érez

Forms

érez^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Hungarian ér + -z: the verb ér “to touch, to reach” with a frequentative suffix.^[2][3][4][5] It rests on the sense “to touch something” of the base, like the derivatives érdekel, érint and ért; the original meaning of the verb was therefore “to touch something for some time, to perceive by touch”.^[2][3][4]

The origin of the base is uncertain: ÚESz considers it perhaps an early Old Turkic loanword, comparing Turkic verbs meaning “to reach”, but notes as a difficulty that the derivatives with the sense “to touch”, this verb among them, had an open vowel in the old language.^[3][6] TESz calls mistaken both the comparison of the verb with ismer and the derivation of the whole word from Turkic.^[2] Budenz had derived it from a form ⟨mérez⟩ and compared Ugric words for “mind”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary, dated by TESz about 1300 and by ÚESz to the middle of the 13th century: Mary says en erzem ez buthuruth, in modern spelling én érzem ez bútőrt, “I feel this sword of grief”.^[8][3] The sense there is “to go through pain or joy of the mind or of the body”.^[8][3] ÚESz also cites a doubtful personal name Erzeu of 1211.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

TESz describes the development of the senses as following the steps of perception and feeling, one built on the other.^[2][3] “To perceive by the senses, especially by touch, smell and taste” is recorded in the Jókai Codex (copied about 1448), “to understand” before 1495, and, mostly with meg-, “to sense, to have a presentiment” from 1510.^[8][3] With föl- it meant “to wake with a start, come to one's senses” in 1717.^[8][3] Transylvanian records show érzi a gyomrát or a lépét, “to have pains in the stomach or spleen” (1752).^[9]

A large family of derivatives grew up with the study of the mind, and TESz notes that their meanings long wavered before the finer distinctions became settled.^[2][3] Érzet first meant “capacity to feel” (copied about 1448), then “feeling” (Kazinczy, 1789) and “sensation” (1865); érzelem was “faculty of sensation” in the Vienna Codex (copied about 1450), “sensation” in 1807 and “emotion” in 1808.^[8][3] érzés is recorded about 1456 and érzékenység in 1506.^[8][4] érzék (1676) and érzékel (1803) belong to the language reform.^[5]

Timeline

• 1211 – ? Erzeu, a doubtful personal name.^[3]
• c. 1300 – erzem “I feel” in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary (ÚESz: middle of the 13th century).^[8][3]
• c. 1448 – “to perceive by the senses”, and the derivatives érzet and érzetlen, in the Jókai Codex (a text written after 1372).^[8][3]
• c. 1450 – érzelem “faculty of sensation” in the Vienna Codex.^[8][3]
• c. 1456 – érzés.^[8][3]
• before 1495 – “to understand”, in the Guary Codex.^[8][3]
• 1506 – érzékenység.^[8][4]
• 1510 – “to have a presentiment”, mostly with meg-.^[8][3]
• 1676 – érzék.^[5]
• 1717 – föl- “to wake with a start”.^[8][3]
• 1789 – érzet “feeling” in a letter of Kazinczy.^[8]
• 1808 – érzelem “emotion”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To feel or perceive something by touch, taste or smell, or through the nerves: Érzed a gáz szagát?^[10][11][1]
2. To notice a slight pain or something unusual in a part of the body: Érzem a derekamat.^[10]
3. To grasp or sense the character, mood or coming of something; to find or judge something to be so: Úgy érzem, igazad van.^[10][11]
4. To sense something instinctively, to have a presentiment of it: Érezte, hogy baj lesz.^[10][11]
5. To be filled with a feeling or emotion; intransitively, to have feelings, to feel in a certain way towards someone.^[10][11]
6. érzi magát: to feel (well, ill, at home and so on): Jól érzem magam.^[10][1]
7. To have a feel for something, to know how to handle it.^[11]

Word family

• érezhető
• éreztet
• érzelem
• érzet
• érzék
• érzékeny
• érzés

Related words

• érint
• ért
• érdekel

Usage notes

The stem loses its second vowel before endings beginning with a vowel: érez but érzek, érzem, érzik.^[10][12] In Szeged, vesztit érzi is said of someone who senses his own ruin.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 786
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
5. ^ a b c Bárczi, Géza (1941), Magyar szófejtő szótár, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 46
6. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 779
7. ^ Budenz, József (1873–1881), Magyar–ugor összehasonlító szótár, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 795
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 785
9. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 3, 313
10. ^ a b c d e f g Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
11. ^ a b c d e Ittzés, Nóra (ed.) (2006–), A magyar nyelv nagyszótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at nagyszotar.nytud.hu
12. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 1, 238
13. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 380