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nap

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Pronunciation

Forms

nap (plural napok)[1] The Funeral Sermon writes nopun “on the day”.[2][3] The possessive is napja, not napa.[4]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[3][5][1] TESz, which calls it uncertain, considered a Hungarian derivative with a suffix ⟨-p⟩ of a stem ⟨na-⟩ inherited from the Ugric period, comparing Mansi näj (“fire; sun”) and Khanty näj (“fire; sun”).[2][6] For the Ob-Ugric words this holds only if their vowel goes back to ⟨*a⟩ under the influence of the following ⟨*j⟩; for Hungarian, a pre-Hungarian diphthong does not explain the short vowel, and the suffix ⟨-p⟩ is not well established.[2][6] The original sense would have been “fire”, then “sun”, then “day”, as in Finnish aurinko (“sun”) beside a Sami word for “flame” and päivä (“sun; day”).[2][6] ÚESz rejects the explanation of the word as an inheritance of the parent language.[3]

Munkácsi explained it as an obscured compound, “son of the lady”, from the Ob-Ugric myths of the sun;[2][6] TESz and the MSzFE do not find this convincing.[2][6] The MSzFE also rejects a comparison with a Khanty word for “white”.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer of about 1195: kinec ez nopun testet tumetivc, “whose body we bury on this day”.[2][3] The sense there is “day, a period of 24 hours”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Although “day” is recorded first, TESz, ÚESz and Zaicz take “the sun” for the original sense, from which “day” and “sunshine” arose by contiguity.[2][3][5] The Jókai Codex, copied about 1448 from a text written after 1372, has both “daylight, the light part of the day” and “the sun”;[2][3][6] “sunshine, a sunny place” follows about 1560.[2][3][6] The adverbial use, “on a day”, as in egy nap or minden nap, is recorded from 1519 and is mainly found at the end of compounds such as tegnap “yesterday”, holnap “tomorrow” and vasárnap “Sunday”.[2][3][6]

Old derivatives include napi “daily” and nappal “by day” (both in the Jókai Codex), napjában and naponként (early 15th century) and napos (as a personal name in 1449, “sunny” from 1831).[3][5] Napló “diary” is a word of the language reform: it was first part of napló könyv (1792) and became independent, after the model of German Tagebuch and French journal.[3][2]

A proverb about the sun is old in Transylvania: napot lemenetkor szoktak dicsirni, “the day is praised at sunset”, in a letter of 1677;[7][8] Szeged says Nyugtává dicsérd a napot “praise the day at its setting”.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1195 – nopun “on the day” in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer.[2][3]
  • c. 1405 – nap glosses Latin sol “sun” and dies “day” in the Schlägl glossary.[9][10]
  • c. 1448 – “daylight” and “the sun” in the Jókai Codex, copied from a text written after 1372;[2][3] napi and nappal in the same codex.[2][3]
  • 1449 – Napos, a personal name.[3]
  • 1519 – the adverbial use “on a day”.[2][3]
  • c. 1560 – “sunshine, a sunny place”.[2][3]
  • 1585 – napol “to postpone”, today elnapol.[3]
  • 1677 – napot lemenetkor szoktak dicsirni in a letter.[7]
  • 1807 – napló “diary”.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The sun, the central star of the solar system; in astronomy written Nap.[11][1]
  2. sunshine, sunlight; a sunny place: Kiült a napra.[11]
  3. The central star of any planetary system.[11]
  4. (figurative) A person who is someone's pride and joy.[11]
  5. A day of 24 hours, from midnight to midnight: Jó napot! “good day”.[11][1]
  6. The light part of the day, daytime.[2][11]
  7. A day set for something: névnap “name day”, anyák napja “Mother's Day”.[11][1]

Adverb

  1. After a numeral or certain adjectives, on or for the stated number of days: két nap “for two days”, egy nap “one day”.[1][12]

Word family

  • napi
  • naponta
  • napozik
  • nappal
  • napos
  • napló
  • napsütés
  • hónap
  • holnap
  • tegnap
  • minap
  • vasárnap
  • napkelet
  • napnyugat

Usage notes

A separate word nap “mother-in-law”, probably inherited from the Uralic period (compare Finnish anoppi), is in the Besztercei glossary of about 1395 (socrus, nap); it went out of use early, but the form napa survives in the dialects.[3][13][14]

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 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, 996
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  4. ^ Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum
  5. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 462
  7. ^ a b c Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 9, 519
  8. ^ a b Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 186
  9. ^ Szamota, István (1894), A schlägli magyar szójegyzék a XV. század első negyedéből, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 12
  10. ^ Szamota, István (1894), A schlägli magyar szójegyzék a XV. század első negyedéből, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 15
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 2, 150
  13. ^ Finály, Henrik (1892), A beszterczei szószedet: latin–magyar nyelvemlék a XV. század elejéről, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 9
  14. ^ Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu