ilyen

Forms

ilyen^[1] Older and dialect forms include illèn (Munich Codex), eľen (Guary Codex), illyen, ijjen (1800), innyen (1863) and the dialect ejen, ëllen and inyen.^[2][3] The spelling illyen is now obsolete.^[4]

Etymology

It is from Hungarian ily (“such; so”) + -en, formed with the pronoun suffix ⟨-n⟩ of azon and ezen.^{[3][2][5][6][1]} TESz thinks it less likely that the ⟨-n⟩ is a modal case ending.^[2]

The base is itself a fixed case form: the demonstrative ⟨i⟩, the original variant of e and ez, with the ablative ending ⟨-l⟩, used here as a modal suffix and palatalised to ⟨-ly⟩ as in mely, oly and tavaly.^[3][2][6] It was at first an adverb of degree standing before an attributive adjective, “so”; then it came to refer to the whole phrase and became an adjectival and later a nominal pronoun.^[2][3][6] TESz rejects the view that the ⟨ly⟩ is a pronoun suffix.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ilyen first appears, as ylyen, in the Jókai Codex, copied about 1448 from a text written after 1372, in the sense “like this, such”.^[2][3] Its base ily is in the same codex, as an adverb “so much” and as a pronoun “such”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Ilyen has kept the pronoun sense of ily, “resembling the one known or shown”, and has largely replaced its base, which is now archaic or literary.^[2][3][1] Transylvanian records of the 16th–18th centuries show it in the senses “of this kind” and “the same kind”, and in phrases such as ilyen formában “in this way” (1721).^[7] The ÉrtSz also lists uses in praise, in blame and of an unusually great degree, “so great”.^[4]

Related forms are ilyetén “such”, with an obscured locative ⟨-t⟩ before the pronoun suffix, also in the Jókai Codex, and ilyes (1527).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1448 – ylyen and ylyeteneket in the Jókai Codex, copied from a text written after 1372.^[2][3]
• c. 1466 – illèn in the Munich Codex.^[2][3]
• before 1495 – eľen in the Guary Codex.^[3]
• 1524 – Ilen.^[3]
• 1584 – illyen in a Kolozsvár court record.^[7]
• 1721 – illyen formában “in this way”.^[7]
• 1863 – the dialect form innyen in Kriza's collection.^[2][3]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. such, like this: resembling the person or thing pointed at or just mentioned: Ilyen kalapot szeretnék.^[4][1]
2. Like the present one, of the present situation or weather: ilyen időben “in weather like this”.^[4]
3. So great, so much, of an unusual degree: Ilyen szerencsét!^[4]
4. Disparagingly, as bad as this: ilyen ember “a man like that”.^[4]
5. Used alone, a thing of this kind: Ilyet még nem láttam.^[1][8]

Word family

• ilyetén
• ugyanilyen

Related words

• ily
• olyan
• amilyen

Usage notes

The pronunciation is [ˈijɛn]; dialects have ijen (Szeged, Szamoshát) and éjen (Ormánság).^{[1][8][9][10]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 202
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
5. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 653
6. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
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. 5, 555
8. ^ a b Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 633
9. ^ Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 251
10. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 1, 411