This is a Swadesh list of words in Faroese , 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.
No.
English
Faroese føroyskt
1
I
eg
2
you (singular)
tú
3
he , she , it
hann
4
we
vit
5
you (plural)
tit
6
they
teir
7
this
hesin , hetta
8
that
hin , hitt , hetta
9
here
her
10
there
har
11
who
hvør
12
what
hvat
13
where
hvar (no movement)
14
when
nær
15
how
hvussu
16
not
ikki
17
all
allur
18
many
mangur
19
some
nakað
20
few
fáur
21
other
annar
22
one
ein
23
two
tveir
24
three
trý
25
four
fýra
26
five
fimm
27
big
stórur
28
long
langur
29
wide
breiður
30
thick
tjúkkur
31
heavy
tungur
32
small
lítil
33
short
stuttur
34
narrow
mjáur
35
thin
tunnur
36
woman
kona
37
man (adult male)
kallur
38
man (human being)
maður
39
child
barn
40
wife
kona
41
husband
maður
42
mother
móðir , mamma
43
father
faðir , babba
44
animal
dýr , djór
45
fish
fiskur
46
bird
fuglur
47
dog
hundur
48
louse
lús (/lus/ )
49
snake
slanga , snákur
50
worm
ormur
51
tree
træ
52
forest
skógur
53
stick
stavur , stong , pinnur
54
fruit
frukt , ávøkstur
55
seed
fræ
56
leaf
leyvsblað
57
root
rót
58
bark (of a tree)
børkur
59
flower
blóma , blomstur
60
grass
gras
61
rope
reip
62
skin
húð
63
meat
kjøt
64
blood
blóð
65
bone
bein
66
fat (noun)
feitt , fiti
67
egg
egg
68
horn
horn
69
tail
hali (of mammals) ; halafaks , tagl (of horses) ; vel (of birds) , sporl (of fish, seals, etc.)
70
feather
fjøður
71
hair
hár
72
head
høvd , høvur
73
ear
oyra
74
eye
eyga
75
nose
nøs
76
mouth
munnur
77
tooth
tonn
78
tongue (organ)
tunga
79
fingernail
negl
80
foot
fótur
81
leg
leggur , fótleggur
82
knee
knæ
83
hand
hond
84
wing
vongur
85
belly
magi , búkur
86
guts
innvølur
87
neck
hálsur
88
back
ryggur , bak
89
breast
bróst
90
heart
hjarta
91
liver
livur
92
to drink
drekka
93
to eat
eta
94
to bite
bíta
95
to suck
súgva
96
to spit
spýta
97
to vomit
spýggja , goysa
98
to blow
blása
99
to breathe
anda
100
to laugh
læa , flenna , grína
101
to see
síggja
102
to hear
hoyra
103
to know
vita
104
to think
hugsa , teinkja
105
to smell
lukta , tevja , snodda
106
to fear
óttast , ræðast
107
to sleep
sova
108
to live
liva
109
to die
doyggja
110
to kill
drepa
111
to fight
klandrast , berjast
112
to hunt
veiða
113
to hit
sláa , buka
114
to cut
skera , rista
115
to split
klúgva , kloyva (transitive) ; klovna , rivna , syndrast (intransitive)
116
to stab
stinga , rena
117
to scratch
klóra , rispa , skøva
118
to dig
grava
119
to swim
svimja
120
to fly
flúgva
121
to walk
ganga , spáka
122
to come
koma
123
to lie (as in a bed)
liggja
124
to sit
sita
125
to stand
standa
126
to turn (intransitive)
snurra , mala
127
to fall
detta , rapa , falla
128
to give
geva
129
to hold
halda
130
to squeeze
kroysta , krympa
131
to rub
gníggja , narra
132
to wash
tváa , vaska
133
to wipe
turka
134
to pull
toga , draga , hála
135
to push
skumpa
136
to throw
kasta , blaka , tveita
137
to tie
binda , knýta
138
to sew
seyma
139
to count
telja
140
to say
siga
141
to sing
syngja
142
to play
leika , spæla
143
to float
flóta
144
to flow
streyma , renna , fløða
145
to freeze
frysta
146
to swell
trútna , bólgna , hovna , svølla
147
sun
sól
148
moon
máni
149
star
stjørna
150
water
vatn
151
rain
regn
152
river
á
153
lake
vatn
154
sea
sjógvur , hav
155
salt
salt
156
stone
steinur
157
sand
sandur
158
dust
dust
159
earth
jørð
160
cloud
skýggj
161
fog
toka , mjørki
162
sky
himmal
163
wind
vindur
164
snow
kavi
165
ice
ísur
166
smoke
roykur
167
fire
eldur
168
ash
øska
169
to burn
brenna
170
road
gøta , vegur
171
mountain
fjall
172
red
reyður
173
green
grønur
174
yellow
gulur
175
white
hvítur
176
black
svartur
177
night
nátt
178
day
dagur
179
year
ár
180
warm
lýggjur
181
cold
kaldur
182
full
fullur
183
new
nýggjur
184
old
gamal
185
good
góður
186
bad
óndur (evil) ; vánaligur (food, weather, etc.)
187
rotten
fúnaður , rotin
188
dirty
skitin
189
straight
beinur
190
round
rundur
191
sharp (as a knife)
hvassur , gløggur
192
dull (as a knife)
óhvassur
193
smooth
hálur , mjúkur
194
wet
vátur
195
dry
turrur
196
correct
rættur
197
near
nærstaddur , høgligur
198
far
langt , leingi
199
right
høgri
200
left
vinstri
201
at
hjá
202
in
í
203
with
við
204
and
og
205
if
um
206
because
vegna
207
name
navn
Les langages de l'humanité (Michel Malherbe), Robert Laffont, Paris 1995 - →ISBN
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
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