kell

Forms

kell^[1] Old spellings include kel in the Jókai Codex, köll (1511), kelly (1519) and kely (1556).^[2][3] Popular and dialect speech has köll and kő; the conditional kellene is often kéne, in some dialects kék.^[4][5][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *kelke- (“to be necessary, must”),^[1][2] one of the verbs Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period.^{[6][7][2][8][9]} Its cognates are Komi-Zyrian kol- (“to be needed”), Udmurt kul-, Western Mari kel- (“to be needed; must”), Erzya kel'ge- (“to love, like”), Moksha kel'go- and Northern Sami gâľgâ- (“must, to be necessary”).^[2][7][6]

The Hungarian /ll/ comes from the original /lk/ through an intermediate fricative stage, as in áll and váll.^[2][7][8] The sense “to please” beside “to be needed” is a shift by contiguity: compare kellemes “pleasant”, the Mordvin sense “to love”, and Mansi, where Mansi ēr- (“must”) stands beside ērp (“sweetheart”).^[6][2][9]

Vámbéry, Sauvageot and Németh compared it with Altaic words for “to need”;^[9][6] TESz leaves the Altaic connections for further study and rejects the other Finno-Ugric and Uralic comparisons and a Turkic derivation.^[9][6] The MSzFE excludes the Mansi word for “whole, proper” that earlier scholars had added, for its sounds and its meaning.^[9] Budenz and Bárczi also compared Finnish kelpaa- (“to be fit, to please”).^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in the Jókai Codex, written after 1372 and copied about 1448: sokan vagyonk kel mynekewnk az alamisna kyt vallonk, “we are many; we need the alms that we receive”, in the sense “to be needed”.^[3][2][9] The same codex already has the senses “to please”, “must”, “to be advisable” and “to be likely”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Five of the six senses that TESz distinguishes are already in the Jókai Codex;^[3][2] “to be unavoidable” follows in the Munich Codex (1466).^[3][2] In the senses with an infinitive the logical subject is in the dative (nekem menni kell); in the western dialects it can be the grammatical subject, and kell then agrees with it (meg köllünk csinyányi “we must make it”), a use TESz thinks probably due to German influence.^[6]

The derivatives are old: kellő “pleasant” is in the Jókai Codex, “needed” after 1416 and “suitable, proper” in 1508; kelletlen is in the Vienna Codex;^[2][7] kellőség “fee” is in the Nagyvárad glossary of about 1490.^[2][7] kellék “requisite” is a coinage of the language reform, recorded in 1837–1843, at first “something that must be there”.^[2][8]

The participle kellő was borrowed as Slovak kaľavný “suitable, capable, fine”, recorded from the 19th century and common in the dialects.^[12]

Timeline

• after 1372 (copy of about 1448) – kel “to be needed” and the senses “to please”, “must”, “to be advisable” and “to be likely”, and the derivative kellő “pleasant”, in the Jókai Codex.^[3][2]
• after 1416 (copy of about 1450) – kėllètlèn (kelletlen) in the Vienna Codex.^[2]
• 1466 – kell “to be unavoidable” in the Munich Codex.^[3][2]
• c. 1490 – kellőség “fee” in the Nagyvárad glossary.^[2]
• 1511 – köll, the first record of the rounded form.^[3][2]
• 1682 – the shortened conditional kéne.^[3][2]
• 1837–1843 – kellék “requisite”, a coinage of the language reform.^[8]
• 1862 – Slovak kaľavný “suitable, fine”, from kellő.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be needed: something is needed by someone, who is in the dative: Kell nekem egy új kabát.^[4][1]
2. To be wanted or liked: Nem kell nekem ez a munka.^[4][13]
3. With an infinitive: must, to have to, because of circumstances or an order: Holnap korán kell kelnem.^[4][1]
4. With an infinitive: ought to, should, as a moral duty or as is proper.^[4]
5. With an infinitive: it is necessary or advisable in order to reach an aim.^[4]
6. With an infinitive: must, expressing what seems certain or likely: Otthon kell lennie.^[4][3]

Word family

• kellemes
• kellemetlen
• kellet
• kelletlen
• kellék
• kellő
• semmirekellő

Usage notes

The shortened conditionals kéne (from kellene) and kék (from kellenék) arose by the loss of the vowel of the second open syllable with compensatory lengthening.^[2][7]

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 r s t u Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 433
4. ^ a b c d e f g Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
5. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 1089
6. ^ a b c d e f Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 434
7. ^ a b c d e f Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 769
8. ^ a b c d Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
9. ^ a b c d e f Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 348
10. ^ Budenz, József (1873–1881), Magyar–ugor összehasonlító szótár, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
11. ^ Bárczi, Géza (1941), Magyar szófejtő szótár, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 92
12. ^ a b Gregor, Ferenc (2023), A szlovák nyelv magyar elemei, ed. András Zoltán, Budapest: Kairosz, p. 465
13. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület