Cognates

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Cognates

• Impact II
• Mr. Kahale-Spanish
• 2008

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• What is a cognate?
• They are words that exist in two languages that
  are spelled exactly or almost exactly the same
  way and have the same meaning. This makes it
  easier to learn much of the vocabulary of another
  language. You simply use your knowledge of
  English vocabulary and apply the rules that
  determine the spelling change between the two
  languages.

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How does a cognate help to learn Spanish?

• Spanish is a language that evolved from Latin
  over the last two thousand years.
• English, although it is not as closely related
  to Latin as Spanish, borrows thousands of words
  from Latin, many of them the same words that
  Spanish uses.
• Both languages have borrowed many words from
  Classical Greek. This results in thousands of
  cognates between English and Spanish.
• This helps to give us a leg up in learning
  Spanish vocabulary.

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But Be Aware!!

• While some of the words with a common origin in
  Latin have different meanings in the two
  languages.
• These words are called false cognates.
• But relax
• Only 10 of these words are false cognates.

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Gender in Spanish

• When looking at an English word, we don't
  necessarily know the gender of the Spanish
  cognate. When you learn the Spanish word, learn
  the gender with it.
• Keep in mind that
• Knowing cognates is a quick shortcut, but it
  doesn't cover all the bases.

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Spelling

• As you learn Spanish cognates, notice that many
  of these words also have a slightly different
  spelling from English.
• Words that end in -a, -o, or -e very often drop
  or change this last vowel in English.
• For example
• The Spanish word 'forma' simply drops the -a to
  become 'form' in English, but for 'positivo' we
  must change the -o to -e.

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Watch out for some internal spelling changes.

• For instance, in Spanish double consonants like
  -tt, -nn and -mm are much more rare than in
  English.
• The -rr is a different letter in Spanish - it is
  the highly trilled or rolled erre not the
  slightly trilled or tapped ere.
• The -cc is like in English 'accent' - the first
  c is hard like k and the second is soft like s.
  It is never like 'accumulate' where there is no
  soft s sound, which would be spelled with just
  one c.

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More about Spelling

• The h sound is always silent in Spanish, and
  where it occurs in English words it often
  disappears in Spanish.
• There is no th in Spanish, the h is usually
  dropped and it is spelled and pronounced as just
  a t.
• Words that start with st or sp in English often
  have a Spanish cognate with an added e in front.
  For example 'estado' equals English 'state'.

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Pronunciation of Cognates

• Many words in English have nearly identical
  Spanish cognates. Only the pronunciation is
  different and, at most, a very little spelling
  change.
• Examples autochocolatecónsulfamiliargashot
  elideamelónmillónplazaradioregularsimilart
  eléfonovilla

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Spelling, Spelling, Spelling.

• Spanish words that end in -a, -o or -e very often
  have an equivalent in English. Simply drop or
  change the last vowel.
• Examples
• aireatleta (athlete)casocausacostocreativo
  creditodietadrama

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Spelling Spanish-English

• Many Spanish words that end in -ma are irregular
  in that they are masculine in gender, even though
  they end in the usually feminine -a.
• Examples
• clima (climate)diagramaidioma
  (idiom,language)problemaprogramasistema
  (system)tema (theme)

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Cognates helpful words

• There are many Spanish cognates that end in
  -cion. The equivalent English word ends in -tion.
  Note that all of these words have the stress on
  the final syllable. Also, all of these words are
  feminine in gender.
• Examples
• abreviaciónsensaciónseparaciónsignificación
  situaciónventilaciónviolación

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Word endings

• Words that end in -ary in English very often have
  a Spanish cognate that ends in -ario.
• Examples
• aniversariodiccionariodisciplinarioitinerar
  ioliterarionecesarioordinariosalariovocabular
  io

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Word endings

• Words that in in -dad are quite common in
  Spanish. They usually correspond to an English
  word that ends in -ty. All of these words are
  feminine in gender.
• Examples
• autoridad (authority)ciudad
  (city)comunidaddificultadenfermedad
  (infirmity, illness)formalidadvelocidad

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More cognates words

• English words that end in -ic usually have a
  Spanish cognate that simply add an -o.
• Examples
• atlánticoautomáticodemocráticodidácticoesc
  olásticorománticosarcástico

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• Like the previous category, English words that
  end in -ical have a Spanish cognate that ends in
  -ico.
• Examples
• clásicocómicoeléctricofísicohistéricometód
  icoperiódico (newspaper,periodical)políticoprác
  ticosicológico (psychological)técnico

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• English words that end in -ent often have a
  cognate in Spanish that ends in -ente. These
  words are usually adjectives.
• Examples
• agenteclientediferenteequivalenteindiferent
  einteligentesuficiente

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Keep an eye on

• Spanish words that end in - mente (as opposed to
  just -ente). They usually have an English cognate
  that ends in -ly. These are adverbs.
• Examples
• correctamentedesafortunadamente
  (unfortunately)especialmenteexactamentefinalmen
  tegeneralmentemoralmenterapidamente

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• Words that end in -ment in English have
  equivalents in Spanish that simply add an -o.
  These words are nouns.
• argumentomonumentosacramentosuplementotest
  amento

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• Words that end in -al in both English and Spanish
  are often cognates.
• Examples
• animalanualcapitalcentralcomercialespecial
  generalhospitalintelectual

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• English words that end in -ence or -ance often
  have a Spanish cognate that ends in -encia or
  -ancia.
• Examples
• abundanciaausencia (absence)circunstanciaco
  ncienciadiferencia

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Words endings

• -ant (or sometimes ent )words in English
  sometimes end in -ante in Spanish.
• Examples
• abundanteconstanteeleganteestudianteimport
  ante

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• Some English words that end in -ous have a
  Spanish cognate that ends in -oso.
• Examples
• ambiciosocuriosodeliciosofamosogloriosogra
  cioso

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• English words with the ending -y sometimes have
  an equivalent in Spanish with the ending -ia or
  -io.
• Examples
• aristocraciacompañía (company)democraciaefic
  aciafamiliafarmacia (pharmacy)historia

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• English words that end in -or often have a
  Spanish cognate that is identical.
• Examples
• actorautor (author)colordirectordoctorhumo
  r

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• English words that end in -ist often have a
  Spanish cognate.
• Examples
• artistafloristamoralistapianistaturista

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Why and How?

• Cognates help to Spanish beginners feel more
  comfortable with this new language.
• Establishes a link between English and Spanish.
• Students are aware of the common origin of words.
• Allows students to explore the language far
  beyond from schools objectives.

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Why and How?

• Activities for finding and using cognates
• Look for cognates in their textbook.
• Read magazines and newspapers in order to find
  cognates
• Try to translate the main idea of a paragraph by
  identifying cognates that will help to understand
  its content.