German-Persian similarities: aber and ama, kaum and kam

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Khayyam
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German-Persian similarities: aber and ama, kaum and kam

Postby Khayyam » Sun Jan 15, 2023 1:52 am

"But" is aber in German, ama in Persian. "Hardly any, just a little" is kaum in German, kam in Persian. Anyone know if this is more than coincidence? Know of any other suspiciously strong similarities between these two languages?
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Re: German-Persian similarities: aber and ama, kaum and kam

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sun Jan 15, 2023 2:32 am

Both German and Persian are members of the Indo-European language family, so it’s not at all a coincidence that they have common vocabulary. They share a common ancestor, Proto-Indo-European. They are members of different sub-branches, so they aren’t that close, but they are very much related.
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Re: German-Persian similarities: aber and ama, kaum and kam

Postby vonPeterhof » Sun Jan 15, 2023 4:07 am

They may be related languages, but in these two cases the similarities really are coincidental. "Ama" is an Arabic loan and thus unrelated to anything Indo-European, whereas the cognate of "kaum" in Persian is apparently the verb "guftan" and not "kam". Just like the similarities between the English "bad" and "better" and the Persian "bad" and "behtar", sometimes coincidences just happen.
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Re: German-Persian similarities: aber and ama, kaum and kam

Postby Odair » Sun Jan 15, 2023 11:28 am

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The "An Etymological Dictionary of Persian , English and other Indo-European Languages" does not list any other descendant for this proto-indo-european root.
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