Etymologically
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jár

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Pronunciation

Forms

jár[1] A dialect form gyár is recorded from 1693 and survives in western Hungary.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from the Finno-Ugric period, but its cognates are disputed.[4][5][6][7] ÚESz and EWUng give two explanations.[6][5]

The first takes it for the meeting of two Finno-Ugric verbs: inherited from Proto-Uralic *jorkɜ- (“to turn, twist, wind”), continued in Khanty jŏwər- (“to turn, wind”) and Northern Sami “to turn over”, and Proto-Uralic *jorɜ- (“to roll”), continued in Sami words for “to go round, roll”, such as Northern Sami jorrat (“to rotate, spin”).[6][5][7][1] The sense “to go about” would then come from “to turn, twist”, as in csavar “to twist” beside csavarog “to roam” and teker beside tekereg.[4][6][8] MSzFE points out that no trace of a sense “to twist” is found in Hungarian;[8][4] TESz considers the comparison with Sami alone uncertain, since it rests on a single distant related language.[8][4]

The second explanation derives it from the stem of gyalog “on foot”, itself of Finno-Ugric origin, which may once have been both noun and verb: the verb would have split off with a change /l/ > /r/ before the written records, as in virág beside virrad.[4][6][5] A Turkic origin is called mistaken by TESz and unlikely by EWUng and ÚESz.[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer of about 1195: isa mend ozchuz iarov vogmuc, “behold, we are all going towards that”.[2] The sense is “to go towards, approach”, of people who come to it one after another.[2][6][8]

Semantic evolution

TESz and ÚESz stress that jár, unlike the other verbs of going, expresses lasting, repeated or undirected motion; its senses multiplied through figurative use and fixed phrases with adverbs.[4][6] The Jókai Codex (copied about 1448) has “to walk, go, come” and “to wander, travel”; then follow “to lead one's life in a certain way” (Apor Codex), “to pass” of time (1517), “to visit in turn, go about” (1519), “to dance” (1526), “to spread” of news (1527), “to attend school” (1536), “to move, work” of a mechanism (1573), “to be due to someone” (1584) and “to be received” of a newspaper (1791).[2][6] Transylvanian records give many fixed phrases, such as falábon jár “to walk on a wooden leg” and elöl jár a hír “the news runs ahead”.[9]

The family is large: járás “walking” and jártat are in the Jókai Codex, járul “to approach” and járatlan “untrodden” about 1493, jártas “experienced” 1519 (at first “much trodden”), járkál “to walk about” 1604, and járvány “epidemic” belongs to the family too.[10][7][8] Compounds with jár- began in mining terminology; jármű “vehicle” is recorded from 1835–36 and járőr “patrol” from 1843, both modelled on German Fahrzeug and Streifwache.[11][5] The participle járó “ford, passage” passed into the dialects of eastern Slovakia as Slovak jarov.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 1195 – iarov “going” in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer.[2][6]
  • c. 1448 – “to walk, go” and “to wander” in the Jókai Codex (text written after 1372); also járás and jártat.[2]
  • c. 1493 – járul and járatlan in the Festetics Codex.[10][7]
  • 1517 – of time, “to pass”.[2]
  • 1526 – “to dance” in the Székelyudvarhely Codex.[2]
  • 1536 – “to attend” a school.[2][6]
  • 1573 – of a mechanism, “to move, work”.[2][6]
  • 1584 – “to be due to someone”.[2][6]
  • 1604 – járkál “to walk about”.[10][7]
  • 1693 – the dialect form gyár.[2]
  • 1837 – járda “pavement”.[10][7]
  • 1843 – járőr “patrol”.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To walk, go on foot; to move about somewhere: A gyerek már jár.[13][1]
  2. To go somewhere regularly, to attend: iskolába jár; to travel by a means of transport.[13][1]
  3. To visit, to have been somewhere: Jártál már Pécsen?[1][14]
  4. (with -val/-vel) To go out with, date someone.[1]
  5. To dress in a certain way, to habitually wear: feketében jár.[1]
  6. (transitive) To dance a dance: járja a csárdást.[1][14]
  7. Of a machine or a clock: to run, work; of public transport: to be in service.[1][14]
  8. Of news: to go round, spread.[1][15]
  9. Of time: to pass, be at a certain point: Már őszre jár az idő.[1][14]
  10. (with -nak/-nek) To be due to someone: Ennyi jár neki.[1][14]
  11. (with -val/-vel) To involve, come with as a consequence.[1]
  12. (with an adverb) To fare: jól járt, he came off well;[1][14] rosszul járt, he came off badly.[1][14]
  13. (nem járja) To be proper, customary: Ez így nem járja![1][14]

Word family

  • járandóság
  • járat
  • járatlan
  • járatos
  • járás
  • járda
  • járhatatlan
  • járható
  • járkál
  • jártas
  • jártat
  • jártányi
  • járul
  • járulék
  • járvány
  • jármű
  • járőr
  • gyalog

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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, 260
  3. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 976
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 261
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 683
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d e f Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  8. ^ a b c d e Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 336
  9. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 5, 885
  10. ^ a b c d Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 262
  11. ^ Szily, Kálmán (1902–1908), A magyar nyelvújítás szótára, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 149
  12. ^ Gregor, Ferenc (2023), A szlovák nyelv magyar elemei, ed. András Zoltán, Budapest: Kairosz, p. 451
  13. ^ a b Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 652
  15. ^ Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 261