már

Forms

már (dialectal má, mán, mág, márt)^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a word formed within Hungarian, but how it was formed is uncertain.^[3][4][5] Its stem may be the same as that of más “other”;^[3][4][5] TESz, more cautiously, derives it from the demonstrative stem shared by ma “today”, majd “later” and most “now”, as well as by that word.^[2] What the final ⟨r⟩ is and what it did remains unexplained.^[2][3][4]

The final ⟨g⟩ and ⟨t⟩ of the dialect variants ⟨mág⟩ and ⟨márt⟩ are probably emphasizing elements, and the ⟨n⟩ of ⟨mán⟩ an adverbial ending.^[2][3] The reduplicated már-már “almost” is a compound of the word with itself, and immár “already, by now” joins it to the old prefix im-; the form immáron adds a further adverbial ⟨-n⟩.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

ÚESz and EWUng take the first record from the Jókai Codex, a text written after 1372 and copied about 1448, where the word appears joined to im- as ÿmmar; its sense there is that of a connecting particle, “well, so then”.^[3][5] TESz quotes the plain form from the Munich Codex (1466, a text written after 1416) in the same sense: mert mar mit tènnenc “for what are we to do, then”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The temporal senses came later than the connecting one.^[2][3] With a negative the word meant “no more, any longer” from about 1476; the sense “already” is first recorded in Calepinus's dictionary of 1585; and the paired már … már “now … now” appears in 1635, the same year as már-már “almost”.^[2][3] The Schlägl glossary of about 1405 already glosses Latin eia with nomar, that is no már, an urging “come now”.^[6]

In 17th- and 18th-century Transylvanian records the word means “already” and “by now”, “up to now”, and “earlier, before”.^[7] Modern Hungarian uses it above all for “already” and, with a negative, for “no longer”; it also marks the end of a long wait or an impatient request.^[8] In the dialects the softened forms má and mán are common, and the word also serves as an emphasizing particle, “indeed, surely”, or tones down a command.^[9][10][11]

Timeline

• after 1372 – ÿmmar (immár) in the Jókai Codex, copied about 1448.^[3][5]
• c. 1405 – nomar glossing Latin eia in the Schlägl glossary.^[6]
• after 1416 – mar “well, then” in the Munich Codex, copied in 1466.^[2]
• c. 1476 – “no more, not any longer”, with a negative.^[2][3]
• 1585 – “already” in Calepinus's dictionary.^[2][3]
• 1618 – the shortened form má.^[3]
• 1635 – már … már “now … now” and már-már “almost”.^[2][3]
• 1863 – mán, in Kriza's Székely collection.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. already: by now, by the time in question, or at some time before: Már megvacsoráztunk.^[8][1]
2. With a negative: no longer, not any more: Már nem lakik itt.^[8][1]
3. At last, finally, after long waiting; in impatient requests, urging: Gyere már!^[8]
4. From now on, from this time onwards.^[8]
5. már … már: now … now, at one time … at another.^[2][3]
6. (dialectal) An emphasizing particle: indeed, surely; that is, namely.^[11][10]

Word family

• immár
• már-már
• mármint

Related words

• más
• ma
• majd
• most

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 841
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
5. ^ a b c d e Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 981
6. ^ a b Berrár, Jolán; Károly, Sándor (1984), Régi magyar glosszárium: szótárak, szójegyzékek és glosszák egyesített szótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 473
7. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 8, 141
8. ^ a b c d e Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
9. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 85
10. ^ a b Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 364
11. ^ a b B. Lőrinczy, Éva (ed.) (1979–2010), Új magyar tájszótár, 5 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 987