lány

Forms

lány (plural lányok)^[1] Dialect lyány and jány.^[2] The fuller form leány is literary or dated.^[1]

Etymology

It is a variant of leány, which is probably a compound formed in the early Hungarian period.^[3][4][5][1] Its first part is inherited from Proto-Ugric *lᴕjɜ (“small, young; or weak, feeble”), inherited from the Ugric period; the second part is probably the stem of anya “mother”.^[3][6][4][1] The Ugric word survives in Mansi läi (“tender, weak, young”) and in Khanty lojamtĭʌ- (“to grow weak, feeble”).^[4][7]

TESz reconstructs the early Hungarian form as *lajanʒ (“young woman”), from which all the variants can be explained, ⟨leány⟩, ⟨lyány⟩ and ⟨jány⟩ as well as the headword.^[3][7] The compound was soon no longer felt as one.^[3][5] For the sense the MSzFE compares Mansi and Khanty words for “girl” made of “small” and “woman”; if the Ugric words first meant “weak”, the link is less likely.^[7] TESz rejects the comparison with legény and other Ugric etymologies.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears first in the Tihany founding charter of 1055, in the place name adlean ſyher (“to the girl's ...”), and then in a place name of 1193, leajn.^[3][4] The contracted forms follow in the codices: lyanok in the Jókai Codex (text written after 1372, copied about 1448) and lanim, lanodnac in the Vienna Codex (after 1416, copied about 1450).^[3] The Munich Codex of 1466 uses lány for “girl” and “daughter”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is “unmarried young woman, girl”;^[3][4] “daughter” follows it about 1380.^[3][4] “Maidservant”, recorded about 1395, and “prostitute”, from 1843, came from compounds such as szolgálóleány and örömleány, when the word alone took over their sense.^[3][4] The derivative leányka is recorded in 1515 and leányzó in 1519;^[3][5] leányzó is the participle of an old verb leányoz, leányzik “to grow into a young girl”.^[3][5]

In the Ormánság a parent calls a daughter lányom after her marriage too, and older people so address any younger woman.^[9] Szeged proverbs use the word, such as Várt lány várat nyer.^[10]

Timeline

• 1055 – lean in a place name in the Tihany founding charter.^[3][4]
• 1193 – leajn in a place name.^[3]
• 1372 (copy of about 1448) – lyanok in the Jókai Codex.^[3]
• c. 1380 – the sense “daughter”.^[3][4]
• c. 1395 – “maidservant”, in the Besztercei word list.^[3]
• 1416 (copy of about 1450) – lanim, lanodnac in the Vienna Codex.^[3]
• 1466 – lány in the Munich Codex.^[8]
• 1515 – leányka.^[3]
• 1519 – leányzó in the Jordánszky Codex.^[3][4]
• 1843 – “prostitute”.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A girl, a female child.^[2][1]
2. Someone's daughter, whatever her age; also a parent's way of addressing her.^[2][1]
3. A young unmarried woman; also a virgin.^[2]
4. With a family name or place name: a woman born into that family or from that place.^[2]
5. A maid, a female servant.^[2]
6. (derogatory) A prostitute; a woman of easy virtue.^[2]

Word family

• lányka
• lányos

Related words

• leány
• anya
• leányzó

Usage notes

A separate dialect word lány (also langy) in Győr county and the Csallóköz means a stretch of a river where the water flows so slowly that it seems to stand.^[11]

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 Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 733
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
5. ^ a b c d Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
6. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 924
7. ^ a b c Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 393
8. ^ a b Szabó T., Ádám (ed.) (1985), A Müncheni Kódex szókincse (Der Wortschatz des Münchener Kodex), with the text of the Müncheni Kódex 1466 ed. Antal Nyíri and Gyula Décsy, Budapest
9. ^ Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 341
10. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 13
11. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 1289