False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be

cognate 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. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

s because of similar sounds or spelling and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

or from different languages, even within the same family. 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. Within a language, if they are spelled the same, they are homographs; if they are pronounced the same, they are homophones. Cross-linguistic or interlingual homographs or homophones sometimes include cognates; non-cognates may more specifically be called homographic or homophonic noncognates. 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. 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 comprise a special case of false cognates; many languages share words of similar form and meaning for these kinship terms, but due to common processes of

language acquisition Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language. In other words, it is how human beings gain the ability to be aware of language, to understand it, and to produce and use words and s ...

rather than relatedness of the languages. 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 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''. 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".Page 96 of

References

Works cited

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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