In
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, a cognate object (also known as a cognate accusative or an internal accusative) is a
verb
A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
's
object
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an a ...
which is etymologically related to the verb. More specifically, the verb is one that is ordinarily
intransitive
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb, aside from an auxiliary verb, whose context does not entail a transitive object. That lack of an object distinguishes intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, which entail one or more objects. Additi ...
(lacking any object), and the cognate object is simply the verb's
noun
In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
form. For example, in the sentence ''He slept a troubled sleep'', ''sleep'' is the cognate object of the verb ''slept''. This construction also has a passive form. The passive is ''A troubled sleep was slept by him.'' Cognate objects exist in many languages, including various unrelated ones; for example, they exist in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Chichewa,
German,
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
,
Icelandic,
Korean,
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
Russian and
Japanese
Examples
In English, the construction can occur with a number of intransitive verbs, which then become transitive:
*''He slept a troubled sleep.'' (He slept, and his sleep was troubled.)
*''He laughed a bitter laugh.'' (He laughed bitterly.)
*''He dreamed a strange dream.'' (He dreamed, and his dream was strange.)
*''He walked their walk and talked their talk.'' (He walked and talked as they did.)
*''He smiled a charming smile.'' (He smiled, and his smile was charming.)
*''He danced a cheerful dance.'' (He danced, and his dance was cheerful.)
*''He died a painful death.'' (He died painfully.)
In some of these cases, the cognate object allows for a simpler construction. In others, it may be chosen for
idiom
An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...
atic or
rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
al reasons. In general, the cognate object's modifiers are in some sense modifying the verb: for example, ''He slept a troubled sleep'' tells how he slept. Semantically, many of these verbs denote modes of nonverbal expression (laugh, smile) and bodily actions or motions (dance, walk, sleep), specifically including what Levin calls "waltz verbs," those that are
zero-related (identical) to the names of dances.
See also
*
Antanaclasis
*
Figura etymologica
*
Hendiadys
*
Legal doublet
A legal doublet is a standardized phrase used frequently in English legal language consisting of two or more words that are irreversible binomials and frequently synonyms, usually connected by ''and'', such as ''cease and desist''. The order of th ...
*
Merism
*
Pleonasm (the use of more words than necessary to express an idea)
*
Polyptoton
Polyptoton is the stylistic scheme in which different words derived from the same root (such as "strong" and "strength") are used together. A related stylistic device is antanaclasis, in which the same word is repeated, but each time with a dif ...
(a stylistic scheme in which words derived from the same root are repeated)
References
{{Wiktionary, cognate accusative
Grammar