ön

Forms

ön^[1]

Etymology

The old pronoun “he himself; own” is formed from Hungarian ő + -n: the stem ⟨ö-⟩ of the personal pronoun ő “he, she”, the variant without the ⟨β⟩ of the old form ⟨iβ⟩, with the pronoun suffix -n.^[2][3][4] The pronoun goes back to Proto-Uralic *sȣ̈ (“he, she”), continued in Mansi tüw, Erzya son, Finnish hän and Northern Sami sǭn.^[3][5] The intensive önnön repeats the suffix, and its inner ⟨nn⟩ arose by doubling.^[2][3][4] TESz considers unlikely the explanation of the ⟨-n⟩ as an old Finno-Ugric genitive or case ending.^[2]

The polite pronoun “you” is a coinage of the language reform.^[6][3][4] Miklós Révai first abstracted ⟨ön⟩ “he” from the first element of compounds such as önmaga and ⟨önbelőle⟩, which revived the old sense “he himself”; ÚESz adds that önként, wrongly taken for a compound, may have played a part.^[6][3][4][1] István Széchenyi then proposed ⟨ön⟩ as a general polite form of address, on the model of German Sie and French vous.^[6][3][7][1] According to Horger, he found maga too rustic and kegyed unsatisfactory, and reasoned that since ⟨maga⟩ and ⟨ön⟩ went together in compounds such as ⟨magadicséret⟩ and ⟨öndicséret⟩, ⟨ön⟩ could stand alone as ⟨maga⟩ did.^[7][8]

The same element became the prefix ⟨ön-⟩ “self-” of the language reform, which replaced the older ⟨maga-⟩ in words like önismeret “self-knowledge” and önszeretet “self-love” beside ⟨magaismeret⟩, ⟨magaszeretet⟩.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The old pronoun first appears in the Jókai Codex, a text written after 1372 and copied about 1448, in ewn belewle “out of himself”, with the sense “he himself”; the possessive sense “own” is in the same codex.^[2][3] The longer önnön is older: Vnun “own” is in an early text dated by TESz about 1315 and by ÚESz to the second half of the 13th century.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the old language ön and önnön meant “he himself” and “own”;^[2][4] TESz thinks “he himself” was the original sense of both, and that “own” arose in phrases like önmaga and önnön maga.^[2][4] Transylvanian records of 1570–1847 show it in phrases such as ön köztek “among themselves” and ön zsebekből “from their own pockets”.^[9] According to Horger, the old pronoun was quite obsolete by the 18th century.^[7]

The language reform revived it.^[6][7] The prefix ön- appears in ön esméret “self-knowledge” and ön szeretet “self-love” in 1790, in öngyilkosság “suicide” in 1809, önérzet “self-esteem” in 1812 and önfejű “headstrong” and önhitt “conceited” in 1816.^[6] Révai used ön as a pronoun “he” in his grammar of 1806.^[6][3] Széchenyi used it as the polite “you” in his letters from 1828 and first in print in his Stádium (1833): “I use this word Ön in Hungarian as one uses Sie”.^[7][10][3] The verb önöz “to address with ön” is recorded in 1840.^[6][3] A Transylvanian record of 1843 already has ön in reported speech.^[9]

The derivatives of the old ön are also of the language reform: önzés “selfishness” (1826), önzetlen “unselfish” (1829), önös and önző “selfish” (1833).^[3][4] The noun ön “the self, personality” is recorded in 1833.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1315 – Vnun, the first record of önnön (ÚESz: second half of the 13th century).^[2][3]
• c. 1448 – ewn belewle “out of himself” in the Jókai Codex (a text written after 1372).^[2][3]
• 1790 – ön esméret and ön szeretet, the first compounds with ön-.^[6]
• 1806 – Ön, önnök “he, they” in Révai's grammar.^[6][3]
• 1809 – öngyilkosság “suicide”.^[6]
• 1812 – önérzet.^[6]
• 1828 – ön as the polite “you” in Széchenyi's letters.^[6][3][7]
• 1829 – önzés and önzetlen.^[2]
• 1833 – the polite ön in print, in Széchenyi's Stádium; the noun ön “the self”.^[8][2]
• 1840 – önöz.^[6][3]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. you (formal): the polite form of address, more distant than the familiar te and the polite but closer maga; it takes a verb in the third person, plural önök: Ön is jön?^[11][1]
2. (dated) own, with a noun bearing a possessive suffix; intensified as önnön: ön hibájából.^[11][9]

Noun

1. The word ön as a form of address;^[11] önöz is to address someone with it.^[11]
2. A person one addresses with ön: someone respected but not intimate.^[11]

Word family

• önnön
• önmaga
• önző
• önzés
• önzetlen
• önös
• önöz

Related words

• ő
• maga

Usage notes

TESz calls the polite ön a slightly old-fashioned form of address.^[6] The fish name őn “asp” is a separate word, inherited from the Finno-Ugric period.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 27
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
5. ^ Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 28
7. ^ a b c d e f g Horger, Antal (1924), Magyar szavak története: közérdekű magyar szófejtések gyűjteménye, Budapest: Kókai, p. 135
8. ^ a b Szily, Kálmán (1902–1908), A magyar nyelvújítás szótára, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 250
9. ^ a b c Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 10, 160
10. ^ Szily, Kálmán (1902–1908), A magyar nyelvújítás szótára, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 542
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 29