Etymologically
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akkor

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Pronunciation

Forms

akkor[1] The older form akkoron stood beside akkor from the first records.[2][3] Dialects have akkó, akko and, in Moldavia, okkor.[4]

Etymology

It is a fixed case form, from Hungarian az (“that”) + -kor (“at the time of”): the demonstrative az with the temporal suffix -kor.[2][3][5][1] The double /kː/ arose by assimilation of the /z/ of the pronoun to the following /k/, as in ahhoz from ⟨az⟩ + -hoz;[2][3][5] TESz takes the forms with one /k/, such as Old Hungarian akor, from the later variant a of the pronoun.[2][3][5]

The suffix is the noun kor “time, age”, a pre-conquest loan from a Turkic language: it was first used as a postposition with case endings and then became a case suffix.[3][5] The demonstrative is probably inherited from the Uralic pronoun Proto-Uralic *o ~ *u “that”, with the pronoun-forming suffix -z.[3][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Both akkoron and akkor are first recorded in the Jókai Codex, written after 1372 and copied about 1448; the sense there is “then, at that time”.[2][3] The Munich Codex of 1466 has the word for “then, at that time” in Matthew 24:21.[6]

Semantic evolution

The temporal sense “at that time”, past or future, is the original one, and the sentence pattern mikor …, akkor … “when …, then …” is common in 16th-century Transylvanian records.[7] Old glossaries translate it with Latin tunc.[8][9] The reduplicated akkor-akkor meant “from time to time” in 1732.[7]

From the temporal use grew the conditional and inferential senses, “in that case” after a clause with ha “if”, and “so, then” as a conclusion; the NSz dates the first from 1776 and the second from 1848.[10][1] In the dialects akkor can also mean “that same” before a noun of time: akkor nap “that same day”.[11][12]

Timeline

  • after 1372 (copy of about 1448) – akkoron and akkor in the Jókai Codex.[2][3]
  • 1466 – akkor in the Munich Codex.[6]
  • 1536 – the adjective akkori “of that time”.[2]
  • 1544 – akoron in a Transylvanian record, in a mikor …, akkor … sentence.[7]
  • 1585 – Akkor for Latin tunc in Calepinus's dictionary.[9]
  • 1776 – the sense “in that case”.[10]
  • 1848 – the sense “so, therefore”.[10]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. then, at that time, in the past moment or period being talked about.[13][10][1]
  2. At the future time being talked about: Jövő héten jövök, akkor megbeszéljük.[13][10]
  3. Immediately after the event mentioned; afterwards.[13][10]
  4. At the same time as what the other clause describes.[13][10]
  5. In that case, if the condition holds, usually after a clause with ha: Ha esik, akkor itthon maradunk.[13][10][1]
  6. So, then, therefore, drawing a conclusion from what was said.[13][10]

Word family

  • akkori
  • akkoron
  • akkorra

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 204
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  4. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky
  5. ^ a b c d e Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  6. ^ a b Szabó T., Ádám (ed.) (1985), A Müncheni Kódex szókincse (Der Wortschatz des Münchener Kodex), with the text of the Müncheni Kódex 1466 ed. Antal Nyíri and Gyula Décsy, Budapest
  7. ^ 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. 1, 178
  8. ^ Berrár, Jolán; Károly, Sándor (1984), Régi magyar glosszárium: szótárak, szójegyzékek és glosszák egyesített szótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
  9. ^ a b Melich, János (ed.) (1912), Calepinus latin–magyar szótára 1585-ből, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ittzés, Nóra (ed.) (2006–), A magyar nyelv nagyszótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at nagyszotar.nytud.hu
  11. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
  12. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság
  13. ^ a b c d e f Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu