hisz
Pronunciation
- [ˈhis][1]
Forms
hisz (past hitt, imperative higgyen, infinitive hinni); a rare older 3rd person form is hiszen.[2] Old forms: hyue, hygyed, heiul, hyendnek in the Jókai Codex, hun in the Vienna Codex, hijendec (1608).[3][4]
Etymology
Its origin is unknown.[3][4][5][1] The early records, the way it is inflected (with the stem ⟨hi-⟩ beside ⟨hisz-⟩) and its large family of derivatives suggest that it may be a word inherited from the Finno-Ugric period, but no matching words have been found in the related languages, and the comparisons proposed have sound-historical problems.[3][4][5]
The range of its senses, from “trust in someone” and “take as true” to “think, suppose”, has parallels in Latin crēdō (“to entrust; to trust; to believe; to think”), French croire and German glauben.[3][4][5]
The conjunction “why, after all, as you know” is a shortening of hiszen, which grew out of hiszem “I believe”, the first person singular of this verb, with final /m/ changed to /n/ as in talán.[3][4] It was at first a main clause standing before an object clause without a conjunction; when the boundary between the clauses shifted, it merged into the clause and became an explanatory conjunction, as hadd and lám did.[3][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
A personal name Numhiz of 1220, in a copy of 1550, may contain the verb, but it may as well belong to hit “faith”.[3][4] The certain records begin in the Jókai Codex, copied about 1448 from a text written after 1372, with forms such as hyue and hyendnek; there it already means “take to be true, believe”, “think, suppose”, “trust in someone” and “believe in someone”.[3][4]
Semantic evolution
TESz dates the main senses of the verb all to the Jókai Codex: “take to be true”, “think, suppose”, and with -ban/-ben “trust in” and “believe in the existence of”;[3][4] elhiszi magát “to become overconfident” follows about 1518.[3][4] A charm from Bagonya, of about 1488, has Hisegh istennek “trust in God”.[6] Transylvanian records of the 16th century use hiszem az Istent “I trust in God” as a formula of assurance.[7]
The derivatives are old: hihetetlen “incredible” is in the Jókai Codex, hívő “believer” and hitetés “deception” in the Munich Codex of 1466, hihető “credible” from 1527, and the noun hiszem “belief” in the phrase hiszemben “in the belief that” from 1659.[3][4] Hiszékeny “credulous”, recorded from 1822 after an earlier hivékeny (1781), is a word of the language reform, probably coined by Mihály Helmeczy.[3][5]
The conjunction appears as hyzem in the Jordánszky Codex of 1519, as hiszen and iszen from the late 18th century, and in the short form hisz from 1808;[3][4] isz and 'sz are later shortenings.[3][4]
In Zemplén hisz was also recorded for “to wait”: alig hiszi, hogy… “he can hardly wait to…”.[8]
Timeline
- 1220 – Numhiz, a personal name in the Váradi Regestrum (copy of 1550), perhaps containing the verb.[3][4]
- c. 1448 – hyue, hygyed, hyendnek and the derivative hyhettettlen in the Jókai Codex (copy of a text written after 1372).[3][4]
- 1466 – hiuônc “believers” and hitèteſekèt in the Munich Codex.[3][4]
- c. 1488 – Hisegh istennek in the Bagonya charm.[6]
- c. 1518 – elhiszi magát “to become overconfident”.[3][4]
- 1519 – hyzem, the conjunction later written hiszen, in the Jordánszky Codex.[3][4]
- 1527 – hyhetew “credible”.[3][4]
- 1659 – hiszemben “in the belief that”.[3][4]
- 1808 – Hisz as a conjunction.[4]
- 1822 – hiszékeny “credulous”, after hivékeny (1781).[3][4]
Meanings
Verb
- To believe a statement or a report, to take it as true: Nem hiszem, amit mondasz.[2][1]
- To believe that something exists or happens: Ma már senki sem hisz a sárkányokban.[2][1]
- To believe someone, to give credit to what someone says (with -nak/-nek): Higgy nekem![2][1]
- To be sure of a future event: Hiszem, hogy sikerülni fog.[2][1]
- To think, suppose (often with azt or úgy, or in negation); as a modest introduction to an opinion: Úgy hiszem, holnap esni fog.[2][1]
- To believe in (with -ban/-ben): to be convinced of the existence or power of something or someone; in religion, to have faith in God.[2][1]
- To consider someone or something to be something (with -nak/-nek): Okosnak hitte magát.[2][1]
Conjunction
- Why, after all, since (introducing an obvious reason): Ne sírj, hisz nincs semmi baj.[2][1]
- Why!, but (when realising something or making someone realise it): Hisz ez a te kabátod![2][1][9]
Word family
- hiedelem
- hihetetlen
- hihető
- hiszem
- rosszhiszemű
- hiszen
- hiszékeny
- hit
- hitel
- elhitet
- hivés
- hívő
- elhisz
- meghisz
- hitves
- meghitt
Usage notes
The conjunction hisz is a shorter form of hiszen, used in the same senses.[2][1] Akkor hiszem, ha látom “I'll believe it when I see it” is a set phrase recorded in Szatmár.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 119
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
- ^ a b c d Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
- ^ a b Szamota, István; Zolnai, Gyula (1902–1906), Magyar oklevél-szótár, Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 379
- ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 5, 147
- ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 867
- ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 1, 384
- ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 1, 385