EARLY VOCABULARIES

Prof.dr. J.M.H. du Buf - 1/6/2026

Email: dubuf AT ualg DOT pt

In my main page about Sanskrit I analysed the words from Travel with Languages, the list of 1000 most commonly used words. See Travel with Languages. This list is based on texts from the Mahabharata (a long epic narrative from ancient India), several of the Upanishads (ancient Indian religious and philosophical texts), as well as several yogic texts (Patanjali and Pradipika).

I selected the words with 2, 3 and 4 characters, because I saw that this subset was already quite useful for early cave dwellers, the hunters-gatherers who cooked with fire. I repeat this list here, but add more words from another source, and I also put words with 5 characters. I did this in order to see how complete the vocabulary is, and perhaps to get some insight into a first vocabulary and a later generation with more complex words. In principle I could continue with 6-character words (If I can find the time to go through the lists). At the end I show a table with very short words in Sanskrit, Proto-Indo-European and Hittite.

Below, in BLACK, I repeat the original list but with 2, 3 and 4 character words merged together into one list. I then added, in BLUE, the additional words from the Swadesh list with 2, 3 and 4 characters. I also added, in RED, useful words with 5 characters from the Swadesh list, and in GREEN the 5-char words from the 1000-word Travel list. I only deleted “esoteric” words such that only really useful words remained. I should add that Sanskrit has more than 1000 words, even in the oldest Vedas etc., and that all Swadesh lists have exactly the same words, from current languages to the oldest, known proto languages like Proto-Indo-European. At the end of my main page HdB on Sanskrit I listed common words from Sanskrit, PIE, Ancient Greek and Iranian, and emphasised similarities with Gothic, Slavic, Baltic, Celtic and Armenian, to show that all or most of these language have a common ancestor language, very likely with a similar vocabulary. Below the lists this aspect is continued.

OK, about vocabulary, here we go:

and, or, indeed, but, not, without, he/that, she/that, who/what, apart, away, this (in this way), this, (an)other, here, where, when, past, towards, over, some, many, gone, certainly, maybe, if, with, because
full, old, round, again, past, as, like, there, in, above, side, towards

what, that, these, who, which, how much, how many, lacking, missing, many, few, one, two, three, other, heavy, small, thin, yellow
all, four, five, red, green, white, black, equal, full, complete, known, his, her, its, dense, color, seven, word, sound

true, exists, also, and, moreover, thus, so, being, existing, over, beyond, very, down, off, new, near, straight, wide, here
there, big, thick, rope, is not, work, action, fatigue, steady, truth, smart, clever, foolish

home, master, good, family, clan, together, father, mother, man, woman, girl, birth, born, offspring, person, people, I, you, love, evil, we, they, husband
wife, son, daughter, dear/beloved, friend, joy, pleasure, peace, happiness, healthy, care, hatred

giver, donor, thief, to take away, part, portion, rest, remaining
given, greed, thing, part, lost

life, span, longevity, age, era, end, stop, to be, was, existed, loss, decay, to walk, to blow, to lie (down)
to breathe, to kill, to hit, to say, falling, strength, great, method, difference, instruction, memory

river, water, drink, food, taste, to eat, ghee, good, bad, rotten
bath, bed, seat, juice, stream

forest, plant, branch, root, petal/leaf, grain, tree, seed, bark, grass
stick, fruit, flower, vine, thorn

animal, goat, cow, sheep, deer, body, arm, foot, limb, body part, snake, insect, worm, bird, dog, louse, egg, skin, hair, eye, nose, knee, hand, guts, neck
blood, bone, fat, horn, feather, head, ear, tooth, tongue, fingernail, wing, breast, liver, creature, owl, hawk/falcon, organ, urine, belly, claw, breath, face/mouth, sight, seen

brave, death, kill, life, spear, dart, arrow, to hunt
weapon, to kill, burden, effort, afraid, harm, fear, worry

cooking, fire, heat, do, doer, make, maker, done, made, ash, to eat
meat, sharp, vessel, broad, wide, food, taste

sky, sun, moon, time, today, night, day, star, earth, snow, cold
sun, rain, lake, stone, sand, year, warm, wet, dry, planet, eastern, lunarday

world, far, distant, beyond, mountain, high, rock, stone
road, journey, path, island, (coal)mine

hole, wind, dust, dirt, fog
smoke, cloud, light, foam

In the original list (black, about 160 words) I took not husband (4 characters) because of wife (5 chars), pati and patnī, so now they are together. The extended 2, 3 and 4-character list counts 53 Swadesh words, and goes from 160 to 213. The total number of 5-character words is 142, almost equal to 160! So the total number of words is now 213 + 142 = 355, which is quite considerable for any language, especially for very early people like the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Don't forget: I took most down-to-earth words, not “esoteric” ones (spiritual, moral, ethical and religious), but all this is still a speculation!

We can compare the numbers of words with all words in the Indo-European vocabulary table. This table compares PIE, English, Gothic, Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Iranian, Slavic, Baltic, Celtic, Armenian, Albanian, Tocharian and Hittite. Not all words in all languages have been discovered (read the introductory Notes!). Especially the Hittite (extinct Anatolian) column has many empty entries, but the table serves to show the many cognates and the fact that many of these languages, if not all, have a common ancestor language. The list is quite long, it is the state of the art in “archeolinguistics”, and it is grouped in basic concepts like kinship, people, pronouns and articles, body, food and farming, etc. The total number of recovered Indo-European words is 335 (I excluded only 7 “ideas and rituals” words, because too “esoteric” see below). But the number of 335 is remarkably close to my own list of 355 words. Of course, there are differences between the two lists, but they both are basic word lists. Most important is that the black-plus-blue list is already pretty complete for our very early cousins, the hunters-gatherers, so the black-plus-blue list plus the red-plus-green list is even more complete.

I wrote that I excluded some more “esoteric” words. In general, these have more characters. In the Swadesh list there are almost none with 5 characters, but in the 5-character list from the 1000-word Travel list there are some. To give an idea:
king, chariot, desire, divine, meaning, mind, respect, affection, knowledge, matter, sequence, earth, wealth, lion, horse, zero.

The lion and horse I still could imagine, but the idea of zero in counting and mathematics was introduced much later, certainly not by early hunters-gatherers. That also excludes king, chariots pulled by horses and much of the other “esoteric” words. As I wrote somewhere else, only when the hunters-gatherers had a guaranteed supply of food and drink, when life became less a struggle to survive, our early cousins got time to think about their existence, the world, and moral plus ethical rules. And so religion was created, the pest of humanity. That is my opinion, and if you want to know why, you'll need to read my page about religion...

Indo-European languages and Hittite

To end this page, let us have an impression of words in the Indo-European vocabulary table (IEtab). This table compares PIE, English, Gothic, Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Iranian, Slavic, Baltic, Celtic, Armenian, Albanian, Tocharian and Hittite. Important is that PIE has been reconstructed and is thought to be a precursor to all other languages, a common origin. In addition, Colin Renfrew's paper is on the spread of farming after the decline of the hunters-gatherers, and the proliferation of settlements and villages. He argued that all began with the spread of farming in Anatolia, the Hittites in Turkey. See his interview about his life and Archaeology and Language. Hence, in the IEtab all entries must have a PIE entry and preferably also a Hittite cognate. If we believe Renfrew's thesis that it must have been the Hittite that spread, with farming, to other regions, and thus also later languages.

What I did is the following: I took all black, blue, red and green words from the above word table, and converted all to black. I then put, in blue, all PIE words below the black ones. Again, I did not put “esoteric” words, the ideas and rituals categories. In order to emphasise the importance of the Hittite language, I put asterisks in front if they have been found, like *this. Here we go:

and, or, indeed, but, not, without, he/that, she/that, who/what, apart, away, this (in this way), this, (an)other, here, where, when, past, towards, over, some, many, gone, certainly, maybe, if, with, because, full, old, round, again, past, as, like, there, in, above, side, towards
or, not, don't, never, *though, the same, *other, *new, *self, above, *in front of, *through/across/beyond, bottom, *in, *away, the right (side)

what, that, these, who, which, how much, how many, lacking, missing, many, few, one, two, three, four, five, seven, other, heavy, small, thin, all, equal, full, complete, known, his, her, its, dense, color, yellow, red, green, white, black, word, sound
*one, *two, ..., *nine, ten, twenty, hundred, *white, black/dark, red, green/yellow, brown,

true, exists, also, and, moreover, thus, so, being, existing, over, beyond, very, down, off, new, near, straight, wide, here, there, big, thick, rope, is not, work, action, fatigue, steady, truth, smart, clever, foolish
true, real/true, *big, *long, heavy, light, mid/middle, *great/high/tall, young, old

home, master, good, family, clan, together, father, mother, man, woman, girl, birth, born, offspring, person, people, I, mine, you, love, evil, we, they, husband, wife, son, daughter, dear/beloved, friend, joy, pleasure, peace, happiness, healthy, care, hatred
settlement, master, father, mother, *brother, sister, *daughter, son, parent, sibling, widow, humans/man, *people, person, *woman/wife, *I, *me, *mine, *you (s + pl), to love/want, *to know, *to think, *we, *what, *that, *who, *name

giver, donor, thief, to take away, part, portion, rest, remaining, given, greed, thing, part, lost
to carry, *to convey, to join/tie together, *to place/put, *to give, to grab, to seize/take, to kill/strike, to split/crack, to break, to cut off, to unite/join, to divide, to improve/make better, to move/pour, to turn, to leave behind, to possess/own, to obtain, to hold, *to lose/sacrifice

life, span, longevity, age, era, end, stop, to be, was, existed, loss, decay, to walk, to blow, to lie (down), to breathe, to kill, to hit, to say, falling, strength, great, method, difference, instruction, memory
*to be/am/is, to become, to sit, *to lie down, *bed, to sleep, to be awake/aware, sweat, to breathe, *to stand

river, water, drink, food, taste, to eat, ghee, good, bad, rotten, bath, bed, seat, juice, stream
*water, *to drink, lake/sea, to flow/stream

forest, plant, branch, root, petal/leaf, grain, tree, seed, bark, grass, stick, fruit, flower, vine, thorn
*wood/tree, *bonfire, (to)smoke, grain/corn, to grind, to boil, to grow, field, house/home, *door/gate, fence, border/boundary, *wheel, vessel/boat, copper/bronze, plow, to sow/seed, to grow, to produce, *to beget, yoke, honey, mead

animal, goat, cow, sheep, deer, body, arm, foot, limb, body part, snake, insect, worm, bird, dog, louse, egg, skin, hair, eye, nose, knee, hand, guts, neck, blood, bone, fat, horn, feather, head, ear, tooth, tongue, fingernail, wing, breast, liver, creature, owl, hawk/falcon, organ, urine, belly, claw, breath, face/mouth, sight, seen
*horse, *cattle, *sheep, to milk, *pig, *deer, goose, duck, egg, goat, *dog, *fox, *wolf, *bear, *snake, bird, *eagle, body, head, *forehead, *tear, arm, *foot, *heel/footstep, *knee, *hand, ear, eye, *mouth, tongue, tooth, nose, jaw/cheek, *nail, *bone, *heart, *blood, *liver, wing/feather, *wool, *to sew, *to weave, *to fashion(make)/together, *to work, *to clothe/wear clothes, *naked

brave, death, kill, life, spear, dart, arrow, to hunt, weapon, to kill, burden, effort, afraid, harm, fear, worry
*alive, *to die, to hear, to see, *to say, to ask, to call, *not to know/unknown

cooking, fire, heat, do, doer, make, maker, done, made, ash, to eat, meat, sharp, vessel, broad, wide, food, taste
fire/to burn/charcoal, warm, to burn, *to dry/glow/ashes, meat, *to eat, *to taste/test, salt, *good/excellent, sweet, sharp/blade

sky, sun, moon, time, today, night, day, star, earth, snow, cold, rain, lake, stone, sand, year, warm, wet, dry, planet, eastern, lunarday
*day/the sky, *sun, *light/bright, to shine, moon, *star, *earth, stone, *now, yesterday, *night, *dawn/east, *winter, summer, spring, cold/to freeze, *year

world, far, distant, beyond, mountain, high, rock, stone, road, journey, path, island, (coal)mine
sand, *to go, *to come, step, to walk/march,

hole, wind, dust, dirt, fog, smoke, cloud, light, foam
*wind/to blow, to snow, *cloud, dirt/mud, dark

In some cases different languages have the same or similar words for related issues, for example fire, to burn and ashes. Another aspect is that many words have been retrieved from related languages which existed geographically, in time, or both. Examples are Lithuanian and Old Prussian in case of Baltic; Old Irish, Welsh and Gaulish plus Cornish or Breton in case of Celtic; Luvian and Lycian in case of Anatolian; and Oscan and Umbrian in case of Latin. This table is also a jewel for derivatives. Example: méhtēr (PIE) and mātar (Sanskrit) are found in maternal, matron, matrimony, matrix, matriculate, material, matter, madeira, but also in alma and (from demeter) metropolis: mother-city. Another: káput (PIE) and kapāta (Sanskrit) for head/skull we recognise in cap, cape, chapeau, capital, chapter, capitulate, decapitate, per capita and (in German!) kaputt. A last one: kerd (PIE heart), cor (Latin), hārdi (Sanskrit) and karz/kardias (Hittite) are a source for core, cordial, record, accord, discord, concord, accordion, misericordia and courage.

In the above black/blue table we see that there is a significant correspondence of the two lists, although they were obtained by completely different methods. I myself started with 2, 3 and 4-character words from the Travel with Languages list, then put 2,3,4 words from the Swadesh list, and finally added 5-character words from the Travel and Swadesh lists. Result: the black list. The blue list was constructed by archeolinguists on the basis of all known words in the different languages, with a reconstruction of the earlier, common Proto-Indo-European precursor language. Of all known 335 PIE words, there are only 103 Hittite correspondences, almost one third. In comparison, there are 288 Sanskrit words, although in reality there are many more synonyms. Anyway, one main conclusion is that my list of short Sanskrit words is more general, and that the PIE, and certainly the Hittite, lists are already more applied: agriculture, settlements, crops and cattle. But we obtain a good insight in what our ancestors were doing and saying. Unfortunately, of many very early languages there are few remnants, often cuneiform texts on often-broken clay tablets etc. And these have often been used for bookkeeping, like counting animals like sheep. One noteworthy example is the Rosetta Stone, with Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek, which allowed Champollion to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs. Only later, when writing became more important, with bigger texts and sorts of paper like papyrus were available, richer sources of texts became available. Example: the Dead Sea Scrolls. See my page about religion.

One last table...

The last thing I did was to select PIE words with 2, 3 and 4(5) characters in order to see similarities with Sanskrit and Hittite. There are 24 words with 2 and 3 characters, and 5 with 4 and 5 characters. Total 29. Corresponding words in Sanskrit I counted 14 with 2 and 3 characters, and 15 with more. Total 29. In Hittite there are 5 words yet unknown. I should say that at the end of the table I put a few longer words, only for the satisfaction of seeing correspondences, even with English. When you are really interested now, you must see the entire Indo-European vocabulary table, the many correspondences and the many derivatives!

All Hittite words resemble PIE words, maybe except the word you. The word no is not known in Hittite, but the word for not is natta. Some entries ??? in the Hittite column are very long words, so I kept the question marks. In Sanskrit there are many longer words and many do not resemble PIE or Hittite. One last thing: I put an extra column in order to mark the word list of Pagel et al., their list of ultraconserved words. There are 10! But I need to stress that their list is not based on very short words, their approach is completely different, but 10 in 29 is very nice. OK, here we go:

Just for fun: human being (man) in Ancient Greek is Amazon.

Renfrew, C. (1991) Before Babel: speculations on the origins of linguistic diversity. Cambridge Archaeol. J., 1(1), pp 3-23.

Email: Hans du Buf - go to HdB on Sanskrit - go back to HdB homepage