Cognatos

Cognatos are words in two or more languages that descend from a common ancestral word. The term comes from Latin cognatus, meaning born together, reflecting their historical connection through a shared progenitor language rather than through borrowing or chance similarity.

In practice, cognates are most common within language families. For example, many English, German, French, Spanish and Italian words show regular correspondences because they originate in the same proto-language, such as Proto-Indo-European. Over time, sound changes and semantic shifts produced the different forms seen today, while retaining a core meaning.

Cognates are distinct from loanwords and from false cognates. Loanwords are adopted directly from one language into another, often with little or no change to form or meaning. False cognates (falsos amigos) resemble each other in shape but do not share a recent common origin or have related meanings; they can lead to misunderstanding if assumed to be cognates.

Linguists identify cognates by tracing etymology and by observing regular sound correspondences and semantic fields across languages. While similarity in form can hint at a cognate, it is not definitive without historical evidence; some similarities arise from borrowing or parallel development rather than from a shared ancestor.

Examples of cognate sets across major languages include color, color, couleur, colore (from Latin color); mother, madre, mère, Mutter (from Latin mater); father, padre, père, Vater (from Latin pater); three, tres, trois, drei (from a common Indo-European root). Cognates thus reveal historical connections among languages and help in language learning by highlighting shared roots and systematic differences.