False cognate
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. This is different from false friends, which are similar-sounding words with different meanings, but which may in fact be etymologically related.
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).
Phenomenon
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]
"Mama and papa" type
The basic kinship terms mama and papa comprise a special case of false cognates.[4][5][6][7]
Examples
Note: Some etymologies may be simplified to avoid overly long descriptions.
Between English words
| Term 1 | Etymology 1 | Term 2 | Etymology 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| day | OE dæġ << PGmc *dagaz << PIE *dʰeǵʰ-[8] | diary | Latin diārium << dies ("day") << Proto-Italic *djēm << PIE *dyḗws ("heaven") [9][10] |
| island | OE īġland << PGmc *awjōlandą or ea + land | isle | Latin insula |
Between English and other languages
| English term | English etymology | Foreign term | Foreign etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| bad | Possibly from OE bæddel ("hermaphrodite, homosexual, pedophile") << PGmc *bad- ("defile") | Persian بد, bad [11][10] | Middle Iranian *vat << PIE *wed(h)- |
| but | OE būtan, itself a contraction of Proto-West Germanic be- + ūtan (be out) | Cantonese 不, pronounced in Jyutping as bat1 | Literary term meaning "no" or "not." Originally pronounced in Old Chinese as pɯ, but due to a naming taboo, the character replaced 弗, pronounced as pɯd or pɯt to become the negative particle. |
| dog | OE docga or dogga | Mbabaram dog ("dog") [10] | Proto-Pama-Nyungan *gudaga |
| day | OE dæġ << PGmc *dagaz << PIE *dʰeǵʰ-[8] | Latin dies ("day") and descendants [9][10] | Proto-Italic *djēm << PIE *dyḗws ("heaven") [9][10] |
| emoticon | emotion + icon | Japanese 絵文字 emoji [12] | 絵 e ("picture") + 文字 moji ("character")[12] |
| hollow | OE holh << PGmc *holhwo- | Lake Miwok hóllu [11] | |
| much | OE myċel << PGmc *mikilaz << PIE *meǵa- ("big, stout, great") | Spanish mucho ("much") [10] | Latin multus << PIE *ml̥tos ("crumbled") |
| saint | Latin sanctus << PIE *seh₂k- ("to sanctify") via French | Sanskrit sant and descendants [13] | sat ("truth, reality, essence") |
| saint | Latin sanctus << PIE *seh₂k- ("to sanctify") via French | Chinese 聖 | From Middle Chinese *ɕiᴇŋH (saint, sage, holy, noble, or referring to the Emperor) |
| hole | Old English hol | Yucatec Maya hol | |
| earth | Proto Germanic erþō << PIE *h₁er | Arabic أرض (arḍ,
“ground” or “earth”) |
From Proto Semitic * arṣ́ (Earth) |
Between other languages
| Term 1 | Etymology 1 | Term 2 | Etymology 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| French feu ("fire") | Latin focus | German Feuer ("fire") | PGmc *fōr ~ *fun-[8][14][10] << PIE *péh₂wr̥ |
| German haben ("to have") | PG *habjaną <<PIE *keh₂p- ("to grasp") | Latin habere ("to have") and descendants[15] | PIE *gʰeh₁bʰ- ("to grab, to take") |
| Inuktitut ᖃᔭᖅ (kayak) | Proto-Eskimo *qyaq | Turkish kayık[16] | Old Turkic kayguk << Proto-Turkic kay- ("to slide, to turn") |
| Japanese ありがとう arigatō ("thank you") | ありがたく arigataku << Old Japanese ありがたし arigatashi | Portuguese obrigado ("thank you") | Literally "obliged" << Latin obligātus |
| Portuguese pão (bread) | Latin pānem | Chinese 包 (bread or bun) | Old Chinese *pˤ<r>u (to wrap or surround) |
| Sanskrit and descendants सत् sat (truth or essence) | From Proto-Indo-European language *h1-es (to be) | Cantonese 實 sat6 in Jyutping (truth, substance, solid) | From Middle Chinese *ʑiɪt̚ and Old Chinese *mə.li[t] as constructed by William Baxter and Laurent Sagart |
| Romanian fiu (son) | Latin filius | Hungarian fiú (son) | From the original stem fi + the diminutive suffix -ú; of Uralic origin |
False cognates used in the coinage of new words
The coincidental similarity between false cognates can sometimes be used in the creation of new words (neologization). For example, the Hebrew word דַּל 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.[17]
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 today's Israel, דיבוב dibúv means "dubbing".[18]
See also
References
- Moss (1992), p. ?.
- Chamizo-Domínguez (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.
- Kroonen, Guus (2013) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill
- Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition.
- Campbell, Lyle; Mixco, Mauricio J. (2007). A Glossary of Historical Linguistics. Edinburgh University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-7486-2378-5.
- Lyle Campbell, Historical Linguistics: An Introduction, 3rd edition, p. 350
- Taggart, Caroline (5 November 2015). New Words for Old: Recycling Our Language for the Modern World. Michael O'Mara Books. ISBN 9781782434733 – via Google Books.
Emoji is made up of the Japanese for picture (e) and character (moji) so its resemblance to emotion and emoticon is a particularly happy coincidence.
- 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 eithical 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
- "have - Search Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.
- 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.
- 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.
Further reading
- Rubén Morán (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.
- Chamizo-Domínguez, Pedro J. (2008), Semantics and Pragmatics of False Friends, New York/Oxon: Routledge
- Jakobson, Roman (1962), "Why 'mama' and 'papa'?", Selected Writings, I: Phonological Studies, The Hague: Mouton, pp. 538–545
- 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