Etymologically
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gondol

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Pronunciation

Forms

gondol[1]

Etymology

It is from Hungarian gond (“thought; care, worry”) + -ol, the noun with the suffix that forms verbs, made like énekel from ének and szól from szó.[2][3][4][1] In the old language the noun also meant “thought” (from 1525), and judging by its derivatives TESz takes “thought”, and perhaps “care”, for its original senses.[4][5]

The noun is of unknown origin: TESz rejects its comparison with Finno-Ugric words and its derivation from Iranian, Mongolian or Turkic; ÚESz rejects a Slovak source and finds a link with gomolyít unlikely.[5][2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is gondolangÿuk “we shall think (of it)” in the Jókai Codex, copied about 1448 from a text written after 1372; the sense is “to have something in mind, to think”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

By the middle of the 15th century the verb also meant “to decide” (Vienna Codex), “to consider, ponder” (Apor Codex) and “to care about” (about 1456); “to imagine” follows in 1513 and “to believe, deem” in 1572.[2][3] The Munich Codex word list also glosses it “to plan” and “to plot”.[6] The old construction with -val/-vel, “to care about, mind”, is still described in the 19th century and lives on in dialects; the standard language now has -ra/-re in most senses.[7][8][9]

Its derivatives are old: gondolat “thought” and gondolás (both after 1372), gondolkodik “to reflect” (1466), gondolhatatlan “unthinkable” (about 1495) and gondolkozik (1590).[2][4] A personal name Gonozgondolo, “evil-thinking”, is recorded in a charter of 1479.[10]

Romanian dialects of Transylvania and Moldavia have gîndului (“to think; to care for”), which Tamás derives from gondol, although in form it could also be a Romanian derivative of gînd (“thought”).[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1448 – gondolangÿuk “we shall think”, with gondolás and gondolat, in the Jókai Codex (a copy of a text written after 1372).[2][3]
  • c. 1450 – “to decide” in the Vienna Codex.[2][3]
  • c. 1456 – “to care about” in the Sermones Dominicales.[2][3]
  • 1466 – gondolkodik “to reflect” in the Munich Codex.[2]
  • 1479 – the personal name Gonozgondolo.[10]
  • c. 1495 – meg gondolhatatlan “unthinkable”.[2]
  • 1513 – “to imagine” in the Czech Codex.[2][3]
  • 1572 – “to believe, deem”, in a Transylvanian record.[2][3]
  • 1590 – gondolkozik.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To think, to have something in mind: Mit gondolsz most?[9][1]
  2. To have something come to mind; to make a sudden decision: gondolt egyet “he made up his mind on a whim”.[9]
  3. To think of or about someone or something, to recall (with -ra/-re): Gyakran gondolok rád.[9][1]
  4. To mean, allude to (with -ra/-re): Mire gondolsz?[9][1]
  5. To imagine, suppose, believe: Azt gondoltam, hogy otthon vagy.[9][1]
  6. To consider someone or something to be something (with -nak/-nek): Okosabbnak gondoltam.[9][1]
  7. (somewhat folksy) To care about, mind (with -val/-vel): Senki sem gondol vele.[9][1]

Word family

  • gondolat
  • gondolkodik
  • gondolkozik
  • gondolás
  • gondolhatatlan
  • meggondol
  • rágondol
  • gond
  • gondos

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
  4. ^ a b c d Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  5. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 1074
  6. ^ 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, p. 398
  7. ^ Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum
  8. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 511
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
  10. ^ a b Szamota, István; Zolnai, Gyula (1902–1906), Magyar oklevél-szótár, Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 303
  11. ^ Tamás, Lajos (1966), Etymologisch-historisches Wörterbuch der ungarischen Elemente im Rumänischen, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 387