a

Forms

a (definite)^[1] a stands before words beginning with a consonant, az before words beginning with a vowel.^[2] The shortened article was written a’ with an apostrophe until the early 20th century, when the spelling a was accepted.^[1]

Etymology

It is the form of az without the final consonant, used before consonants, and shares its history: the demonstrative stem is inherited from Proto-Uralic *o (“that, that other”), one of the pronoun stems Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period.^[3][4][5][1] TESz, ÚESz and Zaicz treat ⟨a⟩ under ⟨az⟩.^[6][3][4]

The sources differ on which form is older.^[7][3] TESz holds that the form without ⟨z⟩ arose only in the separate history of Hungarian, since the other Finno-Ugric languages do not use this stem without a suffix; it takes the old spellings ⟨a’⟩ for consonantal forms shortened from ⟨az⟩, not mere spelling habits.^[7] ÚESz and Zaicz take the reverse view: ⟨a⟩ is the older, inherited stem, which existed on its own already in Proto-Hungarian, and ⟨az⟩ is its derivative with the pronoun-forming suffix ⟨-z⟩; ÚESz suggests that ⟨az⟩ pushed the bare stem into the background for a time because the oldest case endings were added to it.^[3][4] The MSzFE lists the two forms together under one headword.^[5]

As an article, ⟨a⟩ is the demonstrative turned into a grammatical word: used as a pointing attribute before nouns, the pronoun lost its stress and emphasis and became the definite article.^[8][3][7] The change took centuries and was complete by about the end of the 14th century;^[8][3][7] TESz stresses that it happened inside Hungarian, without foreign influence.^[8][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

ÚESz and EWUng give the article a first from the Jókai Codex, a text written after 1372 and copied about 1448, in the spellings akamoraba “into the chamber” and a’ haznak “of the house”.^[3][8][7] As a demonstrative pronoun “that” ÚESz records a from the Vienna Codex, after 1416.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The article sense is the main one today; the demonstrative a survives in fixed phrases and in reduplicated constructions with postpositions, while the full pronoun is az.^[2][1] A sermon of 1470 has the spelling ah.^[7][3] In Transylvanian records of the 16th century a’ still serves as a pronoun, as in a Kolozsvár deposition of 1568 and a record of 1600 in which a storm wind “blew open the gate”.^[9]

In dialects a is also used before vowels, where the standard language has az (a ember).^[2][10] In Szeged speech this happens mainly in endearing talk.^[11]

Timeline

• after 1372 (copy of c. 1448) – the article a’ in the Jókai Codex.^[3][7]
• after 1416 – a as a demonstrative pronoun in the Vienna Codex.^[3][4]
• 1470 – ah in a sermon collection.^[7][3]
• 1568 – a’ as a pronoun in a Kolozsvár court record.^[9]
• 1833 – a first recorded as an interjection.^[6]

Meanings

Article

1. the: the definite article before words beginning with a consonant, marking a person or thing already mentioned or well known: Hol van a kulcs?^[2][1]
2. Before a noun standing for a whole kind or class: A kutya hűséges állat.^[2]
3. Before an abstract noun or a noun with an attribute: a szabadság, a piros ruha.^[2]
4. Before some time expressions, “this”: a héten “this week”.^[1][2]

Pronoun

1. (rare) that: a variant of the demonstrative az, in some fixed phrases beginning with a consonant and in reduplicated constructions with postpositions (a mögött a fa mögött).^[1][2]

Related words

• az
• ez

Usage notes

a is also an interjection, first recorded in 1833, which TESz derives from an involuntary exclamation.^[6] As a noun, a is the name of the first letter of the Hungarian and Latin alphabet and of the vowel it writes.^[2][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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 Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 102
6. ^ a b c Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 87
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 204
8. ^ a b c d Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 111
9. ^ a b Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 1, 43
10. ^ B. Lőrinczy, Éva (ed.) (1979–2010), Új magyar tájszótár, 5 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 143
11. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 43
12. ^ Ittzés, Nóra (ed.) (2006–), A magyar nyelv nagyszótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at nagyszotar.nytud.hu