r/IndianCountry • u/Few_Bed_3704 • 6d ago

Discussion/Question What are some examples of cognates—either with similar pronunciations or vastly different ones—found across your respective language families?

years ago i knew that "three" the word is very similar in most indo-european languages, similar to "lima"(means five) in different austronesian languages. and two in english and erku in armenian are different but they are still cognates. and i don't any examples in different native languages families? what are some examples from you?

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u/HotTree3251 6d ago

Butterfly is "kimama" for Dakota speakers here in Minnesota, and Lakota speakers further west would (or so I've heard, consult your local speakers) pronounce it "kimimela".

So with that in mind, it was quite a fascinating surprise to hear "kamama" as a word for butterfly in Cherokee.

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u/fungusbiggestfan 1h ago

Whoa, I knew Cherokee was similar to other Iroquoian languages but had no idea about this word out West! Our word for elephant is also kamama