English-German Cognates
English-German Consonant Sound Shifts
Consonant Sound Shift Chart
The German linguist August Schleicher (1821-1868) developed the Stammbaumtheorie (family tree theory) that explains how words can be traced from one language to another, or within language families. Both the English word "father" and the German word "Vater" are related to Latin "pater." Earlier, in 1822 another German, Jakob Grimm (1785-1863, one of the "fairy tale" brothers), proposed Grimm's law to explain the various sound shifts between languages. He pointed out that words beginning with p in Latin and Greek (pater) start with f or v in Germanic languages (English father, German Vater). Understanding the f-v shift and other sound shifts between English and German can help you recognize cognates and expand your vocabulary. The chart below shows various consonant sound shifts between German and English with example words. Also see vowel sound shifts on the next page.
Sound/Spelling Consonant Shifts
Between German and English Cognates
| Deutsch | English | Beispiele/Examples |
| b | f |
Dieb - thief halb - half |
| b | v |
eben - even > E Grab - grave sieben - seven |
| ch | k |
Buch - book > B Elch - elk > E schwach - weak sprechen - speak |
| ch | gh |
acht - eight > E lachen - laugh Licht - light Fracht - freight > F |
| d | th |
Bad - bath > B drei - three Erde - earth > E Leder - leather |
| f | p |
Bischof - bishop helfen - help scharf - sharp |
| ff | p/pp |
Affe - ape Pfeffer - pepper Schiff - ship |
| g | y |
Tag - day Weg - way |
| k | c |
Karte - card Keller - celler |
| k | ch |
Kapelle - chapel Kinn - chin |
| mm | mb |
Lamm - lamb Nummer - number |
| pf | p/pp |
Apfel - apple > A Pfad - path Pfanne - pan |
| sch | s/sh |
falsch - false Fleisch - flesh Schnee - snow |
| ss | t/tt |
besser - better dass - that essen - eat Wasser - water |
| t/th | d |
Taler/Thaler - dollar > D vorwärts - forward > F Wort - word |
| t/tt | d |
Bett - bed > B gut - good reiten - ride Tür - door |
| tt | th |
Mutter - mother Wetter - weather |
| v | f |
Vater - father > F vier - four voll - full Volk - folk |
| z/tz | t |
Herz - heart zehn - ten zwei - two Katze - cat |
| z | c |
Eleganz - elegance > E zirka - circa Zirkus - circus |
MORE > Vowel Sound Shifts
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ALSO > False Cognates (false friends)
MORE > English-German Glossaries on many topics
MORE > Confusing Words and Expressions in German
WEB > German and English Spelling Patterns (R. Shea)
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