Appendix:Zealandic Swadesh list

This is a Swadesh list of words in Zealandic, 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.

Notes

• The orthography used is based on the Schwiefwieze(r) developed by Marco Evenhuis. Other spelling systems exist, notably that of the Woordenboek der Zeeuwse dialecten. In lemmas, they will be given as alternative spellings.
• There is no such thing as standard Zealandic. Words can vary between dialects. This list was based mostly on Walchers. Different forms have only been mentioned when these differences stretch beyond regular sound shifts. The word waeter corresponds to Bevelands wàeter or witter, but these forms abide to simple sound laws and have not been taken up. They can be mentioned in entries as alternative forms. Forms used in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen have not been considered since these dialects deviate greatly from insular Zealandic, but they will also be taken into account in individual entries.
• Pronunciation differs considerably between dialects. The IPA transcription is roughly based on Walchers. The most notable differences include:
  • <'> in words has no phonetic or phonemic value. It represents an h that has disappeared and is used mostly as a reading aid. In Goerees and Flakkees, was preserved: ’ond corresponds to hond.
  • The sound transcribed as /ɦ/ corresponds with Dutch g and has many possible realisations. In Goerees and Flakkees; which preserve the original h, the sound remains fully articulated (, ); in many other areas it is not entirely debuccalized (this varies even between individual speakers). Likewise, the sound transcribed as /x/ here can go the way of .
  • <ae>, corresponding to many instances of Dutch aa , is closed further on Zuid-Beveland where it becomes , and often shortened to in the south of Zuid-Beveland. See example of waeter/waèter/witter above. In Middelburg and Vlissingen, they become ao, as they do in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.
  • <eê> and <oô> have many possible realizations. They can be realised as monophthongs () or be widened (). Some dialects have a three-way distinction between oo, oa and oô, while in a few others oo and oô have become allophones.
  • <w> is mostly labiodental , as in standard Dutch from the Netherlands, but can also be bilabial as in Belgian Dutch. This is most widespread in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen but also occurs on Walcheren.
  • Short <e> is always more open than in standard Dutch. It is transcribed here as /æ/ but can indeed be lowered to .
  • Zealandic prosody is more syllabic than standard Dutch. For that reason, long vowels have mostly been transcribed as half-long. Vowel length remains phonemic in all dialects, however.