12/11/2023, 12:52 Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list

This is a Swadesh list of words in Proto-Italic, compared with definitions in English.

Presentation
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

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list 1/8
12/11/2023, 12:52 Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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
Proto-Italic
№ English edit (207)

1 I (1sg) *egō
2 you (2sg) *tū

3 he, she, it (3sg) *is

4 we (1pl) *nōs
5 you (2pl) *wōs

6 they (3pl) *is

7 this *hek(e)
8 that *istos

9 here *hek(e)

10 there *iðei
11 who *kʷis, *kʷoi

12 what *kʷis, *kʷoi

13 where *kʷāmdō
14 when *kʷuðei

15 how *kʷām

16 not *ne
17 all *opnis

18 many *moltos

19 some *partim
20 few *paukos

21 other *aljos

22 one *oinos
23 two *duō

24 three *trēs

25 four *kʷettwōr
26 five *kʷenkʷe

27 big *magnos

28 long *dlongos
29 wide *stlātos

30 thick *kartsus
31 heavy *gʷrawos

32 small *pauros

33 short *breɣʷis

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list 2/8
12/11/2023, 12:52 Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-Italic
№ English edit (207)

34 narrow *anɣustos

35 thin *tenwis
36 woman *fēmanā

37 man (adult male) *wiros

38 man (human being) *hemō

39 child *puweros

40 wife *uksōr

41 husband *wiros, *nēr

42 mother *mātēr

43 father *patēr

44 animal *anamālis
45 fish *piskis

46 bird *awis

47 dog *kō
48 louse *pezdis

49 snake *anɣʷis
50 worm *wormis

51 tree *arðōs

52 forest *selwā
53 stick *baklom

54 fruit *poomos

55 seed *sēmen
56 leaf *folyom

57 root *wrādīks

58 bark (of a tree) *korteks

59 flower *flōs

60 grass *grāmen

61 rope *fuðnis
62 skin *pelnis

63 meat *karō

64 blood *sangwen
65 bone *os

66 fat (noun) *pinɣʷe

67 egg *ōwom
68 horn *kornū

69 tail *kaudā

70 feather *plow(k)smā

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list 3/8
12/11/2023, 12:52 Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-Italic
№ English edit (207)

71 hair *kriznis

72 head *kaput
73 ear *auzis

74 eye *okʷelos

75 nose *nās
76 mouth *ōs

77 tooth *dents

78 tongue (organ) *denɣwā

79 fingernail *ungus

80 foot *peds

81 leg *krūs
82 knee *genū

83 hand *manus

84 wing *akslā
85 belly *wendtris

86 guts *laktis
87 neck *kʷolzom

88 back *dorsom

89 breast *pektos
90 heart *kord

91 liver *jekʷor

92 to drink *pibō
93 to eat *manðō

94 to bite *mordeō

95 to suck *sowgō
96 to spit *spujō

97 to vomit *wemō

98 to blow *speizō
99 to breathe *flaō

100 to laugh *reideō

101 to see *widēō

102 to hear *awizdjō

103 to know *skijō

104 to think *rēōr

105 to smell *odō

106 to fear *werēōr

107 to sleep *swepjō

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list 4/8
12/11/2023, 12:52 Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-Italic
№ English edit (207)

108 to live *gʷīwō

109 to die *morjōr

110 to kill *nekō

111 to fight *pugnō

112 to hunt *weynor

113 to hit *ferjō

114 to cut *kaidō, *skindō

115 to split *findō

116 to stab *pungō

117 to scratch *skaβō

118 to dig *fodjō

119 to swim *snāō

120 to fly *gʷelajō

121 to walk *kezdō, *eō

122 to come *gʷenjō

123 to lie (as in a bed) *jakēō

124 to sit *sedēō

125 to stand *staēō

126 to turn (intransitive) *wertō

127 to fall *kadō

128 to give *didō

129 to hold *haβēō

130 to squeeze *premō

131 to rub *terō

132 to wash *lawaō

133 to wipe *tergēō

134 to pull *traɣō

135 to push *worgēō

136 to throw *jakjō

137 to tie *leigāō

138 to sew *sūō

139 to count *nomezō

140 to say *deikō

141 to sing *kanō

142 to play *loidō

143 to float *flowitō

144 to flow *flūō

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list 5/8
12/11/2023, 12:52 Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-Italic
№ English edit (207)

145 to freeze *frīgēō, *gelō

146 to swell *tumēō

147 sun *swōl

148 moon *louksnā

149 star *stērolā

150 water *akʷā

151 rain *plowjā

152 river *flowmən

153 lake *lakus

154 sea *mari

155 salt *sāls

156 stone *lapis

157 sand *sabolom

158 dust *polwis

159 earth *terzā

160 cloud *nouðetis

161 fog *neβelā

162 sky *kailom

163 wind *wentos

164 snow *sniks

165 ice *gelus

166 smoke *fūmos

167 fire *əngʷnis

168 ash *kenis

169 to burn *ouzō

170 road *wijā

171 mountain *monts

172 red *ruðros

173 green *weyziðis

174 yellow *flāwos

175 white *alβos

176 black *niɣros

177 night *noks

178 day *djous

179 year *wetos

180 warm *kaliðos

181 cold *frīgos

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list 6/8
12/11/2023, 12:52 Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-Italic
№ English edit (207)

182 full *plēnos

183 new *nowos

184 old *senos

185 good *dwenos

186 bad *malos

187 rotten *pūtos

188 dirty *swerdiðos

189 straight *rektos

190 round *rotontnos

191 sharp (as a knife) *akowtos

192 dull (as a knife) *heβes

193 smooth *lēnis

194 wet *wegmiðos

195 dry *seikkos

196 correct *wēros

197 near *prokʷe

198 far *prokol

199 right *deksteros

200 left *laiwos

201 at *ad

202 in *en

203 with *kom

204 and *et

205 if *sei

206 because *kʷod

207 name *nomən

Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Abinomn · Afrikaans · Albanian · Amdo Tibetan · Amharic · Antillean Creole · Arabic
(Standard Arabic · Cypriot · Egyptian · Moroccan · Palestinian · Tunisian) · Armenian · Aromanian
· Assamese · Asturian · Avar · Azerbaijani · Bangala · Bashkir · Basque · Belarusian · Bengali ·
Berber (Moroccan Amazigh · Tashelhit · Central Atlas Tamazight) · Betawi · Big Nambas ·
Bikol Central · Breton · Buginese · Bulgarian · Burmese · Burushaski · Cape Verdean · Catalan ·
Cebuano · Chamorro · Chavacano · Chechen · Chinese (Mandarin (Sichuanese · Standard ·
Nanjingnese) · Cantonese · Gan · Hakka · Min (Min Nan · Min Dong) · Old Chinese · Wu
(Shanghainese · Suzhounese) · Xiang) · Cornish · Crimean Tatar · Czech (Old Czech) ·
Dalmatian · Danish · Dutch (Limburgish · Zealandic) · Egyptian · English (Old · Middle) · Elamite ·
Estonian · Etruscan · Fanagalo · Faroese · Fiji Hindi · Fijian · Finnish · Fongbe · French
(Old French) · Frisian · Friulian · Galician · Garo · Gelao · Georgian · German · Gothic · Greek
(Ancient Greek) · Guaraní · Guinea-Bissau Creole · Gujarati · Haitian Creole · Hausa · Hawaiian ·
Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew · Modern Hebrew) · Hiligaynon · Hindi · Hittite · Hmong · Hungarian ·
Icelandic · Ilocano · Indonesian · Ingush · Irish · Italian (Lombard · Ligurian · Neapolitan · Sicilian)
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list 7/8
12/11/2023, 12:52 Appendix:Proto-Italic Swadesh list - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

· Japanese · Javanese · Jeju · Jizhao · Kannada · Kangean · Kapampangan · Kashubian ·

Kazakh · Khmer · Kinaray-a · Komi-Zyrian · Konkani · Korean (Middle Korean) · Kurmanji ·
Kyrgyz · Latin (Vulgar Latin) · Latvian · Lingala · Lithuanian · Low Saxon (Sallaands) ·
Lower Sorbian · Macedonian · Maguindanao · Makasar · Malagasy · Malay · Malayalam · Maltese
· Mandaic · Manx · Māori · Maranao · Marathi (Old Marathi) · Mauritian Creole ·
Megleno-Romanian · Mongolian · Murui Huitoto · Musi · Navajo · Nepali · Norwegian (Bokmål ·
Nynorsk) · Occitan · Ojibwe · Okinawan · Osing · Ossetian · Papiamento · Pashto · Persian
(Old Persian · Middle Persian) · Polish (Old Polish) · Portuguese (Old Portuguese) · Punjabi ·
Purepecha · Quechua · Romani (Caló) · Romanian · Russian · Rusyn · Sambali · Sanskrit ·
Saraiki · Scottish Gaelic · Serbo-Croatian · Siberian Tatar · Slovak · Slovene · Somali · Spanish ·
Sranan · Sumerian · Sundanese · Swahili · Swedish · Tagalog · Tahitian · Tajik · Tamil · Tatar ·
Telugu · Temiar · Tigrinya · Thai · Tocharian B · Tok Pisin · Turkish · Turkmen · Tuvaluan ·
Ukrainian · Upper Sorbian · Urdu · Uyghur · Uzbek · Vietnamese · Walloon · Waray-Waray ·
Welsh · West Coast Bajau · Wutunhua · Wyandot · Yiddish · Zazaki · Zulu
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Afroasiatic · Algonquian and Iroquoian · Arabic · Austroasiatic · Austronesian · Baltic · Bantu ·
Berber · Celtic · Chumashan and Hokan · Dené–Yeniseian · Dravidian · Finnic · Formosan ·
Frisian · Germanic · Hmong-Mien · Indo-Aryan (Middle · Early New) · Indo-Iranian · Italian ·
Japonic · Kra–Dai · Mayan · Muskogean · Niger–Congo · Northeast Caucasian ·
Northwest Caucasian · Oto-Manguean · Paleosiberian · Pama-Nyungan · Penutian · Romance ·
Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic · Raji-Raute · Tibeto-Burman · Tibeto-Burman (Nepal)) · Kho-Bwa ·
Kuki-Chin · Slavic · Siouan and Pawnee · South American · Tungusic · Tupian · Turkic · Uralic ·
Uto-Aztecan
Constructed languages
Esperanto · Ido · Interlingua · Interlingue · Klingon · Láadan · Lingua Franca Nova ·
Lingwa de Planeta (Lidepla) · Lojban · Novial · Toki Pona · Volapük
Reconstructed proto-languages
Proto-Austronesian · Proto-Balto-Slavic · Proto-Bantu · Proto-Basque · Proto-Celtic ·
Proto-Germanic · Proto-Hellenic · Proto-Indo-European · Proto-Indo-Iranian · Proto-Italic ·
Proto-Japanese · Proto-Mayan · Proto-Slavic · Proto-Turkic · Proto-West Germanic
(edit this template)

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list&oldid=71474218"

This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 22:27.

Definitions and other text are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms
may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Italic_Swadesh_list 8/8