A Conlanger’s Thesaurus

A Conlanger’s Thesaurus

Autor: William S. Annis

MS-Datum: 01-18-2020

FL-Datum: 09-01-2014

FL-Nummer: FL-000024-01

Zitat: Annis, William S. 2020. “A Conlanger’s

Thesaurus.” FL-000024-01, Fiat Lingua,
. Netz. 01 Sep. 2014.

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A Conlanger’s Thesaurus

William S. Annis*

January 18, 2020 (Version 2.1)

Einführung

When I begin to create a new language, I rarely
have any trouble coming up with the first hundred
or so words. After that point, Jedoch, I start to
leave large gaps. This list started out as a tool to help
me deal with vocabulary creation beyond that first
hundred.
I just took the Minimum Buck list from
CALS, cleaned it up a little and sometimes expanded
it.1

Aber, a bare list of English words is not as
useful as it could be. I wanted a tool to help me avoid
careless relexicalization when creating vocabulary.
This document is the (ongoing) result of me hunting
down everything I can find on lexical typology, al-
though some other preoccupations of mine are also
evident. The motivating principles for this docu-
ment are,

• Don’t just be a collection of exotica, but note

cross-linguistic patterns and variation.

• Make clear how words might relate to other

words, semantically and derivationally.

• Consider historical development where rea-

sonable.

• View grammar and lexicon as a continuum.2

• Be concise. There are other resources for

complex matters.

For an example of things I have avoided, the Navajo
verb for “to see” rather infamously involves a stem
relating to round solid objects, with sight being de-
rived from the operation of the eyeballs. This is cer-
tainly different from English, but it is also very rare.

Reading the Entries and Maps

Many vocabulary items are, unfortunately, simply
an English word, with a part of speech left in place
mostly to disambiguate homophones. Where I have
good information on likely polysemies, I have made
a note (see the entry for sun, Zum Beispiel).

Some entries contain single notes about other
words the entry word may have become or come
from in some languages. These historical changes
are included on the assumption that a single lexi-
cal item might encompass more than one meaning
for a while, or might remain related by derivation.
These changes are marked with an arrow, as in “a
word for vessel can → head.” Similarly, common
paths of grammaticalization3 are marked, “hand n.
Gr.; agent ‘by’.”

Recent research in lexical typology with seman-
tic maps has been producing interesting results that
not only respect cross-linguistic variation but also
provide interesting and useful generalizations, als
well as a notation that lends itself to tinkering with

*This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. To see this license, visit CC BY-SA 2.5.
1I leave “Monday” in as a reminder, but removed the rest of the days of the week, Zum Beispiel.
2Generative conlangers can still find this a useful and productive artistic fiction, even if Construction Grammar offends.
3Most from Heine and Kuteva’s World Lexicon of Grammaticalization.

1

by language inventors. There are two sorts of maps
in this document.

The first sort of map is of common pairwise
polysemies. In this map any two connected items
are represented by a single word in at least some
languages. Most of these maps come from Perrin
2007 and List et al. 2013,4 which can be consulted
for even more details, but those marked “personal”
have been created by me with software and data de-
scribed at the link in the map.

When consulting the polysemy maps, consider
the possibility that certain meanings might only be
present in derived or compound uses of the root.

The second maps, and the most complex, Sind
those in which multiple connected items are rep-
resented by a single word or construction in at
least some languages. Zum Beispiel, the map below
describes the possible relationships between con-
structions to mark simultaneous time by units (“on
Monday, in July, in the spring”),

hour

year

day part

season

day

month

Englisch, Zum Beispiel, uses “at” for hour and some
uses of day part (“at noon”), “in” for some uses of
day part, season, year and month (“in April”), und
uses “on” for day. French on the other hand uses
“en” for year, season and month, “à” for hour and
some uses of day part, and uses no marking for day
and some uses of day part. Notice how similar con-
structions are linked.

It is an assumption of these maps that if two
nodes share a common construction, they will be
either directly connected, or connected through

some intervening nodes which will also use the
same construction. Using this time map, if your
language marks “in 1992” and “on Monday” with
the same construction, there will be nodes between
them that use the same construction, say the hour
node, or the month one. This assumption is not al-
ways valid, but it is often enough to be interesting.
Both types of map are potentially useful for a
historical conlanger. The connecting lines provide
likely avenues for semantic shift over time. A few
of the maps have arrows on the connecting lines to
mark known routes of historical shift.

Cautions

The most interesting part of this thesaurus comes
from the work of lexical typologists. Very often,
these maps and hierarchies are part of ongoing re-
search programs, and most are probably incomplete
or misleading in some part. Auch, typology nec-
essarily produces statistical results, leaving some
variation unaccounted for.
In one study of poly-
semy, fully 149 of the 257 sense pairings noted, 58%,
occured in but one language.
I have no problem
imagining a scenario where the word “peanut” also
means “mid-afternoon,” which certainly does not
occur in any paper or lexicon I’ve ever encountered.
Weiter, just because something doesn’t hap-
pen in human languages, doesn’t actually mean it’s
impossible to learn — it might just be harder. Also
twisting the semantic maps and implicational hier-
archies into knots is probably non-fatal.

This collection is not intended to be a tool to
evaluate conlangs, nor would it produce very inter-
esting languages if used mechanically. But I do hope
others will find it a useful tool to knock their think-
ing out of well-worn, but barely conscious, semantic
ruts we inherit from our mother tongues.

4I have omitted minor connections in some maps in the interest of readability. See the recently (2019) updated CLICS3 for

more complete maps.

2

The Thesaurus

utter, speak

be on vacation

whisper

take a rest

(s.o.) blow

pause for breath

cease to do

(Wind) blow

breathe

kalt (Luft)

air in
Bewegung, Wind

act of
Atmung

(breath
von) Leben

living being,
Tier

vital force

oneself
(reflexive)

the person,
das Ich

Geruch, scent

magic power,
inspiration

(human) puff
of breath

divine breath,
supernatural
Leistung

ghost

supernatural
Sein, spirit

(unsterblich) soul

Geist, Gedanke

seat of will,
Gefühle; Herz

frame of
Geist, Stimmung

mental
skills, intel-
ligence, wit

strong passions: Mut, pride, arrogance, wrath

Map 1: François 2010, a map of variations on “breathe.” Note that no language from the sample has a word
with all meanings in this map, nor do most cover even half of the map with a single word.

The Physical World

fire n. See Map 4.

flame n.

fog n. See Map 5.

forest n. also woods

air n. See Map 1.
area, region n. Gr.; locative “around”.

ash, ashes n.

cave n. See Map 2.

cave

hole

grave, tomb

ditch

furrow

Map 2: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dashed
lines less common.

cloud n. See Map 5.

darkness n. See Map 57.

dust n. See Map 5.

Erde (soil) ist. See Map 9.
Erde (Land) ist. Gr.; locative “down,” “below,” “under.”
See Map 9.

flow

current

river

stream

Wasser

liquid

Map 3: Persönliche, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies. It might be useful to think of “river” and
“stream” as a single node in very many languages.

gulf, bay n.

ice n. See Map 59.

3

island n.

lake n.

shore n. See Map 18.
sky n. Gr.; up.

light n. visible electro-magnetic radiation; See Map 7.

smoke n. See Map 5. See Map 9.

Licht, kindle, ignite v.

lightning n. In some languages of the Philippines, may
distinguish day from nighttime lightening; or “heat”
lightening (unheard, from a distant storm) from local
lightning with thunder.

mainland n. See Map 9.

match n. little fire-stick

mist n. See Map 5.

Anlage

grass

tree

trunk

stump

woods, Wald

wood

firewood

root

staff, walk-
ing stick

Post, pole

Feuer

club

beam

Map 4: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

moon n. The words for sun and moon interchange his-
torically only in the languages of North America.
mountain n. also: hügel; can → forest. See Map 6. Sehen
Map 54.

mud n. See Map 9.

plain, field n.

rain n. See Map 8.

smoke

steam

dust

cloud

fog/mist

Map 5: Urban 2011, on historical changes.

river n. also stream, brook. See Map 3. See Map 8.

sand n.

sea n.

shade, shadow n.

snow n. See Map 59.

spring, well n.

star n.

reef

cliff, precipice

stone, Felsen

Berg, hügel

jewel

top

ornament, adornment

Map 6: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dashed
lines less common.

stone n. also: rock See Map 6.

sun n. The words for sun and moon interchange histori-
cally only in the languages of North America. See Map 7.

world

sun

Licht

day

weather

season

hour

Zeit

age

year

Map 7: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

thunder n.

valley n.

water n. See Map 8.

rain n.

Wasser

sap

glue

river, stream,
brook

spring, well

beverage,
trinken

Map 8: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dashed
lines less common.

4

wave n.

weather n. See Map 7.

on their season, Richtung, strength or temperature.

wood n. See Map 4.

wind n. See Map 1. Winds may get special names, based

world n. See Map 7. See Map 9.

unten, runter

in, inside

city, town

place

world

floor

bottom

buttocks

village

country

Erde, Land

ground, soil

low

under

native country

mainland

clay

mud

dust

smoke

swamp

flour

Map 9: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.

ancestors n.

aunt n.

boy n.

Kinship

infant, baby n.

male adj. human
man adult male n. Gr.; male.

brother n.
child n. Gr.; diminutive. Children Gr.; plural (for an-
imates).

cousin n.

daughter n.

daughter-in-law (of a man) ist.

descendants n.

family n.
father n. Gr.; male.

father-in-law (of a man) ist.

female adj. human

girl n.

granddaughter n.

grandfather n.

grandmother n.

grandson n.

husband n.

marry v. There may be separate words (sometimes re-
lated, sometimes not) to describe a man getting married
vs. a woman getting married. For marriage See Map 29.
mother n. Gr.; female.

mother-in-law (of a man) ist.

nephew n.

niece n.

offspring (son or daughter) ist.

Gr.; indefinite pronoun,

orphan n.

parents n.

person, human being n.
“we”.

relatives, kinsmen n.

sister n.

son-in-law (of a man) ist.

stepdaughter n.

stepfather n.

stepmother n.

5

stepson n.

uncle n.

widow n.
woman n. Gr.; female.

Animals

The vocabulary for domesticated animals can be quite
Komplex, with completely different words to distinguish
(1) male from (2) female, (3) adult from (4) young; für
males, whether they are (5) castrated or (6) intakt; für
females, whether they have yet (7) given birth or (8) not.
There may be further subdivisions in age (see the large
Sami vocabulary for reindeer). I have collapsed the list
below to species.

animal n. See Map 1. See Map 13. See Map 24.

ass, donkey n.

bear n.

bee n. See Map 22.

camel n. See immense Somali vocabulary.

cat, kitten n.

chicken, hen, rooster, chick n.

cow, bull, steer, cattle, calf n. An ox is a castrated bull
used for work. Cattle can → wealth.

deer, stag, fawn n.

dog, bitch, puppy n.

duck, (drake), duckling n.

elephant n.

female animal adj.

fish n. See Map 13. See Map 12.

fly n.

fox, vixen, kit n.

goat, buck, wether, doe, kid n.

goose, gander, gosling n.

herdsman n.

horse, stallion, gelding, mare, foal/colt n.

insect n.

lion n.

livestock n.

manure n.

male animal adj.

monkey n.

mouse, rat n.

mule n.

pasture n.

pig, sow, boar, piglet n.

sheep, ram, ewe, lamb n.

snake n.

stable, stall n. See Map 31.

wing n. See Map 12. See Map 15.

wolf n.

worm n.

The Body

arm n. See Map 16. See Map 12.
back n. Gr.; after (temporal), behind, dann (“after-
ward”). See Map 48.

bald adj.

beard n. See Map 10.

beard

cheek

eye

chin

Kiefer

face

forehead

Map 10: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

6

beget (of father) v.

bite v.

blind adj.

blood n.

expression

Form

eye

side

surface

face

appearance

front

“nerve”

Farbe

blade

Map 11: Persönliche, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common. The association
of “face” with “front,” “side” and “appearance” is
very strong, with “surface” nearly as strong. Hier
“nerve” is from expressions like “you have some
nerve coming here.” Finally, “blade” refers specifi-
cally to it as part of a knife.

buttocks n. Gr.; locative “down” and “behind.” See
Map 9. See Map 17.

cheek n. See Map 10.

chest n.

chin n. See Map 10.

conceive v. See Map 67.

corpse n. See Map 13.

body

corpse

sterben, dead

Tier

meat

flesh

fish

Map 13: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

cough v. See Map 59.

cure, heal v. See Map 70.

body n. Gr.; middle voice, reciprocal, reflexive and in-
tensive reflexive (“I myself did it”). See Map 13.

deaf adj.

bone n. See Map 17.

defecate, excrement v. , ist.

die v. See Map 13.

head hair

pubic hair

pen

Arm

dream n.
ear n. Gr.; locative “near,” “around the corner”.

fur

body hair

feather

wing

elbow n.

leather

skin, hide

wool

dorsal fin

eyebrow

eyelash

eyelid

(head hair)

eyeball

fish scale

bark

shell

Map 12: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

brain n.

break wind v.

breast n.

breathe, breath v. See Map 1.

bury (the dead) v.

Map 14: (2010 Conference Slides), historical seman-
tic shifts around the eye.

eye n. See Map 14. See Map 11. See Map 10. Gr.; “be-
fore”, “front.”
face n. See Map 11. See Map 10. Gr.; “front,” “up.”

finger n. See Map 16. toe and finger often the same; a lan-
guage may have a special word for one or more of index,
ring or little finger.

flesh n.
foot n. Gr.; bottom of, under. In African languages foot-

7

print may Gr.; locative “behind.” See Map 17.

waist

hip

Knochen

footprint

forehead n. See Map 10.

genitals n.

buttocks

leg

ankle

span, fathom

wrist

palm of hand

thigh

calf of leg

foot

heel

wing

Arm

Hand

shoulder

Map 17: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

five

forked branch

branch

lick v. See Map 26.

Map 15: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

grave, tomb n. See Map 2.

beard

human head

hair n. The word can be broken down into:
human body

animal fur
with contiguous elements possibly having the same
Wort. Swahili has a distinct word for each. (2010 Work-
shop Slides). See Map 12. See Map 54.
hand n. Gr.; agent “by,” locative, “five”. See Map 16.
See Map 15.

have sexual intercourse v.
head n. A word for vessel can → head. Gr.; front, mid-
dle, intensive reflexive, “up”. See Map 54.

heart n.

horn n. not the musical instrument

palm

forearm

upper arm

nail

finger

Hand

Arm

Map 16: (2010 Conference Slides), historical seman-
tic shifts around the hand.

intoxicated adj.

jaw n. See Map 10.

joint n. See Map 33.

kill v. See Map 75.

knee n.

lame adj.

lazy adj.

leg n. See Map 17.

life n. See Map 1.
lip n. Gr.; locative. See Map 18.

live be alive v. See Map 1. See Map 51.

liver n.

Medizin, drug n.
mouth n. can → an opening. Gr.; front. See Map 18.

nostril

nose

beak

tooth

headland, Punkt

mouth

lip

language

edge

shore

end

side

boundary

Map 18: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

mute adj.

naked, bare adj.

navel n. See Map 48.

neck n.

nose n. See Map 18.

perspire v.

physician n.

poison n.

pregnant adj. See Map 67.

rest v. See Map 1.

shoulder n. See Map 42. See Map 15.

sick, sickness n. , adj.

skin n. See Map 12.

8

skull n. See Map 54.

poor

easy

weak

Licht (weight)

thin, slim

fragile

Map 19: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

sleep v.

sneeze v.

spit v.
stomach n. belly Gr.; in (“AT-belly OF-house”), even to
a temporal “in”.

strong, mighty, powerful adj. See Map 67.

tail n.

throat n.

thumb n.

müde, weary adj.

toe n. see finger.

tongue n.

tooth n. See Map 18.

udder n.

urinate v.

vomit v. See Map 38.

wake up v. See Map 45.

weak adj. See Map 19.

well, health adj.

womb n.

wound, sore n.

yawn, gape v.

bake cook or harden by means of dry heat, v. See Map 20.

cup, drinking vessel n. Vessel can → head. See Map 25.

Food and Drink

bean n.

beer n. See Map 22.

boil v. See Map 20.

dinner n.

dish n. See Map 25.

dough n.

ripe

boil

roast, fry

cooked

cook

bake

oven

Map 20: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

bowl n. See Map 25.

bread n.

breakfast n.

butter n. See Map 23.

cheese n.

drink v. May be identical to eat. Whatever word encom-
passes drink may also mean smoke (tobacco).

eat v. May also encode: texture of the food (esp. hard vs.
weich), manner of eating (“stuff oneself, nibble, eat com-
munally”), moment of eating (“have breakfast”), quan-
tity eaten (“devower”). Oder, eat and drink may be the
same. Often used in metaphors of emotion. (2010 con-
ference slides) Gr.; passiv.

fig n.

food n.

fork (tableware) ist.

fruit n. See Map 21.

cook v. prepare by applying heat See Map 20.

grape n.

crush, grind v. See Map 35. See Map 75.

honey n. See Map 22.

9

hunger n.

kettle n.

game

nut

grain

vegetable

fruit

seed

bead

salt

sauce

meat

Tier

Map 24: Boyeldieu 2008. The meaning shift in
dashed lines was one seen only in Central Sudanic
languages.

Map 21: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

pitcher, jug n. Vessel can → head.

knead v.

lunch n.

mead n. See Map 22.

wine

mead

honey

beer

beehive

basket

Map 22: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

meal n.

meal, flour n.

meat n. also flesh. See Map 24. See Map 13.

milk n. v. See Map 35.

mill n.

nut n. See Map 21.

oil n. See Map 23.

ointment

juice

lard

butter

oil

fat

grease

Map 23: Persönliche, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.

olive n.

oven n. See Map 20.

pan n.

pepper n.

plate n. See Map 25.
pot, cooking vessel n. Vessel can → head.

bee

wasp

cup

bowl

dish

gourd

plate

saucer

squash,
pumpkin

Map 25: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

potato n.

ripe adj. See Map 20.

roast, fry v. See Map 20.

salt n. See Map 24.

sausage n.

soup, broth n.

spoon n. See Map 27.

stir, mix v. See Map 45.

suck v. See Map 26.

lick

hang up

embrace

kiss

suck

stretch

pull

spread out

Map 26: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

sugar n.

supper n.

thirst n.

vegetables n. See Map 21.

10

wine n. See Map 22.

Clothing and Grooming

Languages may have merely two verbs “put on” and
“take off” for clothing, but some may have many more,
usually coding for the relevant body part or shape of
item put on (things that encircle tend to cluster, as for
watches, necklaces, belts, usw.). There are generally more
verbs for putting on than taking off. (2013 Conference
Abstract)

awl n.

leather n. See Map 12.

linen, flax n.

loom n.

mirror n.

necklace n.

needle n.

belt, girdle n. See Map 48.

ointment n. See Map 23.

boot n.

bracelet n.

brush n. See Map 27.

button n.

cloak n.

cloth n.

clothing, clothes n.

coat n.

collar n.

comb n. See Map 27.

spoon

fork

rake

comb

tongs

broom

brush

Map 27: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

cotton n.

dye v. See Map 34.

felt n.

fur n. See Map 12.

glove n.

handkerchief, rag n.

hat, cap n.

jewel n. See Map 6.

ornament, adornment n. See Map 6.

pin n.

pocket n.

razor n. See Map 36.

ring (for finger) ist.

sew v.

yarn

sinew

filament

thread

fiber

string

cord

line

vine

wire

rope

Map 28: Persönliche, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common. In a good num-
ber of languages words related to “thread, string”
are derived from “to twist.”

shirt n.

shoe n.

silk n.

skirt n.

soap n.

spin v.

spindle n.

11

stocking, sock n.

tailor n.

thread n. See Map 28.

towel n.

trousers n.

veil n.

weave v.

woman’s dress n.

wool n. See Map 12.

The House

bed n. See Map 29.

fireplace n.

lair

couch

bier

floor n. See Map 9.
house n. Gr.; locative. See Map 30.

stretcher

bed

Hochzeit

hut n. See Map 30.

bench

table

desk

Map 29: Persönliche, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common. The association
of “bed” with flat, horizontal furniture seems char-
acteristic of Papua New Guinea.

candle n.

chair n.

chimney n.

Tür, gate n.

grass

meeting house

thatch

house

room

roof

hut

garden house

key n.

lamp, torch n.

lock n. v.

roof n. See Map 30.

room n. See Map 30.

stove n.

table n. See Map 29.

tent n. See Map 31.

tower

fortress

wall

stable, stall

fence

yard, court

tent

Map 31: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

Map 30: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

window n.

wall n. See Map 31.

yard, court v. See Map 31.

dwell, live v. See Map 51.

acorn n.

bark n. See Map 12.

Agriculture and Vegetation

barley n.

beech n.

12

birch n.

branch n. See Map 15.

crop, harvest n.

cultivate, till v.

dig v.

farmer n.
field (for cultivation) ist. Gr.; out(side), through.

fir n.

flower n.

fork n. pronged instrument for picking up things. Sehen
Map 27.

furrow n. See Map 2.

garden n.

grain (barley, oats etc) ist. See Map 21.

grass n. See Map 4. See Map 30.

hay n.

hoe n. See Map 42.

leaf n.

maize, corn n.

mow, reap n.

oak n.

anvil n.

ax n.

basket n. See Map 22.

bend v.

bore v.

break v. The sense cut/break can be partitioned over
this continuum of material and shape,
pop

break (stick)

break (flat)

tear/rip
(Majid, et al, 2007.)

broom n. See Map 27.

build v.

oats n.

pine n.

plant n. See Map 4.

plow v.

rake n. See Map 27.

rice n.

root n. See Map 4.

rye n.

seed n. See Map 21.

shovel n.

sickle, scythe n. See Map 36.

smoke (tobacco) v. See Map 5.

sow v.

spade n. See Map 42.

thresh v. See Map 75.

threshing-floor n.

tobacco n.

tree n. See Map 4.

vine n. See Map 28.

wheat n.

carpenter n.

carve v.

cast (metals) v. See Map 41.

chain n.

chisel n.

clay n. See Map 9.

copper, bronze n. adj.

cut v.

do, make v.

13

Basic Actions and Technology

burn v. often to describe pain (esp. in the skin or eyes),
fever or swelling.

flay, skin v.

fold v.

forge v. See Map 41.

glass n.

gold n.

hammer n.

Farbe

paint n.

dye

paint v.

write

tattoo

Map 34: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

potter n.

ideophone

pour v. cause to flow. See Map 41.

create

cause

ACT

happen

DO (GAV)

quotative

feel

property

inchoative,
“turn into,
become”

Map 32: Schultze-Berndt 2009, generalized action
verbs (“do”) can cover a range of functions. I make a
few interpretations of that paper in this map. “Ideo-
phone” means the verb used with ideophones and
“property” means a copula used to mark having a
property, such as “the rock does small” for “the
rock is small.” “ACT” is for phrasal verbs such as
Japanese suru, verbalizing nouns, usw.

hit v. also strike, beat

iron n. See Map 36.

knife n. See Map 36. For blade See Map 11.

knot n. See Map 33.

tie

commitment

parcel

package

bond

node

knot

difficulty

bundle

joint

Map 33: Persönliche, 2014, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.

mold (clay etc) v.

nail n. fastener, used with hammer

paint v. ist. See Map 34.

press v. do pressure to; push upon with weight or force.
See Map 35.

milk v.

sieve, strain

twist

squeeze, wring

pinch

push, shove

press

pound with fist

crush, grind

Map 35: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

pull v. also draw. See Map 26.

rope n. See Map 28.

rub v. also wipe

saw n.

scissors, shears n.

sculptor n.

silver n.

sword

knife

Eisen

tin, tinplate

sickle, scythe

razor

lead n.

Map 36: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

smith, blacksmith n.

split v.

spread out, strew v.

14

work magic

fetter

restrain

stretch v. See Map 26.

knit

tie, bind

fasten

sweep v.

tear v.

bundle

attach

tie v. also bind, See Map 37.

tin, tinplate n. See Map 36.

bandage

arrest

Map 37: Persönliche, 2014, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.

statue n.

tool n.

wash v.

weave, plait v.

wipe also rub v.

work n.

approach

come

reach, arrive

turn around

turn over

roll

come back

give back

vomit

Map 38: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dashed lines less common.

Bewegung

anchor n.

approach v. See Map 38.

axle n.

blow move/cause to move as a current of gas, v. Sehen
Map 1.

boat n. See Map 39.

carriage, wagon, cart

raft

bring cause something to come along with one toward a
place, v. Occasionally take + cis- or translocative affixes,
or take + come, go in serial verbs. See Map 43.

carriage, wagon, cart n. See Map 39.

carry (bear) v. See Map 43. Often in the languages of
Asia (continental and insular) “carry” is elaborated even
more than in the map: “carry in clothing,” “carry in sev-
eral trips,” “carry on the back,” “carry something sus-
pended in the hand,” “carry a load” (of animals and vehi-
cles), “carry in the claws,” “carry or wear over the shoul-
der,” “carry over the shoulder on a pole,” “carry in the
mouth” (as a cat with kittens), usw.

canoe

ship

come v. See Map 38.

boat

outrigger

creep, crawl v. See Map 51.

dance v.

Map 39: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

enter v.
fall v. Gr.; passiv, locative “down.” See Map 40.

bridge n.

15

go down

drop

drip

dribble

land v.

fall

Map 40: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

flee v. See Map 41.

float v.

pursue v. Gr.; “do often”.

push v. also shove. See Map 35.

raft n. See Map 39.

raise, lift v. See Map 45.
reach, arrive v. Gr.; ability, allative, succeed, until
(temporal). See Map 38.

ride v. sit/perch in/on a vehicle/horse/etc. and travel.
See Map 43. See Map 45.

flow v. travel in a current. See Map 41. See Map 45.

rise v. See Map 45.

forge

flee

slip, slide

roll v. move like a ball/cylinder by turning over and
over; See Map 38.

cast (metals)

retreat

run

pour

flow

go

row v.

rudder n.

Map 41: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

fly v. move through the air
follow v. can → act according to. Gr.; according to,
behind, comitative (“with”). See Map 73.

go v. move from starting point to elsewhere See Map 45.
See Map 40.

go away, depart v. See Map 45.

harbor, port n.

jump, leap v.

lead v. See Map 43.

mast n.

move v. engage in motion / cause to engage in motion.
See Map 45.

oar n. See Map 42.

shoulderblade

collarbone

oar

paddle n.

shovel

spade

hoe

Map 42: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

drive

ride

lead v.

bring

carry

carry in hand

take

carry on head

carry on shoulder

carry underarm

Map 43: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

run v. See Map 41.

sail n.

sail v.

send v. See Map 77.

shake v.

ship n. See Map 39.

sink v. See Map 44.

slide, slip v. See Map 41.

swim v.
throw v. Gr.; perfect, completive. See Map 75.

16

drowned

dive

sink

turn around v. can → become. See Map 38.

choke

walk v. See Map 45.

Map 44: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

turn v. See Map 38.

wheel n.

Wind, wrap v.

yoke n.

flow

move

stir, mix

go away, depart

go out

cease, stop

go

walk

wake up

rise

stand

climb

raise, lift

ride

go up

Map 45: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.

Possession

account, reckoning n.

See Map 38.

avaricious, stingy adj. See Map 60.

give back, return v. See Map 38.

beggar n.

borrow v.

buy v. See Map 47.

cheap adj.

coin n.

dear (costly, expensive) adj.

debt n.

destroy v.

earn v. See Map 47.

harm, injure, damage v.

have v. possess / be furnished with, See Map 47.

hire v.

hold v. See Map 47.

keep, retain v. See Map 47.

lend v.

lose v.

market (place) ist.

merchant n. See Map 46.

find v. discover the location of, See Map 47.
get, obtain v. Gr.; ability, change of state, obligation,
passiv, past, possibility, succeed; See Map 47.
give v. Gr.; benefactive, causative, dative, purpose; ex-
istential expressions (“there is”) and from there might be
used in passives. Different forms may exist for different
recipients, mit, Zum Beispiel, one verb used for 1st and
2nd person recipients and another for 3rd persion recip-
ients, or a separate form for all three. The forms may be
related or suppletive (Linguist List 11.1166). See Map 46.

money n. various things may fulfill this role, which can
appear in the lexicon (cowry shells, cocoa beans).

owe v.

own, possess v. See Map 47.

pay v.

poor adj. See Map 19.

preserve, look after, keep safe, save v. Sehen, look at can
→ look after, care for; See Map 47. See Map 70.

17

price n.

give

lie, tell lies

perjury

seek, look for v.
seize, grasp, take hold of v. can → understand. Gr.;
have.

trade, barter

sell

betray

deceit

sell v. See Map 46.

change

merchant

enemy

Map 46: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

release, let go v. See Map 77.

rich adj.

save, rescue v. See Map 70.

store, shop n.
take v. Gr.; causative, Zukunft, instrument, patient,
“have”; See Map 47. See Map 43.

tax, tribute n.

trade, barter v. See Map 46.

wages n.
wealth n. Cattle can → wealth.

find

earn

get, obtain

have

carry

own, possess

keep, retain

hold

preserve, look after

join, unite

buy

take

seize, grasp

catch (ball)

collect, gather

raise, lift

trap

pile up

pick up

Map 47: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.

Spatial Relations

big adj. See Map 52. See Map 53.

center n. Gr.; locative “between” or “in”.

manche

side

change v. become/make different. See Map 46.

circle n.

navel middle, Zentrum

half

part, piece

collect, gather v. See Map 47.

belt, girdle

waist

back

spine

hip

draußen

Map 48: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

bottom n. See Map 9.

corner n.

cover v.

crooked adj.
cross n. Gr.; across.

deep adj.

divide v.

east, south, west, north n.

18

end n. See Map 18. See Map 54.

far adj.

flat adj.

grow v.

hide, conceal v.

high adj. See Map 54.

hole n. may distinguish between a hole that goes all the
way through something vs. one that does not.

hook n.

thin

narrow

tight

Map 49: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

left adj.

wie, similar adj.

line n.

long of much length adj.

low adj.

measure v. See Map 69.

middle n. See Map 48.

narrow adj. See Map 49.

short

klein

near

young

little

Map 50: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

near adj. adv. See Map 50.

open v. adj. See Map 77.

place n. See Map 9.
remain, stay v. Gr.; durative, habitual. See Map 51.

remains, left overs n. adj. See Map 51.

right adj.

round adj.

separate v.

live, living, Leben

dwell, live

remains, left overs

sit

remain, stay

crouch

creep, crawl

Map 51: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

shallow of little depth adj.

short of little length adj. See Map 50.

shut, close v.

side n. See Map 11. See Map 18. See Map 48.
sit v. Gr.; kontinuierlich. See Map 51.

small adj. also little

sphere, ball n.

square n.
stand v. Gr.; kontinuierlich, copula. See Map 54. Sehen
Map 45.

straight not bent adj.

tall adj.

fat

old

solide (Map 63)

thick

heavy

big

large

wide

slow

kalt

calm

wet

raw

Map 52: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

thick adj. See Map 52.

thin adj. See Map 49.

top n. See Map 6.

wide adj. also broad; See Map 52.

19

Quantity

all adj. also every

allein, only adj. , adv.

empty adj. Might be separate lexical item specifically for
empty of people. See Map 64.

enough adj. See Map 53.

few adj. few in number, see also little

first adj.

full adj.

last adj. See Map 54.

little a small quantity of, see also few adj.

many adj. also much. See Map 53.

multitude, crowd

more

wieder

und

enough

much, many

large, big

oder

Map 53: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

more adj. , adv. See Map 53.

multitude, crowd n. See Map 53.
one Gr.; together, other.

three adj.

three times adv.

sharp

boundary

high

up, über

pointed

edge

Berg, hügel

top

end

last

skull

head

end (temporal)

beenden

ready

hair (of head)

stand

cease, stop

Map 54: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.

noon, midday

afternoon

late

retard, delay

quiet, silence

west

evening

slow

night

last, endure

be silent

calm (of sea)

Map 55: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.

Monday n. and the remaining days of the week.

again adv. See Map 53.

age n. See Map 7.

always adv.

Zeit

autumn n.
begin v. Gr.; Erste.

cease, stop v. See Map 1. See Map 54. See Map 45.

clock, timepiece n.

20

dawn n.

day n. may be separate words for day as 24 hour period
vs. daytime; See Map 7.

and non-human; or separate nouns for old man and/or
old woman.

ready adj. See Map 54.

early adj.

end (temporal) ist. See Map 54.

evening n. See Map 57. See Map 55.

finish v. See Map 54.

hasten, hurry v. intr

hour n. See Map 7.

immediately, soon adv.

last, endure v. See Map 55.

late adj. See Map 55.

month n.

hour

day

day part

season

year

month

Map 56: Haspelmath 1997, on the markers used to
indicate simultaneous location in time. For exam-
ple, English uses “at” for hour and day part (z.B.,
morning), “on” for day and “in” for everything else,
with overlap with “at” for day part. Hausa, on the
other hand, uses dà for hour, day part and season,
à for year and month, and no marking for day. Das
map has some exceptions.

morning n.

never adv.

new adj. May = young.

night n. See Map 57. See Map 55.

noon, midday n. See Map 55.

now adv.

often adv.

dark (Farbe)

schwarz

darkness

night

evening

obscure

secret

Map 57: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

retard, delay v. intr. See Map 55.

season n. See Map 7.

slow adj. See Map 55. See Map 52.

sometimes adv.

soon adv.

now

immediately

morning

today

soon

early

morgen

hasten, hurry

swift, fast, quick

yesterday

Map 58: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

spring n. the season

summer n.

swift, fast, quick adj.

time n. See Map 7.

today adv.

tomorrow adv.

week n.

winter n. See Map 59.

year n. See Map 7.
yesterday adv. Gr.; past tense.

old adj. See Map 52. May have separate items for human

young of little age adj. May = new. See Map 50.

21

Sinneswahrnehmung

Not all languages have the five sensory verbs of English.
There is an implicational hierarchy,

dark (in color) adj. See Map 57.

dirty adj. See Map 60.

sight ← hearing ← touch ← smell, schmecken

In languages lower on the hierarchy, a general percep-
tion verb such as “feel” or “perceive” will be used with
an instrument for the modality. Only Kobon is known to
construct all perceptions this way (Ricci 2010, Maslova).

The implicational hierarchy for colors (WALS 133):

schwarz, white ← red ←

yellow, green ← blue ← brown
purple, pink, orange, grey

acid

stingy

sour

böse

bitter

schlecht

dirty

stinky

verfault

Map 60: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

Verbs of perception may bleed into cognition (“I see”).

dry adj.

Words for temperature might make only two distinc-
tions (“hot/warm” vs. “cold/cool”), three (“cold/cool”
vs. “warm” vs. “hot”) or the four familiar in English.
Temperature words may have three domains:
tactile
(“the dish is hot”), ambient (“it’s hot here”) and per-
sonal feeling (“I feel hot”), with one word for all three,
three completely different roots, or some split between
them. The personal feeling words may only exist for un-
comfortable temperatures. There may be separate tac-
tile words for food and especially water.

acid, sour adj. May distinguish natural sourness (fruit)
from fermented sourness (yogurt, vinegar). See Map 60.

bitter adj. See Map 60.

black adj. See Map 57.

dull adj. also blunt

feel v. perceive with the tactile sense; See Map 32. Sehen
Map 69.

fragrant, good smelling adj.

green adj.

hard adj.

schmecken

Farbe

touch

Abmessungen

Geruch

Klang

blue adj. See Map 65.
bright with much light present adj. can → comprehen-
sible.
clean adj. Gr.; focus particle. See Map 64.

cold adj. See Map 59. See Map 52.

Map 61: Linguistic synaesthesia, in which terms
describing one sensory modality may be extended
metaphorically to other senses, “a loud shirt,” “a
big boom,” “smooth jazz,” “a sweet flower,” etc.
Williams 1976 produced this map first for English,
but Yu 2003 finds it works well with Chinese.

hear v. See Map 73.

cough

heavy adj. of much weight; See Map 52. See Map 67.

winter

ice

kalt

kalt (illness)

snow n.

mucus (nasal)

Map 59: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

color n. See Map 11. See Map 34.

hot adj. also warm

Licht (in color) adj. See Map 64.

Licht (in weight) adj. See Map 19.

listen v. See Map 73.
sehen, look at v. Sehen, look at can → look after, care for,

22

can → wait.

smell v. trans. and intrans.

tasty

pleasant

smooth adj. might distinguish visual from tactile;
metaphorically can → absence of defect or difficulty.

salty

sweet

genial

easy

nice

mild

Map 62: Persönliche, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.

soft adj.

Klang, noise n.

stinking, bad smelling adj. See Map 60.

sweet adj. See Map 62.

taste v. perceive by tasting. See Map 69.

loud adj. of much sonic intensity. See Map 67.

touch v.

red adj. See Map 65.

wet, damp adj. See Map 52. See Map 65.

rough adj. might distinguish visual
from tactile;
metaphorically can → defects, difficulties. See Map 67.

salty adj.

scent n. See Map 1.
see v. Sehen, look at can → look after, care for; can →
wait. Gr.; passiv.

dry

stubborn

loud

Licht (von
Farbe)

Weiß

sauber

leer

pure

WAHR

schwierig

hard

strong

Map 64: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

painful

solide

gesund

white adj. See Map 64.

yellow adj. See Map 65.

thick (Map 52)

Map 63: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

bruise

Blau

wet, damp

grün

unripe

raw

sharp adj. See Map 54.

shine v. radiate light

show v.

anger n. See Map 74.

anxiety, worry n.

bad adj.

egg yolk

yellow

rot

Map 65: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

Emotions and Values

beautiful adj.

blame n.

brave adj.

23

correct also right adj.

cry, weep v. See Map 71.

danger (situation) ist. See Map 66.

dare v.

deceit n. See Map 46.

desire, want v.

danger

anxiety

fear, fright

surprised, astonished

grief, sorrow,
Traurigkeit

regret,
be sorry

pity

Map 66: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

envy, jealousy n.

faithful adj.

fault n.
fear n. To fear can → to respect. See Map 66.

forgive v. See Map 77.

good adj.

good fortune, luck n.

grief, sorrow, sadness n. See Map 66.

groan v. See Map 71.

hate v. See Map 74.

joyful, glad, happy adj.

kiss v. See Map 26.

laugh v.

lie, tell lies n. , v. See Map 46.
love v. Gr.; Zukunft, intention.

misfortune, bad luck n.

mistake, error n. , v.

mood n. See Map 1.

pain n.

pity n. See Map 66.

play v.

praise n.

proud adj.

regret, be sorry v. See Map 66.

shame n.

soul, spirit n. See Map 1.

tear n.

true adj. See Map 64.

ugly adj.

wrong adj.

believe v. accept as true. See Map 68.

difficult adj. See Map 67. See Map 63. See Map 33.

Erkenntnis

cause n.

pregnant

conceive

rough

loud

heavy

schwierig

hard

strong,
mighty,
powerful

Map 67: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

clear, plain adj.

doubt n. See Map 68.

easy adj. See Map 19. See Map 62.

explain v. See Map 69.

foolish, stupid adj.

forget v.

Idee, notion n.

insane, crazy adj.

intention, purpose n.

24

know v. May distinguish knowing people from other
sorts of knowledge. Gr.; ability, habitual. See Map 69.

learn v. See Map 69.

mind n. See Map 1. See Map 68.

remember v. See Map 68.

school n.

secret adj. See Map 57.

seem v.

Geist

study v. See Map 69.

doubt

suspect

count

believe

denken (reflect)

guess

denken (be of
the opinion)

erinnern

Map 68: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

obscure adj. See Map 57.

pupil n.

sure, certain adj.

teach v. See Map 69.

teacher n.
think be of the opinion v. To calculate, count can →
have an opinion. See Map 68. See Map 69.

denken (= reflect) v. See Map 68.

try, attempt v. See Map 69.
understand v. grasp, seize can → understand.

wise adj.

feel

schmecken

try, attempt

weigh

learn

know

imitate

measure

count

read

study

denken (be of the opinion)

unterrichten

explain

Map 69: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.

Speech and Language

admit, confess v.

announce v.

answer v.

ask, request v.

boast v.

book n.

cure, heal

safe, rescue

help, aid

preserve, look after

defend

hinder, prevent

forbid

deny

refuse

call, name v. See Map 71.

deny v. say that X is not true. See Map 70.

Map 70: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

forbid v. See Map 70.

paper n.

language n. See Map 72. See Map 18.

pen n. See Map 12.

name n. “who is your name?” rather than “what?” is
possible in some languages; See Map 71.

poet n.

25

promise v. See Map 72.

read v. See Map 69.

refuse v. See Map 70.

sing

shriek, screech

groan

Name

shout

call (Name)

call (summon)

howl

cry, weep

Map 71: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

say v.

shout, cry out v. See Map 71.

silent (Sei) adj. v. See Map 55.

sing v. See Map 71.

speak, talk v. See Map 1.

threaten v.

voice n.

whisper n. v. See Map 1.

word n. May also mean matter, affair, thing. Sehen
Map 72..

write v. See Map 34.

utterance

promise

Sprichwort

Diskurs

statement

expression

Wort

message

talk

phrase

Rede

language

Map 72: Persönliche, 2012, common pairwise polysemies, dashed lines less common.

boundary n. See Map 18. See Map 54.

host n.

Social and Political Relations

citizen, subject n.

city, town n. See Map 9.

command, order v. See Map 77.

conspiracy, plot n.

country n. See Map 9.

custom n. See Map 76.

enemy n. See Map 46.

friend, companion n.

guest n.
help, aid v. To prop up can → help. See Map 70.

hinder, prevent v. See Map 70.

king, queen, ruler n.

lassen, permit v. See Map 77.

master n.

meet v.

neighbor n.

noble, nobleman adj. ist.

obey v. See Map 73. May distinguish compliant, rapid
obedience from a neutral sense.

one’s native country n. See Map 9.

Menschen, populace n.

prostitute n.

26

submit

listen

obey

follow

hear

adapt to

comply (mit)

Map 73: Persönliche, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.

rule, govern v. See Map 77.

servant n.

slave n.

stranger n.

strife, quarrel n. See Map 74.

tribe, clan n.

village n. See Map 9.

Warfare and Hunting

ambush n.

armor (defensive) ist.

army n. See Map 74.

hate

anger

strife, quarrel

fight v.

fight v. See Map 74.

fisherman n.

fortress n. See Map 31.

game (prey) ist. See Map 24.

gun, cannon n.

soldier

army

war, battle

attack

helmet n.

Map 74: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.

peace n.

retreat v. ist. See Map 41.

arrow n.

attack n. See Map 74.

battle-ax n.

booty, spoils n.

bow n.

captive, prisoner n.

club n.
defeat n. Exceed, surpass, defeat Gr.; comparative,
“too.”

defend, defense v. ist. See Map 70.

shield n.

sling n.

soldier n. See Map 74.

spear n.

surrender v.

sword n. See Map 36.

tower n. See Map 31.

victory n.

war, battle n. See Map 74.

weapons, arms n.

crush, grind

kick

divorce

pound with fist

strike (hit, beat)

shoot

throw

thresh

Mord

kill

extinguish

Map 75: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.

27

accuse v.

acquit v. See Map 77.

adultery n.

arson n.

condemn v.

convict v.

court n. See Map 76.

defendant n.

fine n.

guilty adj.

Weg

court

Law

law n. law in the abstract, general, a set of laws. Latin
ius. See Map 76.

murder n. v. See Map 75.

oath n.

penalty, punishment n.

perjury n. See Map 46.

plaintiff n.

offen

untie

command, Befehl

release, let go

acquit

road

law

Weg, manner

rule, govern

send

lassen, permit

forgive

custom

Map 77: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

Map 76: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.

innocent adj.

judge n.

judge v. compare something to criteria

judgment n.

prison, jail n.

rape n.

steal v.

swear v.

witness n.

god n.

altar n.

Religion and Belief

idol n.

magic, witchcraft, sorcery n. See Map 1., See Map 37.

bless v. wish good upon

omen, portent n.

curse v.

pray v. communicate with god(s)

demon (evil spirit) ist. See Map 1.

fairy, elf n.

fast v.

preach v.

priest n.

religion n.

ghost, phantom n. See Map 1.

sacrifice, offering n.

heaven n.

hell n.

holy, sacred adj.

sorcerer, witch n.

temple, church n.

worship v.

28

Other Implicational Maps and Hierarchies

This section has semantic maps, as well as some
implicational hierarchies, which didn’t sensibly fit
in the word list. Most address more purely gram-
matical matters.

Erste, derivational implications,

agent

instrument

locative

force

means

Map 78: Luján 2007, on the relationships between
different sorts of verbal nouns. For an example from
the English -er ending, a “winner” is someone who
wins, but a “poker” is a thing, not a person, that one
uses for poking.

Cases and Adpositions

The following maps deal with the relationships and
jobs of “cases,” some of which are also covered by
adpositions. Erste, there is an implicational hierar-
chy in case marking,

nom. ← acc., erg. ← gen. ← dat.

loc. ← abl., inst ← others

If your language has a dative case, you expect it also
to have a genitive and an accusative (or ergative).

Cases that encode goals have Map 79,

Objekt

dative

allative

locative

Map 79: Blansitt 1988.

If a single case form marks both the dative and the
locative, it is expected to also encode the allative.

predicative
possessor

external
possessor

Richtung

recipient

beneficiary

judicantis

In the dative Map 80, “predicative possessor” is
for things like, “the book is mine,” and “judicantis”
is for things like “to me this is a bad idea.” The “ex-
ternal possessor” is an unusual construction where
a dative marks possession for a noun phrase it is
not next to, “to me he touched the hand” for “he
touched my hand.” It is common in parts of Europe,
but not unheard of elsewhere.

point in time

co-participant

duration

physical
proximity

location

route

cause, Grund

recipient

companion

instrument

passive agent

possession

manner

ergative agent

Material

source

temporal
“from”

Map 81: Narrog 2007, the instrumental/comitative
domain with diachronic information.

There is a common hierarchy for adpositions
(ATTACHED means things like “the fly on the wall”),

AT ← IN ← ON, UNDER ←

OVER (ABOVE), NEAR ←
ON TOP ← ATTACHED ← INSIDE

The further up the hierarchy one goes, the more
specific things lower down the hierarchy become.
Also, in a language with many adpositions, the range
of uses for “AT” is minimized. There is a possi-
ble split below ATTACHED, between grouping {ON,
ON TOP, ATTACHED} vs. {OVER (ABOVE)} or group-
ing {ON, ON TOP, OVER (ABOVE)} vs. {ATTACHED}.
(2010 conference slides)

Intensifiers

purpose

experiencer

Map 80:
in Schmidtke-Bode, originally from Has-
palmath 2003, the conceptual space for typical da-
tive functions.

Noun and pronoun intensifiers (“I myself am go-
ing to talk to him,” “They didn’t see the book itself”)
are sensitive to animacy. There may be two intensi-
fiers, with a single cut separating domains. The divi-

29

sions are: (1) 1st/2nd pronoun, (2) 3rd pronoun, (3)
human noun, (4) animate noun, (5) concrete inani-
mate noun and (6) abstract inanimate noun. For ex-
ample, Japanese uses jisin for 1–4 and jitai for 5–6;
German selbst for 1–5, with nothing for 6; Malagasy
splits splits after 2, and Spanish uses one word for
alle. (Gast 2007)

Negation

In map 82, delimitation matches English “no,” non-
occurrence is the most commonly understood nega-
tion, “he didn’t do his reading,” and non-property is
to negate adjective or other sorts of property predi-
cation, “the book isn’t good.” Finally, anterior non-
occurrence is like English “not yet.”

anterior non-
occurrence

non-property

non-occurrence

non-existence

non-equation

delimitation

prohibition

Map 82: Bond 2009, conceptual space of negation
(map somewhat modified from map in paper based
on other parts of the paper). The items connected
by the dashed line are not thought to have unique
strategies for negation. All the rest have a unique
negator in some language.

specific
bekannt

specific
unknown

irrealis
non-specific

Conjunctions

The choice conjunction ("oder") is generally available
in two meanings, (1) a simple alternative and (2)
a choice-aimed alternative. The simple alternative
simply lists possible options without making any de-
mand on the listener (“I’ll either go to the book-
store, or order it online”). The choice-aimed alter-
native is a request for information (“will you stay or
go?”). A language may unite these sense in a single
conjunction, as English does, or it may have sepa-
rate forms (Somali, chinesisch).

“Or” may grammaticalize to become a question

marker.

The range of senses between “and” and “but”
can be divided into six senses, (1) sequential com-
bination, “I shopped and came home,” (2) simul-
taneous combination, “she sang and danced,” (3)
atemporal combination, “I shop here and they shop
Dort,” (4) appositive contrast, “I bought a book,
but my sister bought CDs,” (5) corrective contrast,
“I didn’t buy a book but a CD," Und (6) counterex-
pectative contrast, “I bought the CD, but don’t like
the band.” Each of the senses except (3), atempo-
ral combination, may have an individual conjunc-
tion. Normalerweise, the six senses are partitioned up,
with contiguous senses having the same word, such
as Hausa kuma covering 1–5 and amman for 6.

Several European languages have overlapping
forms, with a general term covering several mean-
ings while also having more sepecific forms avail-
able, such as Italian ma for senses 5–6, but bensì
and però optionally usable for 5 and 6 individually.
(Mauri 2010)

Frage

indirect
negation

direct
negation

conditional

comparative

free choice

Map 83: Haspelmath 1997, semantic map of indefinites. Specific known, “Somebody called. Guess who?” Spe-
cific unknown, “I heard something, but couldn’t tell what.” Irrealis, “you must try somewhere else.” Question,
“did anybody tell you?” Conditional antecedent, “if you see anybody, tell me.” Comparative, “John is taller
than anyone.” Indirect negation, “I don’t think anyone knows.” Direct negation, “John didn’t see anybody.”
Free choice, “You may kiss anyone.” See Migmaq for some examples.

30

Question Words

Speakers of Indo-European languages are used to
content question words containing an obviously
common element, such as wh- auf Englisch, or qu-/c- in
Romance languages. This turns out to be very rare
in most other languages, which can have quite dis-
similar forms for their core question words.

wo

Wann

why

what

what kind of

Wie

how many

Map 84: Cysouw 2005, content question word pol-
ysemies, none especially common. Most languages,
even those not otherwise sensitive to animacy, will
distinguish “who” from “what.”

“Who,” “what” and “where” are most likely
to be non-derived, with “which” and “how much”
non-derived a bit more than half the time, und
“how” and “when” non-derived a bit less than half
the time.

cording to relative distance from the deictic center
(the people talking, or some location within a nar-
rative).

Demonstratives may also encode, in addition to
agreement marking such as number, gender and
classifier,

• visible vs. invisible; zusätzlich, something
“phased out,” once in view but no longer; oder
visible, invisible but present, and absent

• location relative to the body of the speaker,
addressee or some third person, in front of,
behind and beside.

• relative altitude, high vs. low; or high vs.

equal vs. low

• nominal tense (“former-,” “ex-”, “to-be”)
• relative cardinal direction, either a two pole
System (east vs. west, north vs. south), or four
pole

• relative geography, uphill vs. downhill; up-
river vs. downriver; inland vs. out to the shore
or sea

• relative motion, towards vs. away from, oder

along some path

what

WHO

why

Wie

Demonstratives are also regularly used to talk
about what is being said, so that one form may refer
to things already said and another to things about
to be. (Gerner 2009)

Wann

welche

how much

wo

Map 85: Cysouw 2004, pathways of derivation for
content question words. “Which” only occurs in
about 60 of the world’s languages, with “who/what”
taking up the slack.

Demonstratives

Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives may distin-
guish two or three distances, either oriented to the
speaker, the addressee, and some third party, or ac-

Classification Prototypes

Certain prototypical distinctions appear in lan-
guages all over the world, though how and where
they are expressed may take very different forms.
It might be expressed in the noun gender sys-
tem of one language (Swahili), the numeral and
demonstrative classifier system of another (Chi-
nese, Mayan), or in verbs of handling in another
(Navajo). Some Austronesian languages have classi-
fying possessive markers, na mequ yaqona “my kava
(for drinking)” vs. na noqu yaqona “my kava (that I
grew or will sell)” (Fijian).

The variation in classifier types is huge, Aber

there are certain commonalities,

31

• Material: human, animate, female, tree(-

wie), usw.

• Function: cutting or piercing tools, for drink-

ing, for eating, usw.

• Shape: long (saliently one-dimensional), flat,

round, usw.

• Consistency: rigid, flexible, in a mass, usw.
• Location: for inherently locative things like a

town, usw.

• Arrangement: in a row of, in a coil, in a heap,

in a container, usw.

Pluralization Hierarchy

If a language marks plurals for a particular category
unten, it will also mark plural for everything to the
Links,

speaker ← speech act participant ←

human ← animal ←
individual object ← mass ←
place ← abstraction

Some Verb Hierarchies

If TAM morphemes are not fused, the order of mor-
phemes tends to follow a certain pattern. The hier-
archy below marks distance from the verb stem,

stem ← aspect ←

tense ← mood ← person/number.

But see this survey for alternate orders.
Agreement marking hierarchy,

absolutive, subject ←
Objekt, ergative ←
indirect obj., loc., inst.
ablative, committative

Copula hierarcy, with “copula” here referring to

any support word to take verbal inflections,

location ← object ←

property ← action

This hierarchy means that if a language requires a
support verb to say “he is angry,” then you expect
a similar structure for “he is at home.” If you invert
the copula hierarchy, you get the verbalization hi-
erarchy,

action ← property ←
object ← location

Also, if a language has a verb-like form to say “he is a
doctor” (it takes tense or other verbal marking, für
Beispiel), then you also expect a verb-like structure
for “he is angry.”

Not all verb types may take causative morphol-
Inactive intransitive (unaccusative, “faint”)
ogy.
verbs are most likely to take morphological mark-
ing, then middles and ingestives (“eat”), then active
intransitives (unergatives, “work”) and then finally
transitives are least likely to take such marking. Oder,
a language may mark intransitive causatives differ-
ently from transitive causatives.

related to

Nachahmung

Zuneigung

member

small type of

exactness

pets

child

klein

partitive

sympathy

female

contempt

intimacy

hedge

approximation

Map 86: Jurafsky 1996, by way of Appah & Amfo 2001 (P. 85), semantic map of the diminutive.

32

contact

pursuit

Bewegung

Wirksam
Aktion

reflexive

Interaktion

middle

spontaneous

intransitive

affected agent

Wahrnehmung

cognition

emotion

sensation

Map 87: Malchukov 2005, transitivity splits (see also 2010). Verbs to the left are highly transitive and those
to the right are highly intransitive, with individual languages splitting verbs for transitive vs. intransitive con-
structions in different places. Tatsächlich, this map may have multiple splits, so that verbs of cognition and emotion
use yet a different construction than the basic transitive vs. intransitive split (such as with dative experiencers,
Zum Beispiel). “Effective action” is such things as “break, kill.” “Affected agent” is for acts in which the agent
is saliently affected, zu, such as verbs of consuming (“eat,” etc.) and “see” and “learn.” “Contact” is for “hit,
touch.” “Pursuit” includes verbs like “wait for” and “look for” (which are in English not transitive, taking
prepositional objects). Some languages will allow some motion verbs to take canonical objects.

Adjectives

Some languages have no adjective word class at
alle, instead using either verbs or nouns to han-
dle this function. Aber, some languages may
have a small or medium-sized set of true adjec-
tives. Small adjective inventories (8-12) will typi-
cally have words for four core semantic types, DI-
MENSION (“big,” “tall,” “deep”, usw.), AGE (“new,”
“young,” etc.), VALUE (“good,” “bad,” “real,” “cu-
rious,” etc.) and COLOR. Medium-sized adjective
inventories (12 to several dozen) will additionally
have terms for the semantic types PHYSICAL PROP-
ERTY (“soft,” “wet,” “hot,” “sweet,” etc.), HUMAN
PROPENSITY (“jealous,” “clever,” “ashamed,” etc.)
and SPEED (“fast,” “slow,” etc.). (Dixon 2004)

If a language has an open class of adjectives,

some of the types above may have special behavior,
such as the set of French adjectives that come before
rather than after their noun. A few Rotuman adjec-
tives of the above semantic type are the only ones
to take plural marking, and in Yurok some stative
verbs with these meanings take classifier marking
(humans, tools, long things, usw.).

Ideophones

What sense perceptions ideophones represent in
any particular language has an implicational hier-
archy (conference abstract),

sound ← motion ← visual patterns ←

other sense perceptions ←
inner feelings and cognitive states

33A Conlanger’s Thesaurus image

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