False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family.[1] For example, the English word dog and the Mbabaram word dog have exactly the same meaning and very similar pronunciations, but by complete coincidence. Likewise, English much and Spanish mucho came by their similar meanings via completely different Proto-Indo-European roots, and same for English have and Spanish haber. This is different from false friends, which are similar-sounding words with different meanings, and may or may not be cognates.
Even though false cognates lack a common root, there may still be an indirect connection between them (for example by phono-semantic matching or folk etymology).
The term "false cognate" is sometimes misused to refer to false friends, but the two phenomena are distinct.[1][2] False friends occur when two words in different languages or dialects look similar, but have different meanings. While some false friends are also false cognates, many are genuine cognates (see False friends § Causes).[2] For example, English pretend and French prétendre are false friends, but not false cognates, as they have the same origin.[3]
Clipping of 有難う御座います "arigatō gozaimasu" ("(I) am thankful") << 有難く "arigataku" << 有難い "arigatai" ("thankful, appreciated") << Old Japanese 有難斯 "arigatasi" ("difficult to be")[citation needed]
False cognates used in the coinage of new wordsedit
The coincidental similarity between false cognates can sometimes be used in the creation of new words (neologization). For example, the Hebrew word דַּלdal ("poor") (which is a false cognate of the phono-semantically similar English word dull) is used in the new Israeli Hebrew expression אין רגע דל en rega dal (literally "There is no poor moment") as a phono-semantic matching for the English expression Never a dull moment.[18]
Similarly, the Hebrew word דיבוב dibúv ("speech, inducing someone to speak"), which is a false cognate of (and thus etymologically unrelated to) the phono-semantically similar English word dubbing, is then used in the Israeli phono-semantic matching for dubbing. The result is that in Modern Hebrew, דיבוב dibúv means "dubbing".[19]
^Harper, Douglas. "Pretend". The Online Etymological Dictionary. Retrieved 2015-09-14.
^Jakobson, R. (1962) "Why 'mama' and 'papa'?" In Jakobson, R. Selected Writings, Vol. I: Phonological Studies, pp. 538–545. The Hague: Mouton.
^Nichols, J. (1999) "Why 'me' and 'thee'?" Historical Linguistics 1999: Selected Papers from the 14th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Vancouver, 9–13 August 1999, ed. Laurel J. Brinton, John Benjamins Publishing, 2001, pages 253-276.
^Bancel, P.J. and A.M. de l'Etang. (2008) "The Age of Mama and Papa" Bengtson J. D. In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the four fields of anthropology. (John Benjamins Publishing, Dec 3, 2008), pages 417-438.
^Bancel, P.J. and A.M. de l'Etang. (2013) "Brave new words" In New Perspectives on the Origins of Language, ed. C. Lefebvre, B. Comrie, H. Cohen (John Benjamins Publishing, Nov 15, 2013), pages 333-377.
^ abLyle Campbell, Historical Linguistics: An Introduction, 3rd edition, p. 350
^Schomer, Karine; McLeod, W. H. (1987). The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 3. ISBN978-81-208-0277-3. OCLC 879218858. Retrieved 7 November 2018. Thus conceptually as well as etymologically, it differs considerably from the false cognate 'saint' which is often used to translate it. Like 'saint', 'sant' has also taken on the more general ethical meaning of the 'good person' whose life is a spiritual and moral exemplar, and is therefore attached to a wide variety of gurus, 'holy men', and other religious teachers.
^Lyle Campbell, Historical Linguistics: An Introduction, 3rd edition, p. 355
^ abcdBárczi, Géza (1958). A magyar szókincs eredete. Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó. p. 8.
^de la Fuente, José Andrés Alonso (2010). "Urban legends: Turkish kayık 'boat' | "Eskimo" Qayaq 'Kayak'" (PDF). Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
^"'Arigato in Japanese and Obrigado in Portuguese', Semantic Enigmas". The Guardian. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
Chamizo-Domínguez, Pedro J. (2008), Semantics and Pragmatics of False Friends, New York/Oxon: Routledge
Moss, Gillian (1992), "Cognate recognition: Its importance in the teaching of ESP reading courses to Spanish speakers", English for Specific Purposes, 11 (2): 141–158, doi:10.1016/s0889-4906(05)80005-5
Geoff Parkes and Alan Cornell (1992), 'NTC's Dictionary of German False Cognates', National Textbook Company, NTC Publishing Group.
Jakobson, Roman (1962), "Why 'mama' and 'papa'?", Selected Writings, vol. I: Phonological Studies, The Hague: Mouton, pp. 538–545
Trask, R. Larry (2004), Where do mama/papa words come from?, University of Sussex Working Papers in Linguistics and English Language LxWP 10/04, Brighton, UK: Department of Linguistics and English Language, University of Sussex
Carey, Stan (2 January 2012). "The mamas & the papas in babies' babbling". Sentence first.
January 01, 1970
false, cognate, confused, with, false, friend, pairs, words, that, seem, cognates, because, similar, sounds, meaning, have, different, etymologies, they, within, same, language, from, different, languages, even, within, same, family, example, english, word, mb. Not to be confused with False friend False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds and meaning but have different etymologies they can be within the same language or from different languages even within the same family 1 For example the English word dog and the Mbabaram word dog have exactly the same meaning and very similar pronunciations but by complete coincidence Likewise English much and Spanish mucho came by their similar meanings via completely different Proto Indo European roots and same for English have and Spanish haber This is different from false friends which are similar sounding words with different meanings and may or may not be cognates Even though false cognates lack a common root there may still be an indirect connection between them for example by phono semantic matching or folk etymology Contents 1 Phenomenon 2 Mama and papa type 3 Examples 3 1 Within English 3 2 Between English and other languages 3 3 Between other languages 4 False cognates used in the coinage of new words 5 See also 6 References 7 Works cited 8 Further reading 9 External linksPhenomenon editThe term false cognate is sometimes misused to refer to false friends but the two phenomena are distinct 1 2 False friends occur when two words in different languages or dialects look similar but have different meanings While some false friends are also false cognates many are genuine cognates see False friends Causes 2 For example English pretend and French pretendre are false friends but not false cognates as they have the same origin 3 Mama and papa type editThe basic kinship terms mama and papa comprise a special case of false cognates 4 5 6 7 Examples editNote Some etymologies may be simplified to avoid overly long descriptions Within English edit Term 1 Etymology 1 Term 2 Etymology 2 day OE daeġ lt lt PGmc dagaz lt lt PIE dʰeǵʰ 8 diary Latin diarium lt lt dies day lt lt Proto Italic djem lt lt PIE dyḗws heaven 9 10 island OE iġland lt lt PGmc awjōlandaor ea land isle Latin insula Between English and other languages edit English term English etymology Foreign term Foreign etymology bad Possibly from OE baeddel hermaphrodite effeminate man lt lt PGmc bad defile Persian بد bad 11 10 Middle Iranian vat lt lt PIE wed h better OE betera Persian بهتر behtar and Hindustani descendants cinder OE sinder lt lt PGmc sendra slag lt lt PIE sendhro coagulating fluid French cendre ash Latin cinerem lt lt PIE ken to arise begin dog OE docga or dogga Mbabaram dog dog 10 Proto Pama Nyungan gudaga day OE daeġ lt lt PGmc dagaz lt lt PIE dʰeǵʰ 8 Latin dies day and descendants 9 10 Proto Italic djem lt lt PIE dyḗws heaven 9 10 hollow OE holh lt lt PGmc holhwo Lake Miwok hollu 11 much OE myċel lt lt PGmc mikilaz lt lt PIE meǵa big stout great Spanish mucho much 10 Latin multus many lt lt PIE ml tos crumbled desert Latin deserō to abandon lt lt ultimately PIE seh to sow Ancient Egyptian Deshret refers to the land not flooded by the Nile from dsr red saint Latin sanctus lt lt PIE seh k to sanctify via French Sanskrit sant and descendants 12 sat truth reality essence shark Middle English shark from uncertain origin Chinese 鲨 sha Named as its crude skin similar to sand 沙 sha Between other languages edit Term 1 Etymology 1 Term 2 Etymology 2 French feu fire Latin focus German Feuer fire PGmc fōr fun 8 13 10 lt lt PIE peh wr French nuque nape Hungarian nyak neck 14 German haben to have PG habjana lt lt PIE keh p to grasp Latin habere to have and descendants 15 PIE gʰeh bʰ to grab to take Swedish gol pool PG guljō Salar gol pool Proto Turkic kȫl lake German Erdbeere strawberry Erd earth Beere berry Hungarian eper strawberry 14 German Haus house Hungarian haz house 14 Hungarian no woman Mandarin Chinese 女 nu woman 14 Inuktitut ᖃᔭᖅ kayak Proto Eskimo qyaq Turkish kayik 16 Old Turkic kayguk lt lt Proto Turkic kay to slide to turn Mayaimi Mayaimi Big water Hebrew מים mayim water Japanese ありがとう arigatō thank you Clipping of 有難う御座います arigatō gozaimasu I am thankful lt lt 有難く arigataku lt lt 有難い arigatai thankful appreciated lt lt Old Japanese 有難斯 arigatasi difficult to be citation needed Portuguese obrigado thank you 17 Literally obliged lt lt Latin obligatus Indonesian tanah ground Proto Austronesian tanaq Aleut tanax ground Proto Eskimo luna earth False cognates used in the coinage of new words editThe coincidental similarity between false cognates can sometimes be used in the creation of new words neologization For example the Hebrew word ד ל dal poor which is a false cognate of the phono semantically similar English word dull is used in the new Israeli Hebrew expression אין רגע דל en rega dal literally There is no poor moment as a phono semantic matching for the English expression Never a dull moment 18 Similarly the Hebrew word דיבוב dibuv speech inducing someone to speak which is a false cognate of and thus etymologically unrelated to the phono semantically similar English word dubbing is then used in the Israeli phono semantic matching for dubbing The result is that in Modern Hebrew דיבוב dibuv means dubbing 19 See also editAreal feature Convergent evolution Equivalence Etymological fallacy False etymology False friend Linguistic interference language transfer Pseudoscientific language comparison Semantic change SprachbundReferences edit a b Moss 1992 p a b Chamizo Dominguez 2008 p 166 Harper Douglas Pretend The Online Etymological Dictionary Retrieved 2015 09 14 Jakobson R 1962 Why mama and papa In Jakobson R Selected Writings Vol I Phonological Studies pp 538 545 The Hague Mouton Nichols J 1999 Why me and thee Historical Linguistics 1999 Selected Papers from the 14th International Conference on Historical Linguistics Vancouver 9 13 August 1999 ed Laurel J Brinton John Benjamins Publishing 2001 pages 253 276 Bancel P J and A M de l Etang 2008 The Age of Mama and Papa Bengtson J D In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory Essays in the four fields of anthropology John Benjamins Publishing Dec 3 2008 pages 417 438 Bancel P J and A M de l Etang 2013 Brave new words In New Perspectives on the Origins of Language ed C Lefebvre B Comrie H Cohen John Benjamins Publishing Nov 15 2013 pages 333 377 a b c Kroonen Guus 2013 Etymological Dictionary of Proto Germanic Leiden Indo European Etymological Dictionary Series 11 Leiden Boston Brill a b c Oxford English Dictionary Second edition a b c d e f g Campbell Lyle Mixco Mauricio J 2007 A Glossary of Historical Linguistics Edinburgh University Press p 29 ISBN 978 0 7486 2378 5 a b Lyle Campbell Historical Linguistics An Introduction 3rd edition p 350 Schomer Karine McLeod W H 1987 The Sants Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India Delhi Motilal Banarsidass p 3 ISBN 978 81 208 0277 3 OCLC 879218858 Retrieved 7 November 2018 Thus conceptually as well as etymologically it differs considerably from the false cognate saint which is often used to translate it Like saint sant has also taken on the more general ethical meaning of the good person whose life is a spiritual and moral exemplar and is therefore attached to a wide variety of gurus holy men and other religious teachers Lyle Campbell Historical Linguistics An Introduction 3rd edition p 355 a b c d Barczi Geza 1958 A magyar szokincs eredete Budapest Tankonyvkiado p 8 have Search Online Etymology Dictionary www etymonline com de la Fuente Jose Andres Alonso 2010 Urban legends Turkish kayik boat Eskimo Qayaq Kayak PDF Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis Retrieved 2015 03 06 Arigato in Japanese and Obrigado in Portuguese Semantic Enigmas The Guardian Retrieved June 24 2021 Page 91 of Zuckermann Ghil ad 2003 Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 9781403917232 Page 96 of Zuckermann Ghil ad 2020 Revivalistics From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond New York Oxford University Press ISBN 9780199812790 Works cited editChamizo Dominguez Pedro J 2008 Semantics and Pragmatics of False Friends New York Oxon Routledge Moss Gillian 1992 Cognate recognition Its importance in the teaching of ESP reading courses to Spanish speakers English for Specific Purposes 11 2 141 158 doi 10 1016 s0889 4906 05 80005 5Further reading editRuben Moran 2011 Cognate Linguistics Kindle Edition Amazon Geoff Parkes and Alan Cornell 1992 NTC s Dictionary of German False Cognates National Textbook Company NTC Publishing Group Jakobson Roman 1962 Why mama and papa Selected Writings vol I Phonological Studies The Hague Mouton pp 538 545 Trask R Larry 2004 Where do mama papa words come from University of Sussex Working Papers in Linguistics and English Language LxWP 10 04 Brighton UK Department of Linguistics and English Language University of SussexExternal links editCognates org Archived 2016 12 16 at the Wayback Machine Carey Stan 2 January 2012 The mamas amp the papas in babies babbling Sentence first Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title False cognate amp oldid 1219657748, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
