Etymologically
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kis

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Pronunciation

Forms

kis[1] Old and dialect texts also have the variant küs, and the codices write the comparative küssebb.[2][3][4] In the positive degree the word is used only before a noun; as a predicate kicsi or kicsiny takes its place, but the comparative kisebb and the superlative legkisebb are used in both ways.[5][6]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Bulgar *kiči (“small”), one of the Turkic words Hungarian borrowed before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin.[4][7][8][9] Róna-Tas and Berta give the West Old Turkic word as *kičiγ (“small, little”), and trace the Hungarian form through the stages ⟨kičiγ⟩ and ⟨kiči⟩ to Old Hungarian ⟨kiši⟩.[10] The Turkic word has relatives in every branch of the family, among them Kipchak kiči (“small”) in the Codex Cumanicus, and it is also found in the Mongolic languages.[4][7] Bárczi likewise traced it to a Turkic language of the period before the conquest, with relatives in the Oghuz, Kipchak and Siberian Turkic languages, in Chuvash, Yakut and Uyghur.[11]

The final vowel of the Turkic word was lost in Hungarian, as in így, and the Turkic /č/ inside the word became Hungarian /s/, as in késik.[7][8][4] Horger put the loss of the final vowel in the late Árpád age, when short final vowels regularly dropped, and explained kicsi as a diminutive formed while the stem still ended in /č/.[12] TESz derives kicsiny from a Turkic derivative of the same word.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Like many common words, kis is first recorded in place names inside Latin charters.[4][7] A charter of 1075, known from a copy of 1217, names fishponds called kustiza; ÚESz adds the place names Kÿsberen (1082, in a later copy) and Kysfolud (1227, in a later copy).[4][7] The adjective on its own appears in 1337, in the name of a road, kis altal, in a Latin charter.[4][7] The sense is “small, not large”.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

TESz and ÚESz date five senses: “small in size” from the first records, “of little importance, inferior” from the Jókai Codex (copied about 1448), “little in amount” from the Sermones Dominicales of about 1456, “young” from 1526 and “dear, beloved” from 1792.[4][7] The senses “small” and “young” may already have existed in Turkic; the others grew in Hungarian by metaphor from them.[4][7][9]

The early glossaries render Latin diminutives with kis and a noun: the Besztercei glossary of about 1395 has kis bojtorján for agrimony, and the Schlägl glossary of about 1405 has kis madár “little bird” for avicula and kis korsó for orceolus.[13][14][15] Several compounds have a history of their own: kiskirály “crown prince” (about 1405) later came to mean a petty tyrant (1814); kisasszony “young lady” is in Murmelius's word list of 1533, and kisasszony hava was an old name of August (about 1489); kiskarácsony “little Christmas” meant New Year's Day (1493); kisbíró, at first a lesser judge, became the village crier and council servant.[9] The adverb kissé “slightly” (1793) is an old case form with the translative ending -vé, like eléggé and kevéssé.[4][7][8]

In the dialects it is also an ironic intensifier (szép kis lakodalom “a fine wedding”, said of a quarrelsome one) and an endearing word in folk songs, as in Szeged.[16] In the Szamoshát it can mean “the very” before words for the end or top of something: a fának a kis tetejébe “at the very top of the tree”.[17] The surname Kis or Kiss is among the most common;[16] Szeged records it many times in 1522.[16]

Timeline

  • 1075 – kustiza, a place name, in a Latin charter known from a copy of 1217.[4][7]
  • 1225 – Cuiseb, perhaps kisebb “smaller”, in a place name.[4][18]
  • 1337 – kis in the name of a road, kis altal.[4]
  • c. 1395 – kis bojtorján “agrimony” in the Besztercei glossary.[13]
  • c. 1405 – kis kiral “crown prince” and the diminutive glosses of the Schlägl glossary.[9][19]
  • c. 1448 – “of little importance” in the Jókai Codex, copied from a text written after 1372.[4]
  • c. 1456 – “little in amount” in the Sermones Dominicales.[4][7]
  • 1493 – kiskarácsony “New Year's Day”.[9]
  • 1526 – “young”.[4][7]
  • 1533 – kisasszony “young lady” in Murmelius's word list.[9]
  • 1792 – “dear, beloved”.[4][7]
  • 1793 – the adverb kissé “slightly”.[4][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. small, little: not large in size or extent; also shallow, low or short.[5][1]
  2. Written or printed in lowercase (kis betű).[5]
  3. young, not grown up; of or for children: a kis Péter, kis kocsi “a toy cart”.[5]
  4. Little in amount; before an abstract noun, “a little, some”: Van egy kis pénzem.[5][16]
  5. Few in number: kis csoport “a small group”.[5]
  6. Of little importance; humble: kis ember.[5][4]
  7. Expressing affection, or irony: édes kis lányom;[4][16] szép kis rend.[4][16]

Word family

  • kissé
  • kisebb
  • kisebbség
  • kisebbít
  • kisasszony
  • kisbíró
  • kiskirály
  • kisded
  • kicsi
  • kicsiny

Usage notes

Kis stands only before a noun in the positive degree (kis ház); as a predicate Hungarian says kicsi or kicsiny (a ház kicsi), but kisebb “smaller” and legkisebb “smallest” serve in both positions.[5][6] Proverbs with the word include Kis ember nagy bottal jár “a small man walks with a big stick”.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum
  3. ^ Gombocz, Zoltán (1908), Honfoglalás előtti török jövevényszavaink, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia (Nyelvtudományi Értekezések), p. 62
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 495
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 6, 964
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  8. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  9. ^ a b c d e f Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 800
  10. ^ Róna-Tas, András; Berta, Árpád (2011), West Old Turkic: Turkic Loanwords in Hungarian, 2 vols., Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz (Turcologica 84); word list via Lexibank
  11. ^ Bárczi, Géza (1941), Magyar szófejtő szótár, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 96
  12. ^ Horger, Antal (1924), Magyar szavak története: közérdekű magyar szófejtések gyűjteménye, Budapest: Kókai, p. 107
  13. ^ a b Berrár, Jolán; Károly, Sándor (1984), Régi magyar glosszárium: szótárak, szójegyzékek és glosszák egyesített szótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 412
  14. ^ Szamota, István (1894), A schlägli magyar szójegyzék a XV. század első negyedéből, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 76
  15. ^ Szamota, István (1894), A schlägli magyar szójegyzék a XV. század első negyedéből, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 82
  16. ^ a b c d e f Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 766
  17. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 1, 513
  18. ^ Szamota, István; Zolnai, Gyula (1902–1906), Magyar oklevél-szótár, Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 503
  19. ^ Szamota, István (1894), A schlägli magyar szójegyzék a XV. század első negyedéből, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 48