hol

Forms

hol^[1] Old and dialect variants are hul, hun, hon and holt, sohult in sehol “nowhere”.^[2][3] Hun and hon are widespread in the dialects.^[2][4][5]

Etymology

It is a lexicalised case form: the interrogative pronominal stem of hogy, ha, hány, honnan and hova, with the ablative suffix -l.^[2][3][6][7] The stem is inherited from Proto-Uralic *ku- (“who, which, what”).^[8][3][1][9] It is found across the family: Mansi kōn (“when?”), Khanty kot (“where?”), Eastern Mari kəštə (“where?”), Finnish kussa (“where?”), Northern Sami gǫst (“where; whence”) and Selkup kun (“where?”).^[3][8]

The variants ⟨hon⟩ and hun have the locative suffix -n;^[2][3] TESz considers them older in this function.^[2] The ⟨-t⟩ of ⟨holt⟩ and ⟨hult⟩ is a further locative ending.^[2][3] The shift of ⟨-l⟩ from “from where” to “where” is seen also in alul beside alól.^[2] TESz rejects the view that ⟨hol⟩ came from a form ⟨*holt⟩, and the derivation of ⟨hon⟩ from ⟨hol⟩ by sound change.^[2]

The MSzFE lists other explanations of the ⟨-l⟩: a pronominal suffix (Beke) or an old suffix of place after which a locative ⟨-t⟩ was lost.^[9] It also records the comparison of the Uralic stem with Indo-European, Turkic and Yukaghir pronouns.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

ÚESz takes a questionable Ihul in the Königsberg Fragment strips of the early 13th century for the first record.^[3] The first sure record is in the Jókai Codex (after 1372, copy of about 1448): hol yluala ottan germekek gylekezenek hozzaya, “where he was, there children gathered to him”, with the relative sense “where”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

TESz and ÚESz consider the word originally interrogative and indefinite; the relative use came later, as with Latin ubi and German wo.^[2][3] Beside the sense of place it developed a time sense: relative “when” from 1474 and interrogative “when?” from 1552.^[2][3] “Why?, for what purpose?” is recorded from 1763, and “from where?” in Petőfi in 1842.^[3]

As a conjunction it meant “if” from 1511 and “although” from 1519; repeated, hol ... hol “now ..., now ...” is recorded from about 1519.^[2][3] The folktale opening hol volt, hol nem volt “once upon a time” is given by Ballagi and in the Szeged dictionary.^[10][4]

Timeline

• early 13th century – Ihul, perhaps the first record.^[3]
• 1372–1448 – hol “where” in the Jókai Codex.^[2][3]
• 1474 – relative “when”.^[2]
• 1511 – as a conjunction “if”.^[2][3]
• 1519 – “although”; about 1519 hol ... hol “now ..., now ...”.^[3]
• 1527 – “somewhere”;^[3] ahun in Heyden's word list.^[3]
• 1552 – “when?”.^[3]
• 1763 – “why?”.^[3]
• 1842 – “from where?” in Petőfi.^[3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (interrogative) where?, in what place?: Hol laksz?^[11][1]
2. (interrogative, in some phrases) From where?: Hol vetted ezt?^[11][12]
3. (relative, dated or colloquial) Where, in the place where; now usually ahol.^[2][11]

Conjunction

1. Repeated, hol ... hol: now ..., now ...; sometimes ..., sometimes ...: Hol esik, hol süt a nap.^[1][11]

Related words

• ahol
• valahol
• sehol
• hogy
• honnan
• Finnish kussa

Usage notes

The folktale opening hol volt, hol nem volt corresponds to English “once upon a time”.^[10] An obsolete noun hol “dawn, morning”, kept in holnap “tomorrow”, has a separate source.^[13][14]

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 Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 132
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
4. ^ a b Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 605
5. ^ Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 236
6. ^ Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
7. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 613
8. ^ a b Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu
9. ^ a b c Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 289
10. ^ a b Ballagi, Mór (1867–1873), A magyar nyelv teljes szótára, 2 vols., Pest: Heckenast, p. 579
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 5, 222
13. ^ Szarvas, Gábor; Simonyi, Zsigmond (1890–1893), Magyar nyelvtörténeti szótár, 3 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 1473
14. ^ Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum