Dictionary101 roots
Every word settled so far.
101 roots, on the way to 300 for A1. The source languages are listed with each word because global balance is a rule, and this is where it gets checked. Next milestone: 180.
Greetings and basics
- baigoodbyealready-global
- basenough, stopHindi/Urdu bas, Persian bas, Swahili basi, Turkish bas
- hihelloalready-global
- mersithank youFrench merci — adopted in Persian, Turkish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek, Egyptian Arabic
- nonoalready-global
- okokalready-global
- pardonsorry, excuse meFrench pardon — adopted in Turkish, Russian, Persian, Arabic dialects; Spanish perdón
- plispleaseEnglish please, already-global
- salampeaceful greetingArabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Swahili
- yayessource not yet documented
People
- anakchildIndonesian/Malay anak, Tagalog anak, Javanese anak
- dugusibling — no genderSwahili ndugu
- familiafamilyLatin familia, Spanish familia, Swahili familia, Polish familia, Russian familiya
- insanperson, humanArabic insān — adopted in Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Indonesian, Swahili insani
- kitawe, including youIndonesian, Malay, Tagalog
- mamamothersource not yet documented
- miI, meSpanish/Italian mi, English me, Swahili mimi
- namanameSanskrit/Hindi naam, Indonesian nama, Japanese namae, English name
- papafathersource not yet documented
- rafikifriendSwahili rafiki, Arabic rafīq, Persian rafiq
- tahe, she, it — no genderChinese tā 他/她/它, one sound for all three
- yuyou — one form for everyoneEnglish you
Body
- aineyeArabic ʿayn (عين), Hebrew ayin
- manohandSpanish/Italian mano, Latin manus, Portuguese mão, French main
- sarheadPersian sar, Hindi/Urdu sir/sar, Sanskrit śiras
Food and water
- akuawaterLatin aqua, Spanish agua, Portuguese água, Italian acqua
- cateaChinese chá, Hindi chai, Turkish çay, Swahili chai, Russian chay, Persian chai
- panbread, foodSpanish/Portuguese pan/pão, Japanese pan, Korean ppang
Home and world
- duniaworldArabic, Hindi, Swahili, Indonesian, Turkish
- rumahouse, homeIndonesian/Malay rumah
- solsunLatin/Spanish/Portuguese sol
Time
- dindayHindi/Urdu din, Bengali din, Persian din
- ratnightHindi/Urdu raat, Bengali raat, Sanskrit rātri
- sasanowSwahili sasa
Place
- subdown, belowLatin sub — global as the prefix in submarine, subway, Spanish/Italian sotto/sub, Turkish sub- in loanwords
- sinihereIndonesian/Malay sini
- situthereIndonesian/Malay situ — the pair of sini
- uparup, aboveHindi/Urdu ūpar, Bengali upore, Nepali upar
Actions
- amato loveLatin
- ambilto takeIndonesian/Malay ambil
- andato walkSpanish/Portuguese andar, Italian andare
- berito giveIndonesian/Malay beri, Turkish vermek
- bilto knowTurkish bilmek, Azeri/Uzbek/Kazakh bil-
- goto goEnglish go, already-global
- kanto seeChinese kàn (看)
- karato readArabic qaraʾa (قرأ) — the root of Quran, "that which is read"
- katabto writeArabic kataba (كتب) — the root of kitab (book), Turkish katip, Swahili kitabu
- kulato eatSwahili kula, Arabic akala
- kupito buyRussian kupit', Bulgarian/Serbian/Croatian kupi, Czech koupit
- laito comeChinese lái (来)
- lalato sleepSwahili kulala
- madadhelp; to helpArabic madad, Hindi/Urdu madad, Persian madad, Turkish medet
- mauto wantIndonesian/Malay mau
- nomuto drinkJapanese nomu (飲む)
- oturto sitTurkish otur-, Azeri otur-
- semato say, to speakSwahili sema
- suruto do, to makeJapanese suru (する)
Town and money
- marketmarket, shopalready-global — English, Turkish, Russian, Arabic dialects, Indonesian
- pesamoneySwahili pesa, Hindi/Urdu paisa, Spanish/Tagalog peso/piso
- rabotaworkRussian rabota, Polish/Czech robota — source of the global word robot
Colours
- asulblueArabic lāzaward → Spanish/Portuguese azul, Italian azzurro, English azure
- merahredIndonesian/Malay merah
Qualities and ideas
- baridcoldArabic bārid, Swahili baridi
- barunewIndonesian/Malay baru
- cokmany, muchTurkish çok, Azeri çox
- eskioldTurkish eski, Azeri əski
- hayaifastJapanese hayai (速い)
- garamhotHindi/Urdu garam, Persian garm, Bengali gorom
- haogoodChinese hǎo (好)
- kabirbigArabic kabīr, Swahili -kubwa, Turkish kebir
- kecismallIndonesian/Malay kecil, Turkish küçük
- lumalightsource not yet documented
- malbadLatin malus, Spanish/French mal, already-global via malaria
- unatogethersource not yet documented
Question words
- berapahow many, how muchIndonesian/Malay berapa
- kabwhenHindi/Urdu kab, Bengali kobe
- kaifahowArabic kayfa (كيف)
- kewhatSpanish qué, Portuguese que, Italian che, French que
- kimwhoTurkish, Azeri, Uzbek, Kazakh kim
- naliwhereChinese nǎlǐ (哪里)
- porkewhySpanish por qué, Italian perché, French pourquoi — "for what"
Grammar particles
- esis, am, are — before a noun predicate onlySpanish es, Latin est, Italian è, French est, German ist, English is, Russian est', Hindi hai, Persian ast
- saufafuture marker (before the verb)Arabic sawfa (سوف)
- sudapast marker (before the verb)Indonesian/Malay sudah
Already-global loans
- doktordoctorTurkish, Russian, Indonesian, Hindi, Swahili daktari
- fotophotoalready-global
- hotelhotelalready-global
- musikmusicalready-global — German Musik, Turkish müzik, Russian muzyka, Indonesian musik, Arabic mūsīqā, Swahili muziki
- taksitaxialready-global
- telefontelephonealready-global — Turkish, German, Russian, Polish, Indonesian telepon, Arabic tilifūn
Numbers
- ba8Chinese
- des10source not yet documented
- du2source not yet documented
- fai5source not yet documented
- nau9source not yet documented
- pat4Indonesian/Malay empat, Tagalog apat, Javanese papat
- sen100source not yet documented
- seti7source not yet documented
- sis6source not yet documented
- tri3source not yet documented
- uan1source not yet documented
No word matches that yet. Propose it in thelanguage repository.
Contributing
Add a word.
Every entry needs a form, a meaning, and its source languages. A word gets in when it is already at home in several language families and collides with nothing settled. Open an issue or a pull request on dictionary.md.