Etymologically
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jelent

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Pronunciation

  • [ˈjɛlɛnt][1]

Forms

jelent[1] Old spellings include yelentyvk (Jókai Codex), ièlèntè (Vienna Codex) and ielçnti (Guary Codex); a dialect form is gyelent.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Hungarian jelenik (“to appear”) + -t (“causative suffix”), from the stem ⟨jelen-⟩ of the verb with the causative suffix.[2][4][3][5][1] That verb is the adverb jelen “present” used as a verb, and the adverb is a fixed case form of jel “sign”.[6][3]

Since the base verb meant “to come to be present”, TESz takes “to make present, make appear” for the original sense of the derivative; the other senses developed from it as kinds of “to make manifest, reveal”.[2][4][3] The modern sense “to matter, be significant” owes something to the derivatives jelentős and jelentékeny, and some senses (“to give a sign”, “to prophesy”) show the influence of the noun “sign”.[2][3] The old frequentative jelentget, long written without ⟨t⟩, is taken for a derivative of this verb rather than of jelenik because it is transitive.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Jókai Codex, copied about 1448 from a text written after 1372: yelentyvk neked, “we make known to you”, telling someone that his wish has been fulfilled; the sense is “to make known, announce”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Several senses appear together in the Jókai Codex: “to make known, report, reveal”, “to show by one's conduct”, and with meg “to explain”, “to confess” and “to betray”.[2][3] The Munich Codex (copied 1466) has megjelenti magát “to appear, show oneself”, and the sense “to mean, signify” of a sign or a word is recorded from 1470.[2][3] Later came “to pronounce, express in words” (1519), “to prophesy” (about 1560), “to represent” (1588) and, recorded only from 1865, “to matter, amount to”.[2][3]

In Transylvanian records of the 16th–17th centuries it is the ordinary verb for making a formal report to a superior or an authority.[7] The noun jelentés is recorded about 1405 in the Schlägl glossary, first as “apparition, vision”, then “proclamation” (1508), “report” (1784) and “meaning” (1787); most of the later derivatives (jelentős, jelentkezik, jelentőség, jelentékeny) are words of the language reform.[2][3][5][8]

Romanian dialects of Transylvania borrowed the verb as Romanian ielentui “to report”; in one area it was brought home by local men serving in the Honvéd army.[9][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1405 – the noun ielentes “apparition” in the Schlägl glossary.[2][3]
  • c. 1448 – yelentyvk “we make known” in the Jókai Codex (text written after 1372).[2][3]
  • 1466 – megjelenti magát “to appear” in the Munich Codex.[2][3]
  • 1470 – “to mean, signify”.[2][3]
  • 1588 – “to represent”.[2]
  • 1784 – jelentés “report”.[3]
  • 1793 – jelentős “significant”, uncertainly; surely from 1815.[2][5]
  • 1830 – jelentkezik “to report oneself”.[5]
  • 1865 – “to matter, be significant”.[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To report an event or situation to an authority or a superior;[11][1] (military) to report formally.[11][1]
  2. To announce, make known, give news of: Az újság jelentette a győzelmet.[11]
  3. Of a sign or signal: to indicate, show: A csengő a szünet végét jelenti.[11]
  4. Of a word or expression: to mean, signify: Mit jelent ez a szó?[11][1][12]
  5. To amount to, be equivalent to; to matter to someone: ez sokat jelent nekem.[11][12]
  6. To bring about, involve, pose (a risk, a difficulty).[11][1]
  7. (archaic) To report oneself, present oneself.[11][13]

Word family

  • jelentékeny
  • jelentés
  • jelentget
  • jelentkezik
  • jelentős
  • bejelent
  • feljelent
  • kijelent
  • megjelent
  • jelenik
  • jelen
  • jel

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 m n o p q Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 271
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  4. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 688
  5. ^ a b c d Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  6. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 270
  7. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 5, 975
  8. ^ Bárczi, Géza (1941), Magyar szófejtő szótár, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 84
  9. ^ Tamás, Lajos (1966), Etymologisch-historisches Wörterbuch der ungarischen Elemente im Rumänischen, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 454
  10. ^ Valló, Ida; Stan, Constantin et al. (1905), Kölcsönös hatások a hazai nyelvek közt, Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 37
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 658
  13. ^ B. Lőrinczy, Éva (ed.) (1979–2010), Új magyar tájszótár, 5 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 1151