Cognate: Difference between revisions
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{{other uses}} | {{other uses}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} | {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} | ||
{{More citations needed|date=December 2023}} | {{More citations needed|date=December 2023}} | ||
[[File:etymological_relations_tree.svg|thumb|240px|Diagram showing relationships between etymologically related words]] | [[File:etymological_relations_tree.svg|thumb|240px|Diagram showing relationships between etymologically related words]] | ||
In [[historical linguistics]], '''cognates''' or '''lexical cognates''' are sets of [[word]]s that have been inherited in direct descent from an [[etymology|etymological]] ancestor in a common [[Language family|parent language]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Crystal |editor-first=David |editor-link=David Crystal |date=2011 |title=A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics |edition=6th |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZPQVuSgDAkC&pg=PT104 |chapter=cognate |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |pages=104, 418 |isbn=978-1-4443-5675-5 |oclc=899159900}}</ref> | In [[historical linguistics]], '''cognates''' or '''lexical cognates''' are sets of [[word]]s that have been inherited in direct descent from an [[etymology|etymological]] ancestor in a common [[Language family|parent language]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Crystal |editor-first=David |editor-link=David Crystal |date=2011 |title=A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics |edition=6th |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZPQVuSgDAkC&pg=PT104 |chapter=cognate |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |pages=104, 418 |isbn=978-1-4443-5675-5 |oclc=899159900}}</ref> | ||
Because [[language change]] can have radical effects on both the sound and the meaning of a word, cognates may not be obvious, and it often takes rigorous study of historical sources and the application of the [[comparative method]] to establish whether [[lexeme]]s are cognate. | Because [[language change]] can have radical effects on both the sound and the meaning of a word, cognates may not be obvious, and it often takes rigorous study of historical sources and the application of the [[comparative method]] to establish whether [[lexeme]]s are cognate. It can also happen that words which appear similar, or identical, in different languages, are ''not'' cognate. | ||
Cognates are distinguished from [[loanword]]s, where a word has been borrowed from another language. | Cognates are distinguished from [[loanword]]s, where a word has been borrowed from another language. | ||
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==Name== | ==Name== | ||
The English term ''cognate'' derives from [[Latin language|Latin]] {{lang|la| | The English term ''cognate'' derives from [[Latin language|Latin]] {{wikt-lang|la|cognatus}}, meaning "blood relative".<ref>[http://www.answers.com/topic/cognate "cognate"], ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'', 4th ed.: "Latin {{lang|la|cognātus}}: {{lang|la|co-}}, co- + {{lang|la|gnātus}}, born, past participle of {{lang|la|nāscī}}, to be born." Other definitions of the English word include "[r]elated by blood; having a common ancestor" and "[r]elated or analogous in nature, character, or function".</ref> | ||
==Examples== | ==Examples== | ||
For an example, cognates with the English word ''night'' can be found in most major [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] languages, including [[German language|German]] {{lang|de|Nacht}}, [[Swedish language|Swedish]] {{lang|sv|natt}}, [[Polish language|Polish]] {{lang|cs|noc}}, [[Russian language|Russian]] {{lang|ru|ночь}} {{tlit|ru|noch}}, [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] {{lang|lt|naktis}}, [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|nos}}, [[Modern Greek|Greek]] {{lang|el|νύχτα}} {{tlit|el|nychta}}, [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|नक्त}} {{tlit|sa|nakt-}}, [[Albanian language|Albanian]] {{lang|sq|natë}}, [[Latin]] {{lang|la|nox}} (gen. sg. {{lang|la|noctis}}), [[Italian Language|Italian]] {{lang|ita|notte}}, [[French language|French]] {{lang|fr|nuit}}, and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] {{lang|pt|noite}}. These all mean 'night', and derive from the Proto-Indo-European {{wikt-lang|ine-x-proto|*nókʷts}} with the same meaning. The Indo-European languages have hundreds of such cognate sets, though few of them are as neat as this. | |||
The [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar|سلام}} | The [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar|سلام}} {{tlit|ar|salām}}, the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] {{lang|he|שלום}} {{tlit|he|shalom}}, the [[Assyrian Neo-Aramaic]] {{lang|syr|ܫܠܡܐ}} {{tlit|syr|shlama}} and [[Amharic language|Amharic]] {{lang|am|ሰላም}} {{tlit|am|selam}} 'peace' are cognates, derived from the [[Proto-Semitic]] [[:wikt:Appendix:Proto-Semitic/šalām-|*šalām-]] 'peace'. | ||
The [[Guarani language|Paraguayan Guarani]] | The [[Guarani language|Paraguayan Guarani]] {{lang|gn|panambi}}, the [[Eastern Bolivian Guaraní language|Eastern Bolivian Guarani]] {{lang|gui|panapana}}, the [[Cocama language|Cocama]] and [[Omagua language|Omagua]] {{lang|omg|panama}}, and the [[Sirionó language|Sirionó]] {{lang|srq|ana ana}} are cognates, derived from the [[Tupi language|Old Tupi]] {{lang|tpn|panapana}} 'butterfly', maintaining their original meaning in these [[Tupi languages]]. [[Brazilian Portuguese]] {{lang|pt-BR|panapanã}} (flock of butterflies in flight) is a borrowing rather than a cognate of the other words. | ||
==Characteristics== | ==Characteristics== | ||
Cognates need not have the same meaning, as they may have undergone [[semantic change]] as the languages developed independently. For example [[English language|English]] ''[[wikt:starve#English|starve]]'' and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] | Cognates need not have the same meaning, as they may have undergone [[semantic change]] as the languages developed independently. For example [[English language|English]] ''[[wikt:starve#English|starve]]'' and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] {{wikt-lang|nl|sterven}} 'to die' or [[German language|German]] {{wikt-lang|de|sterben}} 'to die' all descend from the same [[Proto-Germanic]] verb, {{wikt-lang|gem-x-proto|*sterbaną}} 'to die'. | ||
Cognates also do not need to look or sound similar: English ''[[wikt:father|father]]'', [[French language|French]] | Cognates also do not need to look or sound similar: English ''[[wikt:father|father]]'', [[French language|French]] {{wikt-lang|fr|père}}, and [[Armenian language|Armenian]] {{wikt-lang|hy|հայր}} ({{tlit|hy|hayr}}) all descend directly from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] {{lang|ine-x-proto|ph₂tḗr}}. An extreme case is Armenian {{wikt-lang|hy|երկու}} ({{tlit|hy|erku}}) and English ''[[wikt:two|two]]'', which descend from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] {{wikt-lang|ine-x-proto|dwóh₁}}; the sound change ''*dw'' > ''erk'' in Armenian is regular. | ||
Paradigms of conjugations or declensions, the correspondence of which cannot be generally due to chance, have often been used in cognacy assessment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hetzron |first=Robert |date=1976-01-01 |title=Two principles of genetic reconstruction |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0024384176900747 |journal=Lingua |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=89–108 |doi=10.1016/0024-3841(76)90074-7 |issn=0024-3841|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, beyond paradigms, morphosyntax is often excluded in the assessment of cognacy between words, mainly because structures are usually seen as more subject to borrowing. Still, very complex, non-trivial morphosyntactic structures can rarely take precedence over phonetic shapes to indicate cognates. For instance, [[Tangut language|Tangut]], the language of the [[Western Xia|Xixia]] Empire, and one [[Horpa language|Horpa]] language spoken today in [[Sichuan]], Geshiza, both display a verbal alternation indicating tense, obeying the same morphosyntactic collocational restrictions. Even without regular phonetic correspondences between the stems of the two languages, the cognatic structures indicate secondary cognacy for the stems.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beaudouin |first=Mathieu |date=2024-09-13 |title=Non-past and past verb stems in Tangut | Paradigms of conjugations or declensions, the correspondence of which cannot be generally due to chance, have often been used in cognacy assessment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hetzron |first=Robert |date=1976-01-01 |title=Two principles of genetic reconstruction |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0024384176900747 |journal=Lingua |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=89–108 |doi=10.1016/0024-3841(76)90074-7 |issn=0024-3841|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, beyond paradigms, morphosyntax is often excluded in the assessment of cognacy between words, mainly because structures are usually seen as more subject to borrowing. Still, very complex, non-trivial morphosyntactic structures can rarely take precedence over phonetic shapes to indicate cognates. For instance, [[Tangut language|Tangut]], the language of the [[Western Xia|Xixia]] Empire, and one [[Horpa language|Horpa]] language spoken today in [[Sichuan]], Geshiza, both display a verbal alternation indicating tense, obeying the same morphosyntactic collocational restrictions. Even without regular phonetic correspondences between the stems of the two languages, the cognatic structures indicate secondary cognacy for the stems.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beaudouin |first=Mathieu |date=2024-09-13 |title=Non-past and past verb stems in Tangut |journal=Language and Linguistics |language=en |volume=Online first |pages=1–21 |doi=10.1075/lali.00177.bea|doi-access=free }}</ref> | ||
==False cognates== | ==False cognates== | ||
{{main|False cognate}} | {{main|False cognate}} | ||
False cognates are pairs of words that appear to have a common origin, but which in fact do not. For example, Latin {{lang|la|habēre}} and German {{lang|de|haben}} both mean 'to have' and are phonetically similar. However, the words evolved from different [[Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE) roots: {{lang|de|haben}}, like English ''have'', comes from PIE | False cognates are pairs of words that appear to have a common origin, but which in fact do not. For example, Latin {{lang|la|habēre}} and German {{lang|de|haben}} both mean 'to have' and are phonetically similar. However, the words evolved from different [[Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE) roots: {{lang|de|haben}}, like English ''have'', comes from PIE {{wikt-lang|ine-x-proto|*kh₂pyé-}} 'to grasp', and has the Latin cognate {{lang|la|capere}} 'to seize, grasp, capture'. {{lang|la|Habēre}}, on the other hand, is from PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|*gʰabʰ}} 'to give, to receive', and hence cognate with English ''give'' and German {{lang|de|geben}}.<ref>''[[Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben]]''</ref> | ||
Likewise, English ''much'' and Spanish {{lang|es|mucho}} look similar and have a similar meaning, but are not cognates: ''much'' is from Proto-Germanic | Likewise, English ''much'' and Spanish {{lang|es|mucho}} look similar and have a similar meaning, but are not cognates: ''much'' is from Proto-Germanic {{wikt-lang|gem-x-proto|*mikilaz}} < PIE {{wikt-lang|ine-x-proto|*meg-|*meǵ-}} and {{lang|es|mucho}} is from Latin {{lang|la|multum}} < PIE {{wikt-lang|ine-x-proto|*mel-}}. A true cognate of ''much'' is the archaic Spanish {{lang|es|maño}} 'big'.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ringe|first1=Don|title=A quick introduction to language change|url=http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/ling001/3-22.pdf|website=Univ. of Pennsylvania: Linguistics 001 (Fall 2011)|access-date=15 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620051440/http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/ling001/3-22.pdf|archive-date=2010-06-20|location=¶ 29|pages=11–12}}</ref> | ||
==Distinctions== | ==Distinctions== | ||
Cognates are distinguished from other kinds of relationships. | Cognates are distinguished from other kinds of relationships. | ||
*[[Loanword]]s are words borrowed from one language into another; for example, English ''beef'' is borrowed from Old French | *[[Loanword]]s are words borrowed from one language into another; for example, English ''beef'' is borrowed from Old French {{lang|fro|boef}} ('ox’). Although they are part of a single etymological stemma, they are not cognates. | ||
*[[Doublet (linguistics)|Doublets]] are pairs of words in the same language which are derived from a single etymon, which may have similar but distinct meanings and uses. Often, one is a loanword and the other is the native form, or they have developed in different dialects and then found themselves together in a modern standard language. For example, Old French | *[[Doublet (linguistics)|Doublets]] are pairs of words in the same language which are derived from a single etymon, which may have similar but distinct meanings and uses. Often, one is a loanword and the other is the native form, or they have developed in different dialects and then found themselves together in a modern standard language. For example, Old French {{lang|fro|boef}} is cognate with English ''cow'', so English ''cow'' and ''beef'' are doublets. | ||
*[[Translation]]s, or semantic equivalents, are words in two different languages that have similar or practically identical meanings. They may be cognate, but usually they are not. For example, the German equivalent of the English word ''cow'' is | *[[Translation]]s, or semantic equivalents, are words in two different languages that have similar or practically identical meanings. They may be cognate, but usually they are not. For example, the German equivalent of the English word ''cow'' is {{lang|de|Kuh}}, which is also cognate, but the French equivalent is {{lang|fr|vache}}, which is unrelated. | ||
==Related terms== | ==Related terms== | ||
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An '''[[etymon]]''', or ancestor word, is the ultimate source word from which one or more cognates derive. | An '''[[etymon]]''', or ancestor word, is the ultimate source word from which one or more cognates derive. | ||
In other words, it is the source of related words in different languages. | In other words, it is the source of related words in different languages. | ||
For example, the etymon of both Welsh | For example, the etymon of both Welsh {{lang|cy|ceffyl}} and Irish {{lang|ga|capall}} is the Proto-Celtic {{lang|cel-x-proto|kaballos}} (all meaning ''horse''). | ||
'''[[wikt: descendant|Descendant]]s''' are words inherited across a language barrier, coming from a particular etymon in an ancestor language. | '''[[wikt: descendant|Descendant]]s''' are words inherited across a language barrier, coming from a particular etymon in an ancestor language. | ||
For example, Russian | For example, Russian {{lang|ru|мо́ре}} and Polish {{lang|pl|morze}} are both descendants of Proto-Slavic {{lang|sla-x-proto|moře}} ('sea'). | ||
===Root and derivatives=== | ===Root and derivatives=== | ||
Latest revision as of 22:21, 7 November 2025
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "other uses". Template:Use dmy dates Template:More citations needed
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.[1]
Because language change can have radical effects on both the sound and the meaning of a word, cognates may not be obvious, and it often takes rigorous study of historical sources and the application of the comparative method to establish whether lexemes are cognate. It can also happen that words which appear similar, or identical, in different languages, are not cognate.
Cognates are distinguished from loanwords, where a word has been borrowed from another language.
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Name
The English term cognate derives from Latin Template:Wikt-lang, meaning "blood relative".[2]
Examples
For an example, cognates with the English word night can be found in most major Indo-European languages, including German Script error: No such module "Lang"., Swedish Script error: No such module "Lang"., Polish Script error: No such module "Lang"., Russian Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit, Lithuanian Script error: No such module "Lang"., Welsh Script error: No such module "Lang"., Greek Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit, Sanskrit Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit, Albanian Script error: No such module "Lang"., Latin Script error: No such module "Lang". (gen. sg. Script error: No such module "Lang".), Italian Script error: No such module "Lang"., French Script error: No such module "Lang"., and Portuguese Script error: No such module "Lang".. These all mean 'night', and derive from the Proto-Indo-European Template:Wikt-lang with the same meaning. The Indo-European languages have hundreds of such cognate sets, though few of them are as neat as this.
The Arabic Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit, the Hebrew Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit, the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit and Amharic Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit 'peace' are cognates, derived from the Proto-Semitic *šalām- 'peace'.
The Paraguayan Guarani Script error: No such module "Lang"., the Eastern Bolivian Guarani Script error: No such module "Lang"., the Cocama and Omagua Script error: No such module "Lang"., and the Sirionó Script error: No such module "Lang". are cognates, derived from the Old Tupi Script error: No such module "Lang". 'butterfly', maintaining their original meaning in these Tupi languages. Brazilian Portuguese Script error: No such module "Lang". (flock of butterflies in flight) is a borrowing rather than a cognate of the other words.
Characteristics
Cognates need not have the same meaning, as they may have undergone semantic change as the languages developed independently. For example English starve and Dutch Template:Wikt-lang 'to die' or German Template:Wikt-lang 'to die' all descend from the same Proto-Germanic verb, Template:Wikt-lang 'to die'.
Cognates also do not need to look or sound similar: English father, French Template:Wikt-lang, and Armenian Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Tlit) all descend directly from Proto-Indo-European Script error: No such module "Lang".. An extreme case is Armenian Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Tlit) and English two, which descend from Proto-Indo-European Template:Wikt-lang; the sound change *dw > erk in Armenian is regular.
Paradigms of conjugations or declensions, the correspondence of which cannot be generally due to chance, have often been used in cognacy assessment.[3] However, beyond paradigms, morphosyntax is often excluded in the assessment of cognacy between words, mainly because structures are usually seen as more subject to borrowing. Still, very complex, non-trivial morphosyntactic structures can rarely take precedence over phonetic shapes to indicate cognates. For instance, Tangut, the language of the Xixia Empire, and one Horpa language spoken today in Sichuan, Geshiza, both display a verbal alternation indicating tense, obeying the same morphosyntactic collocational restrictions. Even without regular phonetic correspondences between the stems of the two languages, the cognatic structures indicate secondary cognacy for the stems.[4]
False cognates
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". False cognates are pairs of words that appear to have a common origin, but which in fact do not. For example, Latin Script error: No such module "Lang". and German Script error: No such module "Lang". both mean 'to have' and are phonetically similar. However, the words evolved from different Proto-Indo-European (PIE) roots: Script error: No such module "Lang"., like English have, comes from PIE Template:Wikt-lang 'to grasp', and has the Latin cognate Script error: No such module "Lang". 'to seize, grasp, capture'. Script error: No such module "Lang"., on the other hand, is from PIE Script error: No such module "Lang". 'to give, to receive', and hence cognate with English give and German Script error: No such module "Lang"..[5]
Likewise, English much and Spanish Script error: No such module "Lang". look similar and have a similar meaning, but are not cognates: much is from Proto-Germanic Template:Wikt-lang < PIE Template:Wikt-lang and Script error: No such module "Lang". is from Latin Script error: No such module "Lang". < PIE Template:Wikt-lang. A true cognate of much is the archaic Spanish Script error: No such module "Lang". 'big'.[6]
Distinctions
Cognates are distinguished from other kinds of relationships.
- Loanwords are words borrowed from one language into another; for example, English beef is borrowed from Old French Script error: No such module "Lang". ('ox’). Although they are part of a single etymological stemma, they are not cognates.
- Doublets are pairs of words in the same language which are derived from a single etymon, which may have similar but distinct meanings and uses. Often, one is a loanword and the other is the native form, or they have developed in different dialects and then found themselves together in a modern standard language. For example, Old French Script error: No such module "Lang". is cognate with English cow, so English cow and beef are doublets.
- Translations, or semantic equivalents, are words in two different languages that have similar or practically identical meanings. They may be cognate, but usually they are not. For example, the German equivalent of the English word cow is Script error: No such module "Lang"., which is also cognate, but the French equivalent is Script error: No such module "Lang"., which is unrelated.
Related terms
Etymon (ancestor word) and descendant words
An etymon, or ancestor word, is the ultimate source word from which one or more cognates derive. In other words, it is the source of related words in different languages. For example, the etymon of both Welsh Script error: No such module "Lang". and Irish Script error: No such module "Lang". is the Proto-Celtic Script error: No such module "Lang". (all meaning horse).
Descendants are words inherited across a language barrier, coming from a particular etymon in an ancestor language. For example, Russian Script error: No such module "Lang". and Polish Script error: No such module "Lang". are both descendants of Proto-Slavic Script error: No such module "Lang". ('sea').
Root and derivatives
A root is the source of related words within a single language (no language barrier is crossed).
Similar to the distinction between etymon and root, a nuanced distinction can sometimes be made between a descendant and a derivative.
A derivative is one of the words which have their source in a root word, and were at some time created from the root word using morphological constructs such as suffixes, prefixes, and slight changes to the vowels or to the consonants of the root word. For example unhappy, happily, and unhappily are all derivatives of the root word happy.
The terms root and derivative are used in the analysis of morphological derivation within a language in studies that are not concerned with historical linguistics and that do not cross the language barrier.
See also
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References
External links
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ "cognate", The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed.: "Latin Script error: No such module "Lang".: Script error: No such module "Lang"., co- + Script error: No such module "Lang"., born, past participle of Script error: No such module "Lang"., to be born." Other definitions of the English word include "[r]elated by blood; having a common ancestor" and "[r]elated or analogous in nature, character, or function".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".