First, a detailed discussion of the main types of cognates by Charles James.
From the Summer 1996 Newsletter of the Indiana German Heritage Society.
English and German belong to the West Germanic language family. This explains the fact that they share numerous words that are identical or quite similar in either pronunciation or spelling or both. We distinguish a) common root words (= cognates) from the common Germanic past, when the Anglo-Saxons were still direct neighbors of other German tribes, (types: "finger," "water") and b) common loan words from the Greek, Latin and French (types: "telescope," "battalion"). In this segment we concentrate on the Germanic commonalities.
In the last issue of the Newsletter we looked at the three dialect bands of Upper-, Middle- and Low German. The latter was not affected by the still mysterious sound shifts ( after c. 500) that moved from south to north with decreasing strength. Since the Anglo-Saxon element had already left for England, they like the North German tribes, didn't participate in these shifts affecting a lot of consonants. The Anglo-Saxon consonantism is therefore older than the High German one. If we observe the "laws" or "rules" that governed these shifts, we can take a pretty enlightened guess as to how a given word might, should or must look in the other language.
On the top of each block of words the shifted German (G) consonant(s) and the unshifted English (E) are given. Some German examples show more than one consonant shift, but by consulting other blocks you'll be able to explain why a certain form occurs. Vowel changes also occured in many cases, so be prepared for that. Over time, some many a cognate assumed a wider or narrower meaning: (E) deer = (G) Tier (=animal); (E) starve = (G) sterben (=die)
1.(G) pf = (E) p (G) f(f) = (E) p(p)
Pflanze = plant schlafen = sleep
Pflug = plow auf = up
Pfennig = ___________ Schiff = ___________
Pfeffer = ___________ hoffen = ___________
Pfund = ___________ Seife = ___________
Apfel = ___________ helfen = ___________
(G) (t)z = (E) t (G) s(s), sz = (t)t
z&#auml;hlen = tally besser = better
Zeit = (Yul)tide essen = eat(en)
zwei = ___________ das = ___________
zu = ___________ Fuss = ___________
Zunge = ___________ heiss = ___________
sitzen = ___________ lassen = ___________
neunzig = ___________ aus = ___________
Malz = ___________ gross = ___________
Pfefferminze =_______________ (but: s = s sagen/say)
(G) ch = (E) k (G) ch = (E) ch
Buch = book reichen = reach
wach = awake reich = ___________
Woche = ___________ solch = ___________
kochen = ___________
riechen = ___________
(G) k = (E) c/(c)k (G) k = (E) ch
kommen = come K&#auml;se = cheese
kann = ___________ Kirsche = cherry
kosten = ___________ Kirche = ___________
Karte = ___________ Karte = ___________
Kaffee = ___________ Karl = ___________
(G) ch = (E) gh
Nacht = night brachte = ___________
Macht = ___________ lachte = ___________
Licht = ___________ recht = ___________
acht = ___________ Knecht = ___________
2. (G) b = (E) v (G) b = (E) f
sieben = seven Dieb = thief
Abend = ___________ halb = ___________
haben = ___________ Kalb = ___________
lieben = ___________ Stab = ___________
(G) t = (E) d (G) d = (E) th
Tor = door danken = thank
tu' = ___________ dick = ___________
tanzen = ___________ dünn = ___________
gut = ___________ Bad = ___________
selten = ___________ Tod = ___________
You may encounter words that are identical in both languages or only slightly changed (e.g., finger, hand, arm. wind, winter, Schulter-shoulder, Knie-knee, Mutter-mother, Onkel-uncle, Garten-garden, grün-green, blau-blue, fein-fine, rot-red). These words are identical or similar because they evolved from a single earlier language. Their closeness derives from their shared ancestry: the West-Germanic language family. Words in this group are called cognates (=born together).
We also use words such as Inspiration, Student, Semester, Chance-- again identical in both languages, except for capitalization in German. Words in this group are derived from Greek and Latin. And a sentence like: Mein Vater ist Professor für Chemie und mein Bruder studiert Physik, Mathematik und Biologie is readily understood.
Most of the words listed below, have become so common in American English, at least in some areas, that they are now considered part of the American language.
gemütlichkeit waltz kitsch
kaffeeklatsch leitmotiv wunderkind
beergarden yodel katzenjammer
stein edelweiss kindergarten
prosit lied (pron. leet) poltergeist
rat(h)skeller liederkranz Kriss Kringle
spritz glockenspiel hausfrau
weltanschauung turnverein paraffin
zeitgeist gesundheit plunder
gestalt hinterland meerschaum
weltschmerz rucksack misch-masch
angst wanderlust zigzag
ostpolitik iceberg kaputt
blitz(krieg) ohm wunderbar
flak ersatz fahrvergnügen
verboten dummkopf spatsy
Heldentenor bedeckt
Germans are very fond of dogs and introduced many breeds to the United States: Schnauzer, Dachshund, Spitz, Doberman, Poodle, Pincher, German Shepherd, Rottweiler, Weimaraner, German Shorthair.
From Teaching Unit: German Names and Words in the American Language
Please visit the home page of the Max Kade German-American Center for complete versions of the above excerpts and further information.
Return to German-Americana Page.
Last updated September 14, 1996.