Etymologically
Log in

két

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 22:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

két[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *käktä (“two”), from the Finno-Ugric or perhaps the Uralic period;[2][3][4][5][1] TESz, ÚESz and the UEW give it as ⟨*kakta ~ *käktä⟩.[2][3][4][5][1] Its cognates are Mansi kiť, Khanty kät, Komi-Zyrian ki̮k, Udmurt ki̮k, Eastern Mari kok, Erzya kavto, Moksha kafta, Finnish kaksi, Estonian kaks and Northern Sami guoktĕ; the Samoyedic words, such as Tundra Nenets śid'e and Selkup sitte, belong here less certainly, because their consonants do not correspond regularly.[2][3][6] EWUng and ÚESz also note similar words in Yukaghir and Koryak.[7][3]

The Ugric and Samoyedic words have front vowels and the others back vowels, an irregularity common in numerals, as in három and hat.[2][3] The final /t/ of Hungarian comes from Finno-Ugric *kt through a Proto-Hungarian *tt, as in tetem; the vowel was at first an open /ɛ/, as in kedd and kettő.[2][3] Because of the spellings ⟨kewth⟩ (1532) and ⟨keit⟩ (1551), TESz does not rule out a development through ⟨*keit⟩, with the medial /k/ of the Finno-Ugric form turned into a spirant.[2]

The origin of the predicative form ⟨kettő⟩ is disputed: either it continues an old dual form, like the Mansi and Khanty predicative forms, or it was formed from the variant ⟨ket⟩ with a lative suffix and secondary doubling of /t/.[3][7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Uncertain records in personal names go back to 1057 (Kuethedy, known from a copy) and about 1131 (Keta).[3][2] The place name Ketbarana in a Latin charter of 1245 is the first certain record, and in 1291 a charter names a pear tree keth agow kurthuely “a pear tree with two branches”; the sense is “two”.[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

Since the oldest texts két has been used only attributively, before a noun, while kettő stands as predicate and on its own.[2][7][9] Horger complained in 1924 of a fashion begun in the Budapest banks about twenty years earlier of saying kettő száz instead of két száz, so that két would not be misheard as hét “seven”.[9]

Many place names of the charters are compounds with it, such as Kethnyres (1298) and Keethkemus (1299).[8] Among its derivatives kétszer “twice” is recorded from the Jókai Codex and kétszeres “double” from 1585; in 1781 kétszeres also became the name of a mixture of wheat and rye.[3][2]

Timeline

  • 1057 – Kuethedy, a personal name, perhaps with két (known from a copy).[3][7]
  • 1245 – Ketbarana, a place name in a Latin charter.[2][3][8]
  • 1291 – keth agow kurthuely “two-branched pear tree” in a Latin charter.[2][3]
  • c. 1405 – ketszer “twofold” in the Schlägl word list.[2]
  • c. 1448 – kétszer “twice” in the Jókai Codex (text written after 1372).[3]
  • c. 1450 – két in the Vienna Codex (text written after 1416); also the noun két “doubt”.[2][3]
  • 1551 – the spelling keit.[2][3]
  • 1781 – kétszeres “mixed wheat and rye”.[3]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. two, used before a noun, which stays in the singular: két ház, két év; repeated, két-két “two each”.[10][1]
  2. With paired parts of the body: both (mind a két, mindkét): két kézzel.[10]
  3. Two different, two kinds of: két dolog között választ.[10]

Word family

  • ketté
  • kettő
  • kétszer
  • kétszeres
  • kétes
  • kétség
  • kétely
  • kételkedik
  • kedd
  • Finnish kaksi

Usage notes

The form két is used only before a noun (két alma); standing alone or as a predicate the form is kettő (Kettőt kérek.).[2][9][11] An obsolete, poetic noun két “doubt”, used only with a possessive suffix, is recorded from the Vienna Codex on; it developed from the numeral, doubt being a choice between two possibilities (compare Latin duo (“two”) and dubium (“doubt”)), and survives in kétség, kétely and kételkedik.[2][3][10] Proverb: Két urat nehéz szolgálni “it is hard to serve two masters”.[12]

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 q Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 473
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  4. ^ a b Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  5. ^ a b Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu
  6. ^ a b Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 360
  7. ^ a b c d Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 789
  8. ^ a b c Szamota, István; Zolnai, Gyula (1902–1906), Magyar oklevél-szótár, Budapest: Hornyánszky
  9. ^ a b c Horger, Antal (1924), Magyar szavak története: közérdekű magyar szófejtések gyűjteménye, Budapest: Kókai, p. 104
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 735
  12. ^ Kresznerics, Ferenc (1831–1832), Magyar szótár gyökérrenddel és deák értelmezéssel, 2 vols., Buda, p. 1, 314