An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/kichern

by Friedrich Kluge

kichern, verb, ‘to titter,’ Modern High German only; allied to Old High German chihhazzen, ‘to laugh,’ a variant of Old High German chahhazzen (Middle High German kachzen); compare also Middle High German kah, masculine, ‘loud laughter,’ and Middle High German kachen, ‘to laugh loudly’; the ch is not based, as in other instances, on Teutonic k, but following Anglo-Saxon ceahhet an, ‘to laugh,’ on Old Teutonic hh. The cognates are onomatopoetic, the root of which cannot be discovered. In Greek similar terms were coined, καχάζω, καγχάζω, καγχαλάω, καγχλάζω, ‘to laugh loudly,’ καχλάζω, ‘to splash and bubble.’ On account of the non-permutation of the consonants the terms cannot have been originally allied. The Greek words may, however, be cognate with Sanscrit kakh, ‘to laugh.’