Cognates FLS – 29/30 January 2015

What is a cognate? Which one are we talking about? Adjective 1. related by birth; of the same parentage, descent, etc. 2. Linguistics. descended from the same language or form:such cognate languages as French and Spanish. 3. allied or similar in nature or quality. Noun 4 .a person or thing cognate with another. 5. a cognate word: The English word cold is a cognate of German kalt. 

Cognates are… Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. Because both the English and the Spanish languages have Latin roots, around 30 to 40% of all words in English have a related word in Spanish. Therefore, for English learners whose home language is Spanish, cognates are an obvious bridge to the English language.

Types of cognates

¡Ojo! – False friends Some words may look and sound like cognates but aren’t. For example, the Spanish word “sopa” looks and sounds similar to the English word soap, but they mean something very different: the Spanish word “sopa” is something you eat; the English word soap is something used to wash things. English soap and Spanish “sopa” are false cognates. Other examples (Spanish words): Pie Carpeta Compromiso Asistir

False cognate quiz! Chair Tastare Glanz Blesser Camera Embarazada What do you think the word means in English (extra point if you can guess the language!) Chair Tastare Glanz Blesser Camera Embarazada Chocar Attendre Kittchen Confrontare Enviar Happen Coin Balde Pickel

False cognate quiz! - Answers Chair – French – Flesh Tastare – to touch – Italian Glanz – Glory – German Blesser – to injure – French Camera – Room – Italian Embarazada – pregnant – Spanish Chocar – to crash – Spanish Attendre – to wait for – French Kittchen – prison – German Confrontare – to compare – Italian Enviar – to send – Spanish Happen – snack - German Coin – Corner – French Balde – bucket – Spanish Pickel – Pimple – German