én

Forms

én (accusative engem, folk engemet; emphatic én magam or magam)^[2] As a noun, plural ének.^[1] Old spellings: en (Old Hungarian Lament of Mary), enn (Jókai Codex), een (c. 1493), In (early 16th century), Ény (1833).^[3][4] Dialect forms of the accusative include ingem and ingömet in Csík and among the Moldavian Csángós.^[5]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[3][6] ÚESz, EWUng and Zaicz take it for a compound formed in Hungarian whose first part is probably the near demonstrative e (“this”) (see ez).^[7][4][8] Its second part is most likely inherited from Proto-Uralic *mȣ̈ (“I”), the Uralic first-person pronoun; a Proto-Hungarian ⟨*eme⟩ “behold, I!” would have lost its final vowel regularly.^[7][4][8][9] The pronoun survives across the family: Mansi am, Khanty mä, Komi-Zyrian me, Udmurt mon, Western Mari məń, Erzya mon, Moksha mon, Finnish minä, Northern Sami mun, Tundra Nenets mań and Selkup man.^[9][4][6]

Only Hungarian and Mansi lack the initial /m/, but the first-person possessive suffix -m and the plural pronoun mi “we” show that their pronoun once began with /m/ too.^[3][6] The MSzFE takes the initial vowel of both for an emphatic particle and reconstructs a Hungarian ⟨*emənə⟩, with the pronominal suffix ⟨-nə⟩ found in the cognates, which became ⟨en⟩, ⟨én⟩ through the loss of /m/ before /n/.^[6] TESz notes that this explanation meets difficulties in the history of Hungarian sounds.^[3]

Other explanations are recorded beside it.^[7][4][3] The second part may be the possessive suffix ⟨-m⟩, with an original meaning “my presence here”, its final /m/ becoming /n/ as in hiszen and talán, perhaps under the influence of the accusative ⟨*emgem⟩ > engem.^[7][4][8] Or the word may be a derivative in the pronominal suffix -n, as in ezen, azon, minket and ön.^[7][4] TESz also gives the view that it was formed in Hungarian from the ⟨e⟩ of the near demonstrative and the Uralic pronominal suffix ⟨-n⟩, and compares Latin ille (“that”), the source of the Romance third-person pronouns; this view has difficulty connecting the word with the cognates.^[3] The accusative ⟨engem⟩ is probably Proto-Hungarian: its ⟨g⟩ is a pronominal suffix and its final ⟨m⟩ the first-person possessive suffix, which explains its use as an object;^[3][4] ⟨engemet⟩ added the regular accusative -t.^[3][4] Wiktionary compares the similarly irregular Chuvash эпӗ (epĕ, “I”), from Proto-Turkic *ben.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary, dated about 1300 by TESz and to the middle of the 13th century by ÚESz: en erzem ez buthuruth “I feel this sorrow”.^[3][4][6] The same text has the accusative engumet “me”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Already in the Lament of Mary the pronoun was used both for “I” and, as a possessive attribute, for “my”, a use that continues in az én házam “my house”.^[3][4] Many dialects stress it in case forms built on the pronoun: éntőlem “from me”, énvelem “with me”, énbennem “in me”.^[10][11]

The noun én “self, personality, ego” is first recorded in a letter of Kazinczy of 1809 (published 1895) according to TESz, and in 1795 according to ÚESz.^[3][4] It later became a term of psychology.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century (c. 1300) – en “I” and engumet “me” in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary.^[3][4]
• c. 1448 – enn in the Jókai Codex (copy of a text written after 1372).^[3][4]
• c. 1450 – én in the Vienna Codex.^[3][4]
• 1795 – the noun én “personality, self”, according to ÚESz.^[4]
• 1809 – the noun in a letter of Kazinczy, according to TESz.^[3]
• 1833 – the spelling Ény in Kassai's dictionary.^[3][4]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. I: the speaker or writer referring to themselves: Én megyek.^[2][1]
2. As a possessive attribute, my; the one belonging or related to me: az én könyvem.^[2][3]
3. In a narrative, of a character already known: the one in question, our: az én hősöm.^[2]

Noun

1. The self, personality; in psychology the ego.^[3][4][1]

Word family

• engem
• enyém

Related words

• mi
• ez
• Finnish minä

Usage notes

Its object form is engem or engemet, and its case forms are built on personal suffixes: nekem, belőlem, általam.^[2][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 765
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
5. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 489
6. ^ a b c d e Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 153
7. ^ a b c d e Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 370
8. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
9. ^ a b Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu
10. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 1, 233
11. ^ Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 128
12. ^ Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum