The awareness of lexical and syntactic cognates in language learning reinvents the basis of a large number of teaching methods. Once learners are fully aware of the cognate aspect of certain languages, there is an immediate and permanent associative effect affecting most future language input and output, regardless of the approach or method being used.

Cognates actually represent a great share of the most frequently used words in the English language and in certain Romance languages, including those words used by and taught to children (see the Spanish effect in you); animales: elefante, león, tigre, jirafa, cebra, pingüino, delfín, gorila, cocodrilo, hipopótamo, rinoceronte, iguana, canario, dinosaurio, etc. Frutas: banana, melón, papaya, mango, limón, mandarina, coco, etc. Otros alimentos: vegetales, patata, tomate, brócoli, coliflor, cereal, yogur, sándwich, chocolate, hamburguesa, pizza, etc. Adjetivos: excelente, inteligente, diferente, increíble, similar, delicioso, honesto, paciente, persistente, moderno, dedicado, natural, sincero, especial, original, creativo, práctico, único, precioso, horrible, etc. Misceláneos: refrigeradora, computadora, teléfono, cámara, secretaria, fútbol, básquetbol, tenis, música, agosto, septiembre, octubre, noviembre, diciembre, acción, comedia, suspenso, romance, terror, vocabulario, restaurante, cafetería, banco, aeropuerto, supermercado, cine, hospital, etc.

Additionally, these words include dozens, if not hundreds, of frequently used borrowed words that, when adapted to any given language, usually keep their resemblances and meanings. According to Merriam-Webster (2003), the cognate nature of a word or morpheme is not only related by descent from the same ancestral language but also related by derivation or borrowing.

Although most of the samples provided by this research are given in English and Spanish, The Cognate Project, in its first stage, also refers to and applies to Portuguese, Italian and French. After the successful appearance of Cognate Linguistics, The Dictionary of Cognates - DOC, and The Reverse Dictionary of Cognates - RDOC, The Multilingual Dictionary of Cognates - MDOC is a future project aiming to join the definite cognate matches in the five aforementioned languages, and which may well include further evidence in other languages:

English analytical gynecological theological pathological philosophical mechanical historical pharmacological methodological archaeological ideological geological mythological ethical organisational architectural traditional conventional structural cultural socio-cultural audiovisual comercial experimental

German analytischen gynäkologischen theologischen pathologischen philosophischen mechanischen historischen pharmakologischen methodischen archäologischen ideologischen geologischen mythologischen ethischen organisatorischen architektonischen traditionellen konventionellen strukturellen kulturellen sozio-kulturellen audiovisuellen kommerziellen experimentellen

Dutch analytische gynaecologische theologische pathologische filosofische mechanische historische farmacologische methodologische archeologische ideologische geologische mythologische ethische organisatorische architectonische traditionele conventionele culturele structurele sociaal-culturele audiovisuele comérciele experimentele

Swedish analytiska gynekologiska teologiska patologiska filosofiska mekaniska historiska farmakologiska metodologiska arkeologiska ideologiska geologiska mytologiska etiska organisatoriska arkitektoniska traditionella konventionella strukturella kulturella sociokulturella audiovisuella kommersiella experimentella

Norwegian analytisk gynekologisk teologisk patologisk filosofisk mekanisk historiske farmakologiske metodiske arkeologiske ideologiske geologiske mytologiske etiske organisatoriske arkitektoniske tradisjonelle konvensjonelle strukturelle kulturelle sosio-kulturelle audiovisuelle kommersielle eksperimentelle Back

acquisition, applied linguistics, bilingualism, chomsky, cognate, cognate lexis, cognate linguistics, cognate syntax, cognate vocabulary, cognate words, cognates, communicative, communicative approach, corpus linguistics, dictionary, ell, english, esl, esol, false cognates, false friends, french, italian, language, language acquisition, language learning, language teaching, learning, linguistics, methodology, portuguese, psycholinguistics, reuben moran, ruben moran, school, spanish, syntax, teaching, tefl, tesol, vocabulary, word recognition, words Advertisement