Words that have a common etymological origin.
Questions tagged [cognates]
62 questions
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Is Mississippi cognate with Michigan?
I was reading about the etymology of the word Michigan. It said that it came from an Ojibwe word meaning "big water". And then, I saw that Mississippi was from another Ojibwe word meaning "father of water". I have come to believe these states are…
Mitten File
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Is -s for plurals in Spanish a false cognate with English -s?
When I was looking at the plural noun ending for English, it said that it came from the Proto-Indo-European suffix *-es. I looked at the Spanish etymology. It didn't give much information except that it came from the Latin -es for 3rd declension. I…
Barry Allen
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4
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At what point can a confirmation be established between words of similar meaning in context?
When coming across thoughts on linguistics, concerning some words as having common origins in similar context, how is it evidently clear to know what is so?
One example: 'Ich' in German, meaning 'I' , having developed from or beside the Hebrew word…
Lowther
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Terminology for Using a Cognate for Prestige/to Mimic
Is there specific terminology to describe when a cognate word is used because of its relation to another language?
As an example: a modern English author writing about the Vikings choosing to use yield instead of money or payment because yield is…
Charles Loder
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Is occult cognate with hell?
I have found a funny coincidence going through etymology. I found that the word occult comes from the same root *kel as hell. I feel like that is a spooky coincidence. The word *kel in PIE means to conceal, and the occult and hell are “concealed” in…
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Do the Native American names Pocahontas and Pocatello share a common linguistic root?
Do the Native American names Pocahontas and Pocatello share a common linguistic root, since they both start with "Poca"?
Rod Heil
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Words cognate with race (in the sense of a speed competition)
The word race has two types of meanings and I am going to focus on the Norse one. It comes from the PiE root *reh₁s-. Wiktionary has no page or link to non-Germanic cognates and I know that there has to be cognate(s) because of how the comparative…
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Could habere in Latin and have in English (and other germanic languages) be cognate through proto germanic borrowing?
Have is said to come from the PIE word that means to keep. (Habere in latin also comes from PIE for to take.) I have been thinking that, because some words such as street have been borrowed from Latin into later Proto-Germanic, considering the…
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Why is ‘karma’ cognate with ‘Britain’?
The word karma has Sanskrit origin. It ultimately comes from the PIE root *kʷer- which means "to do or make". The word karma is cognate with Britain. I know what the word karma means (good or bad behavior being reciprocated), but I don’t see the…
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