This is a Swadesh list of words in Breton 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 Bretonedit (207) 1 I (1sg )me 2 you (2sg )te 3 he , she , it (3sg )eñ 4 we (1pl )ni 5 you (2pl )c'hwi 6 they (3pl )i int 7 this an mañ 8 that an se 9 here amañ 10 there aze eno 11 who piv 12 what petra 13 where pelec'h 14 when pedavare pegoulz peur pevare 15 how pegiz penaos pevod 16 not ne ket 17 all holl tout 18 many kalz lies a 19 some bennak meur a 20 few nebeut 21 other all arall 22 one unan 23 two daou 24 three tri 25 four pevar 26 five pemp 27 big bras meur 28 long hir 29 wide ledan 30 thick tev fetis 31 heavy pounner 32 small bihan 33 short berr 34 narrow enk strizh 35 thin moan tanav 36 woman gwreg maouez 37 man (adult male)gour gwaz den 38 man (human being)den 39 child bugel 40 wife gwreg 41 husband gwaz 42 mother mamm 43 father tad 44 animal aneval loen mil 45 fish pesk 46 bird evn labous 47 dog ki 48 louse laou 49 snake naer sarpant 50 worm buzhug preñv 51 tree gwez 52 forest koad koed 53 stick bazh 54 fruit frouezh 55 seed had 56 leaf del 57 root gwrizienn 58 bark (of a tree)rusk 59 flower bleuñv 60 grass geot gwelt 61 rope kordenn 62 skin kroc'hen 63 meat kig 64 blood gwad 65 bone askorn 66 fat (noun)druz lart 67 egg vi 68 horn korn 69 tail lost 70 feather pluñv 71 hair blev 72 head penn 73 ear skouarn 74 eye lagad 75 nose fri 76 mouth beg genoù 77 tooth dant 78 tongue (organ)teod 79 fingernail ivin 80 foot troad troed 81 leg gar 82 knee glin 83 hand dorn 84 wing askell 85 belly kof tor 86 guts bouzellenn 87 neck gouzoug 88 back kein 89 breast bronn 90 heart kalon 91 liver avu 92 to drink evañ evet 93 to eat debriñ boueta 94 to bite dantañ krogiñ 95 to suck sunañ denañ 96 to spit skopat 97 to vomit c'hwedañ dislonkañ reucheutiñ 98 to blow c'hwezhañ 99 to breathe alanat analañ 100 to laugh c'hoarzhin 101 to see gwelet 102 to hear klevet 103 to know gouzout 104 to think prederiañ soñjal 105 to smell klevet 106 to fear aoniñ kaout aon 107 to sleep kousket 108 to live bevañ 109 to die mervel 110 to kill lazhañ 111 to fight gouren stourm 112 to hunt hemolc'hiñ chaseal 113 to hit skoiñ 114 to cut troc'hañ 115 to split faoutañ 116 to stab gwanañ 117 to scratch kravat skrabat 118 to dig kleuzañ 119 to swim neuñviñ 120 to fly nijal 121 to walk kerzhet bale 122 to come dont 123 to lie (as in a bed) gourvez 124 to sit azezañ 125 to stand sevel 126 to turn (intransitive) treiñ 127 to fall kouezhañ 128 to give reiñ 129 to hold dalc'hen derc'hel 130 to squeeze gwaskañ stardañ 131 to rub taravat frotañ 132 to wash golc'hiñ gwalc'hiñ 133 to wipe sec'hañ torchañ 134 to pull sachañ tennañ 135 to push bountañ 136 to throw teurel chetañ 137 to tie koulmañ eren 138 to sew gwriat 139 to count niveriñ kontañ 140 to say lavaret 141 to sing kanañ kana 142 to play c'hoari 143 to float flotañ neuviñ 144 to flow deverañ 145 to freeze reviñ skornañ 146 to swell c'hwezañ 147 sun heol 148 moon loar 149 star ster 150 water dour 151 rain glav 152 river aven rinier stêr 153 lake lenn 154 sea mor 155 salt holen 156 stone maen 157 sand traezh 158 dust poultrenn 159 earth douar 160 cloud koumoul 161 fog nivlenn morenn 162 sky neñv oabl 163 wind avel gwent 164 snow erc'h 165 ice skorn 166 smoke moged 167 fire tan 168 ash ludu 169 to burn leskiñ deviñ 170 road hent 171 mountain menez 172 red ruz 173 green glas gwer 174 yellow melen 175 white gwenn 176 black du 177 night noz 178 day dez deiz 179 year bloaz bloavezh blizen 180 warm tomm toemm 181 cold yen yein 182 full leun 183 new nevez 184 old hen kozh 185 good da mad 186 bad fall drouk 187 rotten brein 188 dirty lous loudour 189 straight eeun 190 round krenn ront 191 sharp (as a knife)lemm 192 dull (as a knife)dall soc'h 193 smooth levn lintr 194 wet gwleb 195 dry sec'h 196 correct reizh 197 near tost ogos 198 far pell 199 right dehou 200 left kleiz klez 201 at da 202 in e en ba e-barzh 203 with gant get 204 and ha 205 if ma mar pe 206 because dre ma abalamour ma peogwir 207 name anv
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
(edit this template )