Etymologically
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milyen

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Pronunciation

Forms

milyen (plural milyenek)[2]

Etymology

It developed within Hungarian from the pronoun mely “which” on the model of the pairs ilyen : ily and olyan : oly.[3][4][5][6][1] The interrogative mi “what” may have influenced its form.[4][5] Its original form was perhaps ⟨melyen⟩, from that pronoun with the pronoun suffix ⟨-n⟩, as in azon; the shorter mily arose by a split of “mely”.[4][6]

TESz takes both forms for spontaneous developments that the language reformers spread; the reform period also made milyetén after the old ilyetén.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Faludi Ferenc in 1748, as an interrogative: millyen 's mitsoda Victoria lett légyen, “what kind of victory it was”.[3][4] A form mellyen follows in 1754, as a relative pronoun “such as”.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Beside “what kind of?” (1748) and the relative “such as” (1754), the word was used as an adverb of degree, “how (very)”, from 1790.[3][4][5] Transylvanian records of 1776–1846 show all three uses: miilyen drágába jön égy Betsi öli Tűzi Bükkfa, “how dear a Vienna fathom of beech firewood comes” (1819), and miilyen szépen fekszik illy nagy időn, “how nicely she lies in bed at so late an hour” (1806).[7]

The dialects have many forms: méjen, mejen, mellen, minyen, mijén, möjen.[3][8][4] The shorter mily is recorded from 1789, now mostly in literary use.[3][4]

Timeline

  • 1748 – millyen “what kind of?” in Faludi.[3][4]
  • 1754 – mellyen as a relative, “such as”.[3][4]
  • 1770 – the spelling milyen.[3]
  • 1776 – milyetén in Kazinczy.[3]
  • 1789 – mily as a relative.[3][4]
  • 1790 – milyen as an adverb, “how (very)”.[3][4]
  • 1792 – the noun milyenség.[3]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. (interrogative) what kind of?, what … like?: Milyen idő lesz holnap?[2][1]
  2. (interrogative) Which, of several things: Milyen nap van ma?[2]
  3. (in exclamations) What (a) …!: Milyen szép kert![2][1]
  4. (before an adjective or adverb) how, to what extent: Milyen messze van a falu?[2][1]
  5. (relative, mostly as amilyen) Such as, of the kind that.[3][4]

Word family

  • mily
  • milyenség
  • amilyen
  • valamilyen

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 923
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  5. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  6. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1023
  7. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 9, 232
  8. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky