππ
ππ ( tvpi ) , ππ
π ( tvl ) 157 sand 158 dust 159 earth πππ ( cel ) 160 cloud 161 fog 162 sky ππππππ
( falatv ) 163 wind 164 snow 165 ice 166 smoke 167 fire π
πππ ( vers ) 168 ash 169 to burn 170 road πππππ ( tezan ) 171 mountain 172 red 173 green 174 yellow 175 white 176 black 177 night 178 day πππ ( tin ) , πππππ ( tinia ) 179 year ππ
ππ ( avil ) 180 warm 181 cold 182 full 183 new 184 old 185 good πππππ ( mlaca ) 186 bad 187 rotten 188 dirty 189 straight 190 round 191 sharp (as a knife)192 dull (as a knife)193 smooth 194 wet 195 dry 196 correct 197 near 198 far 199 right πππππ ( hamΟ γ΅γγ a ) 200 left ππππ
π ( laiva ) 201 at 202 in ππ
π ( ΞΈ γγΌγ vi) 203 with 204 and -π ( -c ) , πππππ ( etnam ) , ππ ( ic ) , ππ ( ix ) 205 if 206 because πππ ( nac ) 207 name
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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