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{{short description|List of 15 stable words}}
{{short description|List of 15 stable words}}


The '''Dolgopolsky list''' is a word list compiled by [[Aharon Dolgopolsky]] in 1964.<ref>Dolgopolsky, Aharon B. 1964. [https://cdstar.shh.mpg.de/bitstreams/EAEA0-F41D-6AB7-0B17-0/Dolgopolsky1964.pdf Gipoteza drevnejšego rodstva jazykovych semej Severnoj Evrazii s verojatnostej točky zrenija] [A probabilistic hypothesis concerning the oldest relationships among the language families of Northern Eurasia]. ''Voprosy Jazykoznanija'' 2: 53-63.</ref> It lists the 15 lexical items that have the most semantic stability, i.e. they are the 15 words least likely to be replaced{{Why|date=October 2022|reason=Why have they been determined to be unlikely to change? What methodology was used?}} by other words as a language evolves. It was based on a study of 140 languages from across [[Eurasia]].
The '''Dolgopolsky list''' is a word list compiled by [[Aharon Dolgopolsky]] in 1964 based on a study of 140 languages from across [[Eurasia]].<ref>Dolgopolsky, Aharon B. 1964. [https://cdstar.shh.mpg.de/bitstreams/EAEA0-F41D-6AB7-0B17-0/Dolgopolsky1964.pdf Gipoteza drevnejšego rodstva jazykovych semej Severnoj Evrazii s verojatnostej točky zrenija] [A probabilistic hypothesis concerning the oldest relationships among the language families of Northern Eurasia]. ''Voprosy Jazykoznanija'' 2: 53-63.</ref> It lists the 15 lexical items that he found have the most semantic stability, i.e. they are the 15 words least likely to be replaced.


==List==
==List==
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#dead
#dead


The first item in the list, ''I/me'', has been replaced in none of the 140 languages{{Which|date=June 2023|reason=Which 140 languages? Dolgopolsky's work on Nostratic included Japanese, which has very fluid pronouns, changing multiple times over the centuries.}} during their recorded history; the fifteenth, ''dead'', has been replaced in 25% of the languages.
The first item in the list, ''I/me'', has been replaced in none of the 140 languages during their recorded history; the fifteenth, ''dead'', has been replaced in 25% of the languages. The twelfth item, ''louse/nit'', is well kept in the [[North Caucasian languages]], Dravidian and Turkic, but not in some other proto-languages.

The twelfth item, ''louse/nit'', is well kept in the [[North Caucasian languages]], Dravidian and Turkic, but not in some other proto-languages.


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 07:59, 21 October 2023

The Dolgopolsky list is a word list compiled by Aharon Dolgopolsky in 1964 based on a study of 140 languages from across Eurasia.[1] It lists the 15 lexical items that he found have the most semantic stability, i.e. they are the 15 words least likely to be replaced.

List

The words, with the first being the most stable, are:

  1. I/me
  2. two/pair
  3. you (singular, informal)
  4. who/what
  5. tongue
  6. name
  7. eye
  8. heart
  9. tooth
  10. no/not
  11. nail (finger-nail)
  12. louse/nit
  13. tear/teardrop
  14. water
  15. dead

The first item in the list, I/me, has been replaced in none of the 140 languages during their recorded history; the fifteenth, dead, has been replaced in 25% of the languages. The twelfth item, louse/nit, is well kept in the North Caucasian languages, Dravidian and Turkic, but not in some other proto-languages.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dolgopolsky, Aharon B. 1964. Gipoteza drevnejšego rodstva jazykovych semej Severnoj Evrazii s verojatnostej točky zrenija [A probabilistic hypothesis concerning the oldest relationships among the language families of Northern Eurasia]. Voprosy Jazykoznanija 2: 53-63.
  • Trask, Robert Lawrence (2000). The dictionary of historical and comparative linguistics. p. 96.