This is a Swadesh list of words in Northern Kurdish , 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 Northern Kurdishedit (207) 1 I (1sg )ez 2 you (2sg )tu , ti 3 he , she , it (3sg )ew 4 we (1pl )em 5 you (2pl )hûn , hîn , engo 6 they (3pl )ew , ewan 7 this ev 8 that ew 9 here li vir , vir 10 there wê derê , wir 11 who kê , kî 12 what çî , çi 13 where kwê , kêrê 14 when kengi , key 15 how çewan , çon , ku 16 not na , ne 17 all xirr , pirrani , gişt , hemu 18 many zor , mişe , zaf , pirr 19 some hindek 20 few pîçek 21 other din , dî , tir , ke 22 one yek 23 two du 24 three sê 25 four çar 26 five pênc 27 big mezin , gir 28 long dirêj 29 wide pan 30 thick stur 31 heavy qurs , giran 32 small bçîk , çikole 33 short kurt , qule 34 narrow barîk , zirav , narîn 35 thin tenik , tesik 36 woman jin 37 man (adult male)mêr 38 man (human being)mirov 39 child zarok , zarr 40 wife jin , xêzan 41 husband mêr , mêrd 42 mother dayik , daye 43 father bav , bab 44 animal ajel , huvî 45 fish masî 46 bird çîvanok , kêjule , mel 47 dog kuti , kuçik 48 louse qêç , spî 49 snake mar 50 worm kirm 51 tree dar 52 forest lêrr , daristan 53 stick gopal , ço , şiv 54 fruit fêqîh , terre 55 seed danewêlle , dank 56 leaf pelk , gella 57 root reh , nêrk , çîl 58 bark (of a tree)tukl , berg 59 flower kulilk , gul 60 grass gîya 61 rope petk , gurîs , kindir 62 skin kewl , pêst , pîst 63 meat goşt 64 blood zux , xwîn 65 bone pêşe , hestî 66 fat (noun)bez 67 egg hêk , êg , hêlke 68 horn stro , qoç , şax 69 tail kilk , boç , duv 70 feather perr , perremuç 71 hair pirç , por 72 head ser , pope 73 ear guh , gwê 74 eye çav , çaw 75 nose difin , poz , kep 76 mouth dev , dew , dem 77 tooth dan , didan 78 tongue (organ)ziman 79 fingernail nînok 80 foot pê 81 leg laq , qaç 82 knee çok , ejno 83 hand pel , lip , dest 84 wing bal 85 belly nêk , zik 86 guts henav , wirg 87 neck hevk , mil 88 back pişt 89 breast berok , sîng 90 heart dil 91 liver cîger , kezeb 92 to drink vexwarin , xwarewe 93 to eat xwarin 94 to bite gezî 95 to suck mijîn 96 to spit tifand , helawêşt 97 to vomit helawêşt , rişawe 98 to blow helda , frêda 99 to breathe henaseda , bêhnda 100 to laugh keni , pêkeni 101 to see dîtin 102 to hear bîstin 103 to know zanîn 104 to think bîr 105 to smell bon kird 106 to fear tirsîn , toqî 107 to sleep nivistin , xewt 108 to live jîyan 109 to die mirin 110 to kill kuştin 111 to fight şer kird 112 to hunt raw kird 113 to hit lêda 114 to cut qirta , qut kir 115 to split let kird 116 to stab engawt 117 to scratch ruçinand 118 to dig kolî , kêla 119 to swim ajne kirin 120 to fly firrîn 121 to walk pîase 122 to come hatin 123 to lie (as in a bed) razan 124 to sit danîşt 125 to stand hesta , westyîa 126 to turn (intransitive) zivrrî , surawe 127 to fall ke(f)tin 128 to give da 129 to hold girtin 130 to squeeze quşî 131 to rub glofî , firkand , perxand , germrand 132 to wash şord , şuşt 133 to wipe malî , sirrîewe 134 to pull rakêşa 135 to push pal da 136 to throw helda , havêşt 137 to tie şetek da , best 138 to sew durî 139 to count jimartin , hejmartin 140 to say gotin , bejî , wut 141 to sing çirrî , sitran 142 to play leîzî , yarî kird 143 to float serav bu 144 to flow rîja 145 to freeze tezî , sirr bu 146 to swell bel bu , penma 147 sun roj , [Term?] 148 moon mah , heyv 149 star stêre , estêre 150 water av , aw 151 rain baran , şilî 152 river ro , çem , rubar 153 lake gom 154 sea zerîa 155 salt xwê 156 stone ber , kevir 157 sand zîx , lim 158 dust toz , xol 159 earth erd , zevî 160 cloud ewr 161 fog mij 162 sky asman 163 wind ba 164 snow befr , berf 165 ice sehol 166 smoke dukel 167 fire agir , ar 168 ash xolemêş , xoli 169 to burn suta , sot 170 road rê , rêge 171 mountain çiya 172 red sor 173 green kesk , heşîn 174 yellow zer 175 white spî 176 black reş 177 night şev 178 day roj 179 year sal 180 warm germ 181 cold sar 182 full tije , tijî 183 new nû 184 old kevn 185 good baş , rind 186 bad bed 187 rotten rizî 188 dirty pîs 189 straight rêk 190 round xirr 191 sharp (as a knife)tîj 192 dull (as a knife)kul 193 smooth lus 194 wet şil terr 195 dry zuha , hîşk , wuşk 196 correct drust 197 near nizîk 198 far dur , dur 199 right and , rast 200 left çep 201 at le , ji 202 in di ... de , di 203 with digel , legel , wêrrai 204 and u , we 205 if heke 206 because ji ber ku 207 name nav , nam
Swadesh lists
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