An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/kichern

by Friedrich Kluge

kichern, vb., ‘to titter,’ ModHG. only; allied to OHG. chihhazzen, ‘to laugh,’ a variant of OHG. chahhazzen (MidHG. kachzen); comp. also MidHG. kah, m., ‘loud laughter,’ and MidHG. kachen, ‘to laugh loudly’; the ch is not based, as in other instances, on Teut. k, but following AS. ceahhet an, ‘to laugh,’ on OTeut. hh. The cognates are onomatopoetic, the root of which cannot be discovered. In Gr. 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 orig. allied. The Gr. words may, however, be cognate with Sans. kakh, ‘to laugh.’