Etymologically
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el

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Pronunciation

Forms

el[1] Old and regional spellings include eel (1528) and ell (1559); in dialects the preverb is also heard as é- and je- (ément, jement “went away”).[2][3]

Etymology

It is a case form that became fixed in Hungarian: the stem ⟨el-⟩ “front part” of elő with the lative suffix -é, which marked movement towards a place.[2][3][4][5] The original form ⟨elé⟩ had the same make-up as the adverb and postposition elé “to the front of”; the short form arose when the long final vowel was shortened and then lost, a reduction common in suffixes.[2][4] ÚESz and EWUng place this loss in the word's use as a preverb, where the suffix vowel stood in the second open syllable.[3][5]

The stem goes back to Proto-Uralic *eδe (“front, space in front”), a word of the Finno-Ugric period;[6] UEW lists the preverb among its Hungarian reflexes, beside első and előtt, with cognates such as Finnish esi (“front part”), Mansi il (“forwards”) and Khanty ilə (“forwards”).[6]

TESz rejects the view that the word became a preverb as a calque of Slavic preverbs, since a similar development is found in the cognates of its stem.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

ÚESz takes the first possible record from the Königsberg Fragment of the early 13th century, ele mulhaſſa, but notes that the form may belong to elő;[3][2] TESz dates the same text about 1350.[3][2] The first certain record is el tauozot “went away” in the Jókai Codex, written after 1372 and copied about 1448.[2][3] There it is already a preverb marking movement forward and away from something.[3]

Semantic evolution

At first it was an adverb of direction, “forward”; already in Old Hungarian it became a preverb of moving away, which then came to mark the start of an action, its growing stronger, its continuing, its completion or ending, and its going beyond a goal.[2][4][3] The emphatic use beside other adverbs and preverbs, as in elki fordula “turned away” (Jókai Codex) and el fel mene “went off up” (Guary Codex, before 1495), grew out of the sense of continuing or going too far.[2][3]

As an adverb it is recorded with the sense “entirely” in the Munich Codex (copied 1466), “away” from 1528 and “very; too much” from 1617.[2][3][5] The Transylvanian records show both “entirely” and the use of the bare preverb as a yes in answer to a question with an el- verb, from 1801.[7] The same answering use is already in Balassi's works, where a speaker replies simply El to a question with elméne.[8]

In dialects el also means “far, far away”.[9] The ÉrtSz records it as a stage direction for a character leaving the stage, and as a curt command to go away.[10]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – ele mulhaſſa in the Königsberg Fragment, perhaps this word, perhaps elő.[3]
  • After 1372 (copy of about 1448) – el tauozot “went away” in the Jókai Codex, the first certain record.[2][3]
  • 1466 – the adverb “entirely” in the Munich Codex (text written after 1416).[2][3]
  • 1470 – ely amulas in the Sermones Dominicales.[2]
  • Before 1495 – el fel mene, the emphatic use beside another adverb, in the Guary Codex.[2][3]
  • 1528 – eel haggia and the adverb “away” in the Székelyudvarhely Codex.[2][3]
  • 1617 – the adverb “very; too much”.[2][3]
  • 1801 – the bare preverb as an affirmative answer in a Transylvanian record.[7]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. away, off: to a place farther from here, moving away from it: Menj el innen![10][1]
  2. As a stage direction: the character leaves the stage; exit.[10][1]
  3. As a curt command: away!, go away!, out of my sight![10]
  4. From here all the way to a distant place: el egészen a hegyekig “all the way to the mountains”.[10]
  5. As a preverb, it forms verbs of moving away (elmegy “to go away”, elhagy “to leave”) and marks the start of an action (elalszik “to fall asleep”) or its completion (elfelejt “to forget”).[10][11][2]
  6. Alone, standing for a verb with the preverb el- in a question, as a yes: – Elolvastad a levelet? – El.[10][1][7]

Word family

  • elfelé
  • elő
  • elé
  • előtt
  • első
  • Finnish esi

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 m n o p q Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 735
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  4. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  5. ^ a b c Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 356
  6. ^ a b Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu
  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. 2, 740
  8. ^ Jakab, László; Bölcskei, Andrea (2000), Balassi-szótár, Debrecen (Számítógépes Nyelvtörténeti Adattár 8)
  9. ^ B. Lőrinczy, Éva (ed.) (1979–2010), Új magyar tájszótár, 5 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 56
  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. ^ Berrár, Jolán; Károly, Sándor (1984), Régi magyar glosszárium: szótárak, szójegyzékek és glosszák egyesített szótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó