Cognate object

In linguistics, a cognate object is a verb's object which is etymologically related to the verb. More specifically, the verb is one that is ordinarily intransitive, and the cognate object is simply the verb's noun form. For example, in the sentence He slept a troubled sleep, sleep is the cognate object of the verb slept. This construction also has a passive form. The passive is A troubled sleep was slept by him. Cognate objects exist in many languages, including various unrelated ones, including Ancient Greek, Arabic, Chichewa, English, German, Hebrew, Icelandic, Japanese, Korean, Latin, and Russian.

Examples

In English, the construction can occur with a number of intransitive verbs, which then become transitive:

He slept a troubled sleep.
He laughed a bitter laugh.
He dreamed a strange dream.
He walked their walk and talked their talk.
He smiled a charming smile.
He danced a cheerful dance.
He died a painful death.

In some of these cases, the cognate object allows for a simpler construction. In others, it may be chosen for idiomatic or rhetorical reasons. In general, the cognate object's modifiers are in some sense modifying the verb: for example, He slept a troubled sleep tells how he slept. Semantically, many of these verbs denote modes of nonverbal expression and bodily actions or motions, specifically including