This is a Swadesh list of words in Sranan Tongo , 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
Sranan sranan tongo
1
I
mi
2
you (singular)
yu , i
3
he , she , it
a , en
4
we
wi , unu , un
5
you (plural)
unu , un
6
they
den
7
this
disi
8
that
dati
9
here
dya
10
there
drape
11
who
suma
12
what
san , fa
13
where
pe
14
when
oten
15
how
o , fa
16
not
no
17
all
ala
18
many
furu
19
some
son , wantu
20
few
wanwan
21
other
tra
22
one
wan
23
two
tu
24
three
dri
25
four
fo
26
five
feifi
27
big
bigi
28
long
langa
29
wide
bradi
30
thick
deki
31
heavy
hebi
32
small
pikin
33
short
syatu
34
narrow
smara
35
thin
fini , mangri
36
woman
uma
37
man (adult male)
man
38
man (human being)
sma , libisma
39
child
pikin , pikinnengre
40
wife
frow
41
husband
masra
42
mother
mama
43
father
papa
44
animal
meti
45
fish
fisi
46
bird
fowru
47
dog
dagu
48
louse
loso
49
snake
sneki
50
worm
woron
51
tree
bon
52
forest
busi
53
stick
tiki
54
fruit
froktu
55
seed
siri , koko
56
leaf
wiwiri
57
root
rutu
58
bark (of a tree)
basi , buba
59
flower
bromki
60
grass
grasi
61
rope
titei
62
skin
buba , skin
63
meat
meti
64
blood
brudu
65
bone
bonyo
66
fat (noun)
fatu
67
egg
eksi
68
horn
tutu
69
tail
tere
70
feather
fowruwiwiri
71
hair
wiwiri
72
head
ede
73
ear
yesi
74
eye
ai
75
nose
noso
76
mouth
mofo
77
tooth
tifi
78
tongue (organ)
tongo
79
fingernail
nangra
80
foot
futu
81
leg
futu
82
knee
kindi
83
hand
anu
84
wing
frei
85
belly
bere
86
guts
kaka bere
87
neck
neki
88
back
baka
89
breast
bobi
90
heart
ati
91
liver
lefre
92
to drink
dringi
93
to eat
nyan
94
to bite
beti
95
to suck
soigi
96
to spit
spiti
97
to vomit
fomeri
98
to blow
wai , bro
99
to breathe
bro
100
to laugh
lafu
101
to see
si
102
to hear
yere
103
to know
sabi
104
to think
denki , prakseri
105
to smell
smeri
106
to fear
frede
107
to sleep
sribi
108
to live
libi
109
to die
dede
110
to kill
kiri
111
to fight
feti , strei
112
to hunt
onti
113
to hit
iti
114
to cut
koti
115
to split
priti
116
to stab
dyuku
117
to scratch
krabu , krasi
118
to dig
diki
119
to swim
swen
120
to fly
frei
121
to walk
waka
122
to come
kon
123
to lie (as in a bed)
didon
124
to sit
sidon
125
to stand
tnapu , knapu , snapu
126
to turn (intransitive)
drai
127
to fall
fadon
128
to give
gi
129
to hold
ori
130
to squeeze
kwinsi
131
to rub
lobi , wrifi
132
to wash
wasi , spuru
133
to wipe
wrifi
134
to pull
hari
135
to push
pusu
136
to throw
bonk , iti
137
to tie
tai
138
to sew
nai
139
to count
teri
140
to say
taki
141
to sing
singi
142
to play
prei
143
to float
dribi
144
to flow
lon
145
to freeze
eisi
146
to swell
sweri
147
sun
son
148
moon
mun
149
star
stari
150
water
watra
151
rain
alen
152
river
liba
153
lake
duwatra
154
sea
se
155
salt
sowtu
156
stone
ston
157
sand
santi
158
dust
stof
159
earth
gron
160
cloud
wolku
161
fog
dampu
162
sky
loktu
163
wind
winti
164
snow
snew
165
ice
eisi
166
smoke
smoko
167
fire
faya
168
ash
asisi
169
to burn
bron
170
road
pasi
171
mountain
bergi
172
red
redi
173
green
grun
174
yellow
geri
175
white
weti
176
black
blaka
177
night
neti
178
day
dei
179
year
yari
180
warm
waran
181
cold
kowru
182
full
furu
183
new
nyun
184
old
owru
185
good
bun
186
bad
ogri
187
rotten
pori
188
dirty
doti
189
straight
leti
190
round
lontu
191
sharp (as a knife)
srapu
192
dull (as a knife)
dede
193
smooth
grati
194
wet
nati
195
dry
drei
196
correct
yoisti
197
near
na
198
far
fara
199
right
leti-anu
200
left
kruktu-anu
201
at
na
202
in
ini
203
with
nanga
204
and
èn , nanga
205
if
efu
206
because
bika
207
name
nen
Swadesh lists
Individual languages
Language families, family branches, and geographic groupings
Constructed languages
Reconstructed proto-languages
(edit this template )
Due to very limited information on the internet on this language, I am leaving my findings after many years of research:
Websters Sranan Online Dictionary
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Sranan-english/
Sranan Verb Usage Lookup Tool
http://www.verbix.com/languages/sranantongo.shtml
Most useful guide:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Sranan_Tongo_language
Best Sranan Site - But a little too over complicated
http://www.sil.org/americas/suriname/Sranan/Sranan.html
Sranan info in Dutch
http://users.bart.nl/~kamphuys/sranantongo/