The Leipzig-Jakarta List of Basic Vocabulary

(Source: Haspelmath, Martin and Uri Tadmor (eds.), 2009. Loanwords in the World’s Languages: A Comparative Handbook. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.)

Rank	Word meaning
fire
nose
to go
water
mouth
tongue
blood
7	bone
9	2SG pronoun
9	root
to come
breast
rain
1SG pronoun
name
15	louse
wing
flesh/meat
arm/hand
fly
20	night
ear
neck
23	far
to do/make
house
stone/rock
bitter
28	to say
28	tooth
hair
big
32	one
34	who?
34	3SG pronoun
to hit/beat
leg/foot
horn
38	this

38	fish
yesterday
to drink
42	black
42	navel
to stand
to bite
46	back
wind
smoke
what?
child (kin term)
egg
to give
53	new
53	to burn (intr.)
56	not
56	good
to know
knee
59	sand
61	to laugh
61	to hear
soil
leaf
64	red
liver
to hide
67	skin/hide
67	to suck
to carry
ant
71	heavy
71	to take
old
to eat
thigh
76	thick
long
to blow
wood
to run
81	to fall
eye
ash
84	tail
84	dog
to cry/weep
to tie
to see

89	sweet
91	rope
91	shade/shadow
91	bird
91	salt
91	small
wide
star
97	in
hard
to crush/grind