The American-Mexican linguist Morris Swadesh (1909-1967) studied the time variation of languages (glottochronology). He suggested that languages could be compared and classified into families by analyzing the evolution of a “core vocabulary”, including personal pronouns, body parts, colours, animals, action verbs, weather topics and geografical terms, among others. According to his theory, these basic words are scarcely borrowed from other languages, so they can be considered representantive of the traditional vocabulary of a specific language.
He compiled a list of such words, in what we now know as the Swadesh list. It comes in two versions: the 100-word list and the more extended 207-word list. The table below shows the 207-word list for Aingeljã, including the equivalent English and Classical Latin versions of each term. The number is the original one from Swadesh.
In case a word appears in both lists, the first number corresponds to the 207-word list, while the number of the 100-word list appears in brackets. All the entries in the 100-word list also appear in the 207-word one, except for the word “claw” (number 45 in the old list), unnllaix. It was substituted by “fingernail” (number 79 in the new list), unnlla, as this word was very difficult to find in documents written in ancient languages.
| No. | English | Latin | Aingeljã |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | I | ego | jo |
| 2 (2) | you (singular) | tu | tu |
| 3 | he | ille | ill |
| 4 (3) | we | nos | nos |
| 5 | you (plural) | vos | vos |
| 6 | they | illi | illes |
| 7 (4) | this | hic | dou |
| 8 (5) | that | ille | aceu |
| 9 | here | hic | ca |
| 10 | there | illic | lla |
| 11 (6) | who | quis | qwĩ |
| 12 (7) | what | quid | qwe |
| 13 | where | ubi | dõ |
| 14 | when | cum | qwand |
| 15 | how | quomodo | com |
| 16 (8) | not | non | nõ |
| 17 (9) | all | omnes | tot |
| 18 (10) | many | multi | mouts |
| 19 | some | aliqui | aucũns |
| 20 | few | pauci | paucs |
| 21 | other | alter | autre |
| 22 (11) | one | unus | ũ |
| 23 (12) | two | duo | douz |
| 24 | three | tres | tre |
| 25 | four | quattuor | qwator |
| 26 | five | quinque | cinc |
| 27 (13) | big | magnus | grã |
| 28 (14) | long | longus | loneix |
| 29 | wide | latus | ample |
| 30 | thick | crassus | gros |
| 31 | heavy | gravis | pesòs |
| 32 (15) | small | parvus | piceu |
| 33 | short | brevis | curt |
| 34 | narrow | angustus | stret |
| 35 | thin | gracilis | fĩ |
| 36 (16) | woman | femina | fama |
| 37 (17) | man (adult male) | vir | home |
| 38 (18) | Man (human being) | homo | esăre homã |
| 39 | child | puer | cjude |
| 40 | wife | mulier | marita |
| 41 | husband | maritus | marit |
| 42 | mother | mater | mara |
| 43 | father | pater | pare |
| 44 | animal | animal | animau |
| 45 (19) | fish | piscis | peix |
| 46 (20) | bird | avis | aucell |
| 47 (21) | dog | canis | chã |
| 48 (22) | louse | pediculus | peduix |
| 49 | snake | serpens | serpanta |
| 50 | worm | vermis | verm |
| 51 (23) | tree | arbor | arour |
| 52 | forest | silva | foresta |
| 53 | stick | palus | pal |
| 54 | fruit | fructus | fruta |
| 55 (24) | seed | semen | semainata |
| 56 (25) | leaf | folium | foixa |
| 57 (26) | root | radix | radeixa |
| 58 (27) | bark (of tree) | cortex | corteixa |
| 59 | flower | flos | flora |
| 60 | grass | herba | heura |
| 61 | rope | chorda | corda |
| 62 (28) | skin | cutis | pella |
| 63 (29) | meat | carnis | charna |
| 64 (30) | blood | sanguis | sangina |
| 65 (31) | bone | os | os |
| 66 (32) | fat (noun) | pinguamen | grasa |
| 67 (33) | egg | ovum | ou |
| 68 (34) | horn | cornu | corn |
| 69 (35) | tail | cauda | chauda |
| 70 (36) | feather | penna | pluma |
| 71 (37) | hair | pilus | chapell, pell |
| 72 (38) | head | caput | chap |
| 73 (39) | ear | auris | aureixa |
| 74 (40) | eye | oculus | oix |
| 75 (41) | nose | nasus | nasa |
| 76 (42) | mouth | os | buca |
| 77 (43) | tooth | dens | dent |
| 78 (44) | tongue (anatomy) | lingua | langa |
| 79 | fingernail | unguis | unnlla |
| 80 (46) | foot | pes | pez |
| 81 | leg | crus | jamba |
| 82 (47) | knee | genu | genulla |
| 83 (48) | hand | manus | mã |
| 84 | wing | ala | ala |
| 85 (49) | belly | venter | venter |
| 86 | guts | viscera | virescas |
| 87 (50) | neck | cervix | coll |
| 88 | back | dorsum | spauta |
| 89 (51) | breast | mamma | pet |
| 90 (52) | heart | cor | cor |
| 91 (53) | liver | iecur | fit |
| 92 (54) | to drink | bibere | bewăre |
| 93 (55) | to eat | edere | mannggăre |
| 94 (56) | to bite | mordere | mordre |
| 95 | to suck | sugere | lanre |
| 96 | to spit | spuere | scospujăre |
| 97 | to vomit | vomere | vomitre |
| 98 | to blow | inflare | suflăre |
| 99 | breathe | respirare | rispirăre |
| 100 | to laugh | ridere | ridre |
| 101 (57) | to see | videre | vidre |
| 102 (58) | to hear | audire | auggăre |
| 103 (59) | to know | scire | sapre |
| 104 | to think | cogitare | pensăre |
| 105 | to smell | olfacere | olorăre |
| 106 | to fear | timere | pworăre |
| 107 (60) | to sleep | dormire | dormăre |
| 108 | to live | vivere | viwăre |
| 109 (61) | to die | moriri | morăre |
| 110 (62) | to kill | necare | tautre |
| 111 | to fight | luctare | llutre |
| 112 | to hunt | venari | chaizăre |
| 113 | to hit | pellere | coupejăre |
| 114 | to cut | secare | curtre |
| 115 | to split | dividere | partre |
| 116 | to stab | pungere | coutellăre |
| 117 | to scratch | scabere | radre |
| 118 | to dig | fodire | cawăre |
| 119 (63) | to swim | natare | natre |
| 120 (64) | to fly | volare | volăre |
| 121 (65) | to walk | ambulare | chaminăre |
| 122 (66) | to come | venire | venăre |
| 123 (67) | to lie (down in bed) | cubare | loneixăre-si (action) |
| 124 (68) | to sit | sedere | sentre-si |
| 125 (69) | to stand | stare | llewăre-si (action) / esăre de pez (state) |
| 126 | to turn | vertire | ggirăre |
| 127 | to fall | cadere | cadre |
| 128 (70) | to give | dare | donăre |
| 129 | to hold | tenere | soujetre |
| 130 | to squeeze | exprimere | preixonăre |
| 131 | to rub | fricare | frizonăre |
| 132 | to wash | lavare | lawăre |
| 133 | to wipe | tergere | netejăre |
| 134 | to pull | trahere | trawăre |
| 135 | to push | pellere | pousre |
| 136 | to throw | iacere | lanzăre |
| 137 | to tie | ligare | aitre |
| 138 | to sew | seminare | cosujăre |
| 139 | to count | computare | contre |
| 140 (71) | to say | dicere | diçre |
| 141 | to sing | canere | chantre |
| 142 | to play | ludere | jocre |
| 143 | to float | fluctuare | flotre |
| 144 | to flow | fluere | fluixăre |
| 145 | to freeze | gelare | ggelăre |
| 146 | to swell | augere | inflăre-si |
| 147 (72) | sun | sol | Sol |
| 148 (73) | moon | luna | Llũ |
| 149 (74) | star | stella | stella |
| 150 (75) | water | aqua | aqwa |
| 151 (76) | rain | pluvia | plugga |
| 152 | river | flumen | rïu |
| 154 | lake | lacus | lac |
| 154 | sea | mare | mer |
| 155 | salt | sal | sala |
| 156 (77) | stone | petra | petra |
| 157 (78) | sand | harena | araina |
| 158 | dust | pulvis | powe |
| 159 (79) | earth | terra | terra |
| 160 (80) | cloud | nebula | neula |
| 161 | fog | caligo | neulata |
| 162 | sky | caelum | cell |
| 163 | wind | ventus | went |
| 164 | snow | nix | njeix |
| 165 | ice | gelu | ggel |
| 166 (81) | smoke | fumus | fum |
| 167 (82) | fire | ignis | foc |
| 168 (83) | ash | cinis | chenza |
| 169 (84) | to burn | flammare | cremăre |
| 170 (85) | road | via | chamĩ |
| 171 (86) | mountain | mons | muntanna |
| 172 (87) | red | ruber | roix |
| 173 (88) | green | viridis | verd |
| 174 (89) | yellow | croceus | gaubĩ |
| 175 (90) | white | albus | blanc |
| 176 (91) | black | niger | ner |
| 177 (92) | night | nox | noix |
| 178 | day | dies | dïe |
| 179 | year | annus | ann |
| 180 (93) | warm | calidus | caude |
| 181 (94) | cold | frigidus | freit |
| 182 (95) | full | plenus | plain |
| 183 (96) | new | novus | nou |
| 184 | old | vetus | veil |
| 185 (97) | good | bonus | bõ |
| 186 | bad | malus | mal |
| 187 | rotten | putridus | putrat |
| 188 | dirty | immundus | sùzid |
| 189 | straight | rectus | ret |
| 190 (98) | round | rotundus | rond |
| 191 | sharp (knife) | acutus | filat |
| 192 | dull (knife) | retusus | disfilat |
| 193 | smooth | suavis | lleix |
| 194 | wet | humidus | moixat |
| 195 (99) | dry | siccus | sec |
| 196 | correct | rectus | corret |
| 197 | near | proximus | circa |
| 198 | far | longus | loneix |
| 199 | right | dexter | dreta |
| 200 | left | sinister | goixa |
| 201 | at | ad | a |
| 202 | in | in | ne |
| 203 | with | cum | cõ |
| 204 | and | et | e |
| 205 | if | si | si |
| 206 | because | quod | pur qwe |
| 207 (100) | name | nomen | nome |