This is a Swadesh list of words in Romanian , 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 Romanianromână edit (207) 1 I (1sg )eu 2 you (2sg )tu 3 he , she , it (3sg )el 4 we (1pl )noi 5 you (2pl )voi 6 they (3pl )ei 7 this acesta 8 that acela 9 here aici 10 there acolo 11 who cine (interrogative )12 what ce (interrogative )13 where unde (interrogative )14 when când (interrogative )15 how cum (interrogative )16 not nu 17 all tot 18 many mulți 19 some niște 20 few puțin 21 other alt 22 one unu 23 two doi 24 three trei 25 four patru 26 five cinci 27 big mare 28 long lung 29 wide larg 30 thick gros 31 heavy greu 32 small mic 33 short scurt 34 narrow strâmt 35 thin subțire , slab 36 woman femeie , muiere 37 man (adult male)bărbat 38 man (human being)om 39 child copil 40 wife soție 41 husband soț 42 mother mamă 43 father tată 44 animal animal 45 fish pește 46 bird pasăre 47 dog câine 48 louse păduche 49 snake șarpe 50 worm vierme 51 tree arbore , copac 52 forest pădure 53 stick băț 54 fruit fruct 55 seed sămânță 56 leaf frunză 57 root rădăcină 58 bark (of a tree)scoarță 59 flower floare 60 grass iarbă 61 rope sfoară , frânghie , coardă 62 skin piele 63 meat carne 64 blood sânge 65 bone os 66 fat (noun)grăsime 67 egg ou 68 horn corn 69 tail coadă 70 feather pană , fulg 71 hair păr 72 head cap 73 ear ureche 74 eye ochi 75 nose nas 76 mouth gură 77 tooth dinte 78 tongue (organ)limbă 79 fingernail unghie 80 foot laba piciorului 81 leg picior 82 knee genunchi 83 hand mână 84 wing aripă 85 belly burtă , vintre , foale , pântece 86 guts măruntaie 87 neck gât 88 back spate 89 breast piept 90 heart inimă 91 liver ficat , mai 92 to drink a bea 93 to eat a mânca 94 to bite a mușca 95 to suck a suge 96 to spit a scuipa 97 to vomit a borî , a vomita , a vărsa 98 to blow a sufla 99 to breathe a răsufla , a respira 100 to laugh a râde 101 to see a vedea 102 to hear a auzi 103 to know a ști 104 to think a cugeta , a se gândi 105 to smell a mirosi 106 to fear a se teme 107 to sleep a dormi 108 to live a trăi 109 to die a muri 110 to kill a ucide , a omorî 111 to fight a lupta 112 to hunt a vâna 113 to hit a lovi 114 to cut a tăia 115 to split a despica , a spinteca 116 to stab a înjunghia 117 to scratch a zgâria 118 to dig a săpa , a excava 119 to swim a înota 120 to fly a zbura 121 to walk a merge 122 to come a veni 123 to lie (as in a bed) a zăcea 124 to sit a se așeza (action ) , a ședea (state )125 to stand a se scula în picioare (action ) , a sta (state )126 to turn (intransitive) a se întoarce 127 to fall a cădea 128 to give a da 129 to hold a ține 130 to squeeze a strânge 131 to rub a freca 132 to wash a spăla 133 to wipe a șterge 134 to pull a trage 135 to push a împinge 136 to throw a arunca 137 to tie a lega 138 to sew a coase 139 to count a număra 140 to say a zice , a spune 141 to sing a cânta 142 to play a juca 143 to float a pluti 144 to flow a curge 145 to freeze a îngheța 146 to swell a se umfla 147 sun soare 148 moon lună 149 star stea 150 water apă 151 rain ploaie , udătură 152 river râu 153 lake lac 154 sea mare 155 salt sare 156 stone piatră 157 sand nisip 158 dust praf , pulbere 159 earth pământ 160 cloud nor 161 fog ceață 162 sky cer 163 wind vânt 164 snow zăpadă , nea 165 ice gheață , sloi 166 smoke fum 167 fire foc , jar 168 ash cenușă , scrum 169 to burn a arde 170 road drum , cale 171 mountain munte 172 red roșu 173 green verde 174 yellow galben 175 white alb 176 black negru , lai 177 night noapte 178 day zi 179 year an 180 warm cald 181 cold rece , frig 182 full plin 183 new nou 184 old vechi 185 good bun 186 bad rău , prost 187 rotten putred , cariat 188 dirty murdar , jegos 189 straight drept 190 round rotund 191 sharp (as a knife)ascuțit 192 dull (as a knife)tocit , bont 193 smooth neted 194 wet ud , umed 195 dry uscat 196 correct drept 197 near lângă , apropiat , aproape 198 far departe 199 right drept 200 left stâng 201 at la , în 202 in în 203 with cu 204 and și 205 if dacă 206 because deoarece , pentru că 207 name nume
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
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