Cognates in linguistics are words that have a common origin. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields They may occur within a language, such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from the Proto-Indo-European word *sker-, meaning "to cut". They may also occur across languages, e. g. night and German Nacht as descendants of Proto-Indo-European *nokt-, "night". The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.
The word cognate derives from Latin cognatus, from co (with) +gnatus, natus, past participle of nasci "to be born". [1] Literally it means "related by blood, having a common ancestor, or related by an analogous nature, character, or function". [2]
The term cognate is not normally used with loanwords. A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one Language from another with little or no translation For example, linguists would not say that the English word sushi is cognate to the Japanese word sushi, because the word was borrowed from Japanese into English. In Japanese cuisine, is Vinegared Rice, usually topped with other ingredients including fish various meats and vegetables is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities
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Characteristics of cognate words
Cognates need not have the same meaning: dish (English) and Tisch ("table", German), or starve (English) and sterben ("die", German), or head (English) and chef ("chief, head", French), serve as examples as to how cognate terms may diverge in meaning as languages develop separately, eventually becoming false friends. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people In diachronic (or historical linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word. False friends (or faux amis) are pairs of Words in two Languages or Dialects (or letters in two alphabets that look and/or sound similar but differ
In addition to having separate meanings, cognates through processes of linguistic change may no longer resemble each other phonetically: cow and beef both derive from the same Indo-European root *gʷou-, cow having developed through the Germanic language family while beef has arrived in English from the Italo-Romance family descent. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. (ModE cow < ME cou < OE cū < PIE *gʷou > Latin bov- (stem; dictionary form is bos) > OFr boef > ME beef)
Cognates across languages
Examples of cognates in Indo-European languages are the words night (English), nuit (French), Nacht (German), nacht (Dutch), nicht (Scots), natt (Swedish, Norwegian), nat (Danish), noc (Czech, Polish), ночь, noch (Russian), нощ, nosht (Bulgarian), ніч, nich (Ukrainian), ноч, noch/noč (Belarusian) noć (Croatian, Serbian), νύξ, nyx (Greek), nox (Latin), nakt- (Sanskrit), natë (Albanian), noche (Spanish), nos (Welsh), noite (Portuguese and Galician), notte (Italian), nit (Catalan), noapte (Romanian), nótt (Icelandic), and naktis (Lithuanian), all meaning "night" and derived from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *nokt-, "night. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Czech (ˈʧɛk čeština ˈʧɛʃcɪna in Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers it is the majority language in the Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. The Belarusian language, or Belorussian,(беларуская мова BGN/PCGN: byelaruskaya mova, Scientific: belaruskaja mova Croatian language ( hrvatski jezik) is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in neighbouring Serbian (sr-Cyrl српски језик sr-Latn ''srpski jezik'' is a South Slavic language, Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Albanian (sq ''Gjuha shqipe'' ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ is an Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million peoplewhile others claim that it derives from Daco - Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. "
Another Indo-European example is star (English), str- (Sanskrit), astre or étoile (French), αστήρ (astēr) (Greek), stella (Latin, Italian), stea (Romanian and Venetian), stairno (Gothic), astl (Armenian), Stern (German), ster (Dutch and Afrikaans), starn (Scots), stjerne (Norwegian and Danish), stjarna (Icelandic), stjärna (Swedish), setare (Persian), seren (Welsh), steren (Cornish), estel (Catalan), estrella (Spanish), estrela (Portuguese and Galician) and estêre (Kurdish), from the PIE *stēr-, "star". English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken by over two million people mostly in the Veneto region of Italy. Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic For the Cornish-English dialect see West Country dialects and List of Cornish dialect words. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. The Kurdish language (Kurdish Kurdî or کوردی is a term used for the language spoken by Kurds.
The Hebrew shalom, the Arabic salaam and the Amharic selam ("peace") are also cognates, derived from a common Semitic root, having the triliteral slm. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Amharic (አማርኛ amarəñña) is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia by the Amhara. The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, In the terminology used to discuss the grammar of the Semitic languages and some other Afro-Asiatic languages, a triliteral ( Arabic: جذر ثلاثي
Cognates may often be less easily recognised than the above examples and authorities sometimes differ in their interpretations of the evidence. The English word milk is clearly a cognate of German Milch and of Russian moloko (<PIE *melg-, "to milk"). Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages On the other hand, French lait and Spanish leche (both meaning "milk") are less obviously cognates of Greek galaktos (genitive form of gala, milk) (<*g(a)lag-, galakt-), as is the English word lactic. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly
Cognates within the same language
Cognates can exist within the same language. For example, English ward and guard (<PIE *wer-, "to perceive, watch out for") are cognate as are shirt and skirt (<PIE *sker-, "to cut"). In some cases, such as "shirt" and "skirt", one of the cognate pairs has an ultimate source in another language related to English, while the other one is native, as happened with many loanwords from Old Norse (which was mutually intelligible with Old English) borrowed when the Vikings conquered part of England. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas Sometimes, both cognates come from other languages, often the same one but at different times. For example, the word chief comes from the Middle French chef, and its modern pronunciation preserves the Middle French consonant sound. The word chef was borrowed from the same source centuries later, by which time the consonant had changed to a "sh"-sound in French. Such words are said to be etymological twins. In Etymology, two or more words in the same language are called doublets or etymological twins (or possibly triplets etc
False cognates
False cognates are words that are commonly thought to be related (have a common origin) whereas linguistic examination reveals they are unrelated. False cognates are pairs of words in the same or different Languages that are similar in form and meaning but have different roots. False cognates are pairs of words in the same or different Languages that are similar in form and meaning but have different roots. Thus, for example, on the basis of superficial similarities one might suppose that the Latin verb habere and German haben, both meaning 'to have', are cognates. However, an understanding of the way words in the two languages evolve from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) roots shows that they cannot be cognate (see for example Grimm's law). Grimm's law (also known as the First Germanic Sound Shift or the Rask's-Grimm's rule) named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing German haben (like English have) in fact comes from PIE *kap, 'to grasp', and its real cognate in Latin is capere, 'to seize, grasp, capture'. Latin habere, on the other hand, is from PIE *ghabh, 'to give, to receive', and hence cognate with English give and German geben.
The similarity of words between languages is not enough to demonstrate that the words are related to each other, in much the same way that facial resemblance does not imply a close genetic relationship between people. Over the course of hundreds and thousands of years, words may change their sound completely. Thus, for example, English five and Sanskrit pança are cognates, while English over and Hebrew a'var are not, and neither are English dog and Mbabaram dog. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Mbabaram is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of north Queensland.
Contrast this with false friends, which frequently are cognate. False friends (or faux amis) are pairs of Words in two Languages or Dialects (or letters in two alphabets that look and/or sound similar but differ
Parliamentary term
In a parliamentary sense, a cognate debate means that two or more bills can be debated together, if the House does not object to the matter. Bills are only debated cognately if they are closely related.
Mechanical systems
In Mechanical Systems, the term "cognate" has been used by Hartenburg and Denavit to describe a linkage, of different geometry, which generates the same coupler curve. Robot control is the study of controlling robots. See also Control theory Mobile robot navigation Three unique four-bar linkages can define the same coupler-curve
Molecular Biology term
In molecular biology a ligand may have a cognate receptor. In Chemistry, a ligand is either an Atom, Ion, or Molecule (see also Functional group) that bonds to a central metal generally This is a receptor that specifically binds to that ligand.
References
- ^ Cassell's Latin Dictionary
- ^ [1] Dictionary definition of cognate on Answers. com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language ( AHD) is an American Dictionary of the English language published by Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
See also
- Cognate object
- Historical-comparative linguistics
- Paronym
- False friend
- Reflex (linguistics) (ref. In Linguistics, a cognate object (or cognate accusative) is a Verb 's object that is Cognate with the verb Historical linguistics (also called diachronic linguistics) is the study of language change A paronym or paronyme in Linguistics may refer to two different things A Word that is related to another word and derives from the same False friends (or faux amis) are pairs of Words in two Languages or Dialects (or letters in two alphabets that look and/or sound similar but differ : Talk:Reflex#Reflex in linguistics? [2])
Dictionary
cognate
-adjective
- (linguistics) Either descended from the same attested source lexeme of ancestor language, or held on the grounds of the methods of historical linguistics to be regular reflexes of the unattested, reconstructed form of proto-language.
-noun
- A word either descended from the same base word of the same ancestor language as the given word, or strongly believed to be a regular reflex of the same reconstructed root of proto-language as the given word.
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