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 Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

or from different languages, even within the same family. For example, the English word ''

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

'' and the Mbabaram word ''

'' have exactly the same meaning and very similar pronunciations, but by complete coincidence. Likewise, English '' much'' and Spanish ''

mucho ''Mucho'' (''A lot'') is the 9th album by Argentina, Argentine rock group Babasónicos. It was released on CD in 2008. The first single for the album is "Pijamas", and peaked 1 in Argentina. The second single was released in September. Track li ...

'' came by their similar meanings via completely different

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

roots, and same for English '' have'' and Spanish '' haber''. This is different from

false friend In linguistics, a false friend is either of two words in different languages that look or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning. Examples include English ''embarrassed'' and Spanish ''embarazada'' 'pregnant'; English ''parents'' ...

s, 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 Phono-semantic matching (PSM) is the incorporation of a word into one language from another, often creating a neologism, where the word's non-native quality is hidden by replacing it with Phonetics, phonetically and semantically similar words o ...

or folk etymology).

Phenomenon

The term "false cognate" is sometimes misused to refer to

s, but the two phenomena are distinct. 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). For example, English ''pretend'' and French ''prétendre'' are false friends, but not false cognates, as they have the same origin.

"Mama and papa" type

The basic kinship terms

mama and papa In linguistics, mama and papa are considered a special case of false cognates. In many languages of the world, sequences of sounds similar to and mean "mother" and "father", usually but not always in that order. This is thought to be a coincid ...

comprise a special case of false cognates. 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.

Examples

''Note: Some etymologies may be simplified to avoid overly long descriptions''.

Within English

Between English and other languages

Between other languages

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 ''dal'' ("poor") (which is a false cognate of the phono-semantically similar English word ''dull'') is used in the new

Israeli Hebrew Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Mo ...

expression אין רגע דל ''en rega dal'' (literally "There is no poor moment") as a

for the English expression ''Never a dull moment''. 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".Page 96 of

References

External links

Cognates.org
* {{cite web , last1=Carey , first1=Stan , title=The mamas & the papas in babies' babbling , url=https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/the-mamas-the-papas-in-babies-babbling/ , website=Sentence first , date=2 January 2012 Historical linguistics Comparative linguistics Etymology