Etymologically
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tényleg

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Pronunciation

  • [ˈteːɲlɛɡ], [ˈteːlːɛɡ][1]

Forms

tényleg[1]

Etymology

It is from Hungarian tény (“fact”) + -leg, a word of the language reform.[2][3][4][1] ÚESz describes it as a case form that became fixed, and compares the noun use of such forms in előleg and fölösleg.[3][5]

Its base tény was itself made in the language reform from the stem ⟨té-⟩ of tesz “to do, make” with the noun suffix ⟨-ény⟩, as in lény and vény.[2][3][4] Szemere Pál first used the word in 1811 for “virtue”, modelling it on a supposed link between German tun (“to do”) and Tugend (“virtue”); the later senses “fact” and “deed” show the influence of the first part of German Tatsache (“fact”).[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Széchenyi István wrote tényleg in his Hitel (1830) as a noun meaning “practice”: a' dolog praxisába — ténylegébe bocsátkozott, “he went into the practice of the matter”.[7][2][3] The adverb “really, in fact” is recorded from 1831, in the philosophical dictionary of that year.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The noun “practice” did not last, and the word survived only as an adverb.[2][3] Szily also records tényleg for Latin factisch “actual” in Kiss M. (1844), and the adjective tényleges “positive, actual” in Kossuth (1836) and in a dictionary of 1837.[6][7]

The ÉrtSz gives the adverb two uses: “in accordance with the facts”, and the speaker's agreement, “indeed, really”; it labels both as words for which valóban, csakugyan or igazán would be better, and notes a use as a mere filler.[8] In the dialect of Szeged it is a recent, half-popular word for “indeed”.[9]

Timeline

  • 1811 – Szemere Pál coins tény, at first for “virtue”.[2][6]
  • 1830 – ténylegébe “into its practice”, a noun, in Széchenyi's Hitel.[7][2]
  • 1831 – tényleg as an adverb, “really”.[2][3]
  • 1833 – the adjective tényleges “actual”.[2][3][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. really, in fact: as the facts are: Tényleg ő nyerte meg a versenyt.[8][1]
  2. indeed: agreeing with what was said, or on realizing something: Tényleg, ma van a születésnapod![8][1]
  3. (colloquial) A filler word with little meaning.[8]

Word family

  • tényleges

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 889
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1544
  6. ^ a b c d Szily, Kálmán (1902–1908), A magyar nyelvújítás szótára, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 333
  7. ^ a b c Szily, Kálmán (1902–1908), A magyar nyelvújítás szótára, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 586
  8. ^ a b c d 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, 567