amikor

Forms

amikor^[1] The older form amikoron (Az mikoron 1517, Amikoron 1582) is still listed by the ÉrtSz as old-fashioned.^[2][3][4] Balassi wrote azmikor.^[5]

Etymology

It is a compound from Hungarian a- + mikor (“when?”): the first part is the demonstrative az “that”, the second the interrogative mikor.^[2][1] ÚESz explains how the Hungarian relative words arose: in a complex sentence the indefinite or interrogative word of the subordinate clause fused with the pointing word ⟨az⟩ of the main clause when the boundary between the clauses shifted.^[2] The relative words French lequel and Italian il quale were formed in a similar way.^[2]

The relative pronouns aki, ami and amely were formed first; adverbs such as ahol, amint and ⟨amikor⟩ followed their pattern by analogy.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

ÚESz and Zaicz date amikor to 1568, in a Kolozsvár record quoted by the EMSzT: amikor Feyerwary Imrétől veúe... “when he bought [it] from Imre Fejérvári”.^[2][6][3] The longer Az mikoron is found already in 1517, with the same sense.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word often stood in pairs with akkor “then” in the main clause: amikor ... akkor “when ..., then”.^[3] From the time sense the NSz records uses for “whenever” (from 1772), “in which case” (from 1845), and as a conjunction of condition, “if” (from 1775).^[7] The concessive use, “although, when in fact”, is recorded from 1843 and is labelled colloquial by the ÉrtSz.^[7][4]

Timeline

• 1517 – Az mikoron “when”.^[2]
• 1568 – amikor in a Kolozsvár record.^[2][3]
• 1582 – Amikoron in Kolozsvár.^[3]
• 1772 – “whenever”.^[7]
• 1775 – as a conjunction “if”.^[7]
• 1843 – concessive “although”.^[7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (relative) when, at the time that: Akkor jött, amikor már mindenki elment.^[4][7][1]
2. while, during the time that.^[4]
3. whenever, every time that.^[4][7]
4. In which case.^[7]

Conjunction

1. (colloquial) Although, when in fact: Miért hallgat, amikor tudja a választ?^[4][7]
2. (rare) If.^[7]

Related words

• mikor
• ahol
• aki
• ami

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
3. ^ a b c d e Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 1, 316
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Jakab, László; Bölcskei, Andrea (2000), Balassi-szótár, Debrecen (Számítógépes Nyelvtörténeti Adattár 8)
6. ^ a b Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ittzés, Nóra (ed.) (2006–), A magyar nyelv nagyszótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at nagyszotar.nytud.hu