Etymologically
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emlékezik

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Pronunciation

  • [ˈɛmleːkɛzik][1]

Forms

emlékezik (past emlékezett); in the present also emlékszik: emlékszem, emlékszel.[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is a derivative of a stem that is not recorded on its own, with the reflexive verb suffix -kezik.[4][3][5][1] The stem contains the frequentative suffix ⟨-l⟩ and may be connected with the stem of elme “mind”; the root itself is of unknown origin.[4][3][5] The same stem gives említ “to mention” with the causative suffix ⟨-ít⟩ and emleget “to keep mentioning” with the frequentative suffix ⟨-get⟩.[3][5][4]

Hadrovics, noting that the earlier etymological dictionaries had found no origin for this verb or for elmélkedik “to meditate”, derived both from Proto-Slavic *mьněti (“to think, believe”); ÚESz and Zaicz still call the root of unknown origin.[6][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Jókai Codex, a copy of about 1448 of a text written after 1372: emlekeʒel “you remember”, in the sense “to recall in thought”.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

A second sense, “to mention”, appears in the Jordánszky Codex of 1519.[3][4] említ also meant both “to remember” and “to mention” at first; over a long period the two verbs divided the senses, so that emlékezik now means “to remember” and említ “to mention”.[3][4] The Transylvanian court records still show both: Erre Jól Emlékezem, “I remember this well”, in 1568, and “to speak of” in 1570 and 1582.[7]

The derivatives are old: emlékezés and emlékezet “memory” and emlékezetes “memorable” are in the 15th-century codices, emlékeztet “to remind” from 1552.[3][4] The noun emlék “memory; memento” is a back-formation of the language reform from emlékezik or emlékeztet, recorded from 1779; the reformers also made emléz “to remember” (1793) and emlény “forget-me-not” (1808).[3][5] The NSz dates the sense “to commemorate” from 1785.[8]

The contracted present emlékszem is recorded from 1848.[3][4] The dialects have forms such as emléközik at Szeged and emlékszök in the Ormánság.[9][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1448 – emlekeʒel in the Jókai Codex (copy of a text written after 1372).[3]
  • c. 1448 – emlekeʒeſuel, the first record of emlékezés, in the same codex.[3]
  • c. 1450 – emlékezet and emlékezetes in the Vienna Codex (copy of a text written after 1416).[3]
  • 1519 – “to mention” in the Jordánszky Codex.[3][4]
  • 1541 – Emlökezöm in Tinódi's Cronica.[3]
  • 1552 – emlékeztet “to remind” in Heltai.[3]
  • 1568 – Erre Jól Emlékezem in the Kolozsvár records.[7]
  • 1779 – emlék, a back-formation.[3]
  • 1785 – “to commemorate”.[8]
  • 1848 – the contracted form emlékszem.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To remember (someone or something: -ra/-re): to be able to call up the image of a person or thing, or the details of an event; to recall what one has learned or experienced.[2][8][1]
  2. (intransitive) To commemorate (someone or something: -ról/-ről): to recall their memory with respect.[2][8][1]
  3. (intransitive) To mention, speak of something in a work or text.[8]

Word family

  • emleget
  • emlék
  • emlékezés
  • emlékeztet
  • említ
  • elme

Usage notes

In the sense “to remember” the present-tense forms of emlékszik (emlékszem, emlékszel, emlékszik) are now usual, and Wiktionary treats emlékezik there as an alternative form; in the sense “to commemorate” only emlékezik is used.[1][2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 n o p q r s t 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 i Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 370
  5. ^ a b c d e Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  6. ^ Hadrovics, László (1975), Szavak és szólások, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó (Nyelvtudományi Értekezések 88), p. 65
  7. ^ a b Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 3, 179
  8. ^ a b c d e Ittzés, Nóra (ed.) (2006–), A magyar nyelv nagyszótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at nagyszotar.nytud.hu
  9. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 375
  10. ^ Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 127