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minden

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Pronunciation

Forms

minden[1] Old spellings include mendun, menden and mönden; the dialects have mindön.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Hungarian mind (“all”) + -n, a case form fixed as a word; the ⟨-n⟩ is most likely the ending of manner found also in mennyi and mint, and on this view the word at first meant “all together, all of them”.[3][2][5][6] It is less likely, though not ruled out, that the ⟨-n⟩ is the pronoun-forming suffix seen in azon and ezen.[3][2][5] Wiktionary writes the suffix as -en.[1]

The base word mind is itself a Hungarian formation, probably from the pronoun mi “what”, with an ⟨-n⟩ and a final ⟨-d⟩ whose origin is unclear;[3][2][6] TESz rejects three other explanations: a doubled stem ⟨*mimi⟩, a link with the conjunction of comparison, and a Uralic origin.[3][2][6] TESz supports the sense of manner with Old Hungarian sentences in which menden still means “all together”, such as one in the Jókai Codex.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is mendun “all” in the Königsberg Fragment, which ÚESz dates to the early 13th century and TESz to about 1350.[2][3] As a noun it appears in the Jókai Codex (copied about 1448 from a text made after 1372), both as “everyone” and as “all things, everything”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The pronoun is general from the beginning: “all, every” before a noun, and as a noun “everyone” and “everything”.[3][2] The derivatives followed quickly: mindenes in a place name of 1352 and as an adjective “containing everything” about 1395, later (1624) a noun “factotum, someone who does everything”;[3][2] mindenütt “everywhere”, mindenkor “at all times”, mindenestül “with everything” and mindenik “each” in the Jókai Codex;[3][2] mindenünnen “from everywhere” in the Munich Codex.[3][2] Mindenség meant “all things together” in Szenczi Molnár's dictionary of 1611 and later “the universe”;[2][5] mindenható “almighty” is in the Jókai Codex, perhaps helped by Latin omnipotens.[2][5] Mindenki “everybody” is recorded from 1754 and probably came into the written language from folk speech.[7]

In the old language the noun after minden could also be plural (minden ifjak in a Kolozsvár record of 1587); today it is singular.[8][9] In Szeged and the Szamoshát minden is also a noun for one's belongings, and a mindenit! is an oath.[4][10] Csűry records mindenn as a noun “all of them” in one village, the dialect use Wiktionary gives as an adverb.[10][1]

Timeline

  • early 13th century – mendun “all” in the Königsberg Fragment.[2]
  • 1352 – Mendenesfoka, a place name with the derivative mindenes.[3][2]
  • 1372–1448 – minden as a noun “everyone” and “everything” in the Jókai Codex, with mindenütt, mindenkor, mindenestül, mindenik and mindenható.[3][2][5]
  • c. 1395 – mendenes “containing everything” in the Besztercei word list.[3][2]
  • 1533 – Minden in Murmelius's word list.[11]
  • 1566 – mindenüvé “to everywhere” in Heltai's fables.[2]
  • 1611 – mindenség “the totality of things” in Szenczi Molnár's dictionary.[3][2]
  • 1754 – mindenki “everybody”.[7]

Meanings

Determiner

  1. every, each without exception; used with a singular noun: minden nap, minden ember.[8][1]
  2. (with a time unit or measure) Every one in turn: minden második héten.[8]
  3. The whole, all of (something taken as a unit): minden erejével “with all his strength”.[8]

Pronoun

  1. everything, all things: Minden rendben van.[1][8]
  2. (with sok, több, mi) Thing, of many things taken together: sok minden “many things”.[1][4]
  3. (in folk poetry, dialectal) Everyone.[12]

Noun

  1. (regional) One's belongings, everything one has.[4][10]

Adverb

  1. (dialectal) All of them, all together; the same as mindnyájan.[1][10]

Word family

  • mindenestül
  • mindenütt
  • mindenki
  • mindenes
  • mindenség
  • mindenható
  • mindenkor

Usage notes

A mindenit! and a kutya mindenit! are mild oaths.[4][10] As an object, minden with an unpossessed noun takes the indefinite conjugation (minden könyvet elolvas), with a possessed noun the definite one.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 925
  4. ^ a b c d e Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 158
  5. ^ a b c d e Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1024
  6. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  7. ^ a b Bárczi, Géza (1941), Magyar szófejtő szótár, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 116
  8. ^ a b c d e f Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
  9. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület
  10. ^ a b c d e Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 2, 131
  11. ^ Murmelius, Joannes (1533), Lexicon Ioannis Murmellii, Krakow; ed. István Szamota (1896), Murmelius János latin–magyar szójegyzéke 1533-ból, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 15
  12. ^ B. Lőrinczy, Éva (ed.) (1979–2010), Új magyar tájszótár, 5 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 1270