Etymologically
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lány

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Pronunciation

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

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