Cognate - False Cognates

False Cognates

False cognates are words that are commonly thought to be related (have a common origin) whereas linguistic examination reveals they are unrelated. Thus, for example, on the basis of superficial similarities one might suppose that the Latin verb habere and German haben, both meaning 'to have', were cognates. However, an understanding of the way words in the two languages evolve from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) roots shows that they cannot be cognate (see for example Grimm's law). German haben (like English have) in fact comes from PIE *kap, 'to grasp', and its real cognate in Latin is capere, 'to seize, grasp, capture'. Latin habere, on the other hand, is from PIE *gʰabʰ, 'to give, to receive', and hence cognate with English give and German geben. English much and Spanish mucho also look similar and even have a similar meaning yet are not cognates, with much < Proto-Germanic *mikilaz < PIE *meg-, while mucho < Latin multum < PIE *mel-.

Similarity of words between languages does not prove that the words are related, in much the same way as facial resemblance does not prove relatedness of people. Over the course of hundreds and thousands of years, words may change their sound completely. For example, English over and Hebrew ′avar are not cognates, and neither are English dog and Mbabaram dog. False cognates arise in the same way as false or folk etymology, spurious explanations for the origin of words.

Contrast this with false friends, which frequently are cognate.