maga

Forms

maga (plural maguk)^[1] It is inflected with the possessive endings for every person: magam, magad, maga, magunk, magatok, maguk (older magok).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Hungarian mag (“seed, kernel”) + -a, a possessive form fixed as a word, literally “its body”; beside it a whole series grew up with the other personal endings (magam, magad …).^[4][5][6][7] The base word keeps here an older sense, “body, trunk”, which Hungarian does not record for the noun but its relatives show.^[4][7] The UEW sets them under Proto-Uralic *muŋkɜ (“body”): Udmurt mugor (“body, stature”) and Komi-Zyrian mi̮ge̮r (“trunk, build”).^[8][3] The same step from “body” to “self” happened elsewhere: Old French cors (“body”) gave mes cors (“myself”), and a Nenets word for “body” is used the same way.^[7][4]

A second explanation derives the word from the pronoun stem ⟨ma-⟩ ~ ⟨mo-⟩ of más and majd, with an emphatic ⟨-g-⟩ (as in engem and téged) and the possessive ending;^[7][4][5] TESz finds the first explanation far more likely, and EWUng and ÚESz think a link with ma and the other words of that stem improbable.^[7][4][5] A Turkic origin is rejected.^[7]

The formal pronoun “you” is the same word: it grew out of the phrase maga kegyelmed (“your grace yourself”), once the possessive ending of kegyelmed was no longer felt and the pronoun took over the meaning of the whole phrase.^[7] The conjunction “but; although” comes from the combination demaga (“but even so”).^[7][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer of about 1195, where Adam is said to have eaten death “not only for himself, but for all his kin”: Num heon muga nec. ge mend w foianec halalut evec;^[7][4] muga nec is modern magának, and the sense is “his own person, himself”.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

TESz takes the reflexive pronoun as the starting point.^[7] From it came, already in the Jókai Codex, the adverbs “alone” and an intensifying “then, indeed” (maga miért? “why then?”), and the use as an attribute, “one's own”.^[4][7] The conjunction followed in the early 16th century: “but” in the Példák Codex (1510) and “although” about 1519.^[4][7] The intensifying adverb survives in Székely speech (Maga ne dolgozzál!).^[9]

The pronoun of address is recorded from 1668.^[7][4] In the ÉrtSz it is a familiar form between equals, more intimate than ön, but also a condescending one towards people of lower rank.^[2] In Szeged peasant speech it pushed out the older address kend only in recent decades, and old people did not always like being addressed so.^[10] The verb magáz “to address someone as maga” is recorded from 1821, and magában “alone; to oneself” from 1580.^[4][6]

Timeline

• c. 1195 – muga nec “for himself” in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer.^[7][4]
• 13th century – mogomnok “for myself” in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary.^[4][7]
• 1372–1448 – maganak, the adverbs “alone” and “indeed”, the attributive “own”, and de maga “but” in the Jókai Codex.^[4]
• 1510 – the conjunction “but” in the Példák Codex.^[4]
• c. 1519 – “although” in the Debrecen Codex.^[4][7]
• 1580 – magában “alone”.^[4]
• 1668 – maga as a form of address, “you”.^[7][4]
• 1821 – magáz “to address as maga”.^[4]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. (reflexive) oneself, himself, herself, itself; the person's own self or body: Megvágta magát. Magának vette.^[2][1]
2. (emphatic) Himself, herself, in person, without help: A király maga jött el.^[2][10]
3. (as an attribute) One's own: a maga kárán tanul.^[10][4]
4. (in magában) alone, by oneself.^[10][4]
5. (personal, formal) you (singular, with the verb in the third person; plural maguk), between equals less formal than ön, and to people of lower rank condescending.^[2][1]

Adverb

1. (Székely) Then, indeed, come on.^[9]

Conjunction

1. (archaic) But; although.^[7][11]

Word family

• magáz
• magában
• önmaga

Related words

• mag

Usage notes

A word maga “donkey”, printed in the MTSz from Veszprém, is a misprint for magar, from Serbo-Croatian magar (“donkey”).^[12][13] In the Szilágyság maga could mean “my husband”.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Budenz, József (1873–1881), Magyar–ugor összehasonlító szótár, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 596
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
5. ^ a b c d Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 966
6. ^ a b Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 811
8. ^ Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu
9. ^ a b Kriza, János (1863), Vadrózsák: székely népköltési gyűjtemény (with its Tájszótár), Kolozsvár, p. 63
10. ^ a b c d Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 70
11. ^ Szarvas, Gábor; Simonyi, Zsigmond (1890–1893), Magyar nyelvtörténeti szótár, 3 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 2, 653
12. ^ Kniezsa, István (1955), A magyar nyelv szláv jövevényszavai I/1–2, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 883
13. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 1382
14. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 1381