tűnik

Forms

tűnik^[1] The older and regional spelling tünik and the old form tűn without the ending -ik are also recorded.^[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown;^[3][4][5][1] TESz, ÚESz and Zaicz agree that it is probably an old element of the Hungarian vocabulary, much older than its first records suggest.^[3][4][5][1] The final -ik is the ending of the so-called ⟨-ik⟩ verbs.^[1]

The earliest use was probably in the field of sight: the original sense seems to have been “to become visible” or “to become invisible”, and most later senses grew out of this in combination with preverbs such as el, fel and ki.^[3][4][5] tündöklik “to shine, glitter” is a derivative of the same verb.^[3]

Vámbéry and later Gombocz compared a Chagatai verb ⟨tün-⟩ “to be bright, clear”;^[6][7] Gombocz already doubted that this Chagatai word was genuine, and Bárczi called it not only uncertain but unlikely.^[6][7] TESz rejects the Turkic derivation as wrong.^[3] ÚESz records a personal name ⟨Tunev⟩ from 1260 as a possible early trace, with a question mark.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first certain record is from 1553, in a work of Heltai quoted by the NySz: no one had ever thought of (literally “into no one's mind had come”) the glory God had prepared for those who fear him.^[3][4] The sense is “to come to mind, occur to someone”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

TESz and ÚESz list nine senses in the order of their first records.^[3][4] “To come to mind” (1553) is followed in Szenczi Molnár's dictionary of 1604 by “to change shape” and “to appear, seem, become visible”, then by “to vanish, get lost” (1618), “to get into” with be- (1628), “to pass away, be destroyed” (1651) and “to attract attention” with fel-, ki- and szembe- (1750–71).^[3][4] The sense “to seem” was long condemned as incorrect;^[3] TESz explains it as a use in which the preverb was dropped.^[3] In 1875 beletűnik is recorded as “to fall in love with someone”.^[3][4]

In children's games the verb means to keep one's eyes shut while the others hide (1897, MTSz); ÚMTSz also has “to hide” in hide-and-seek.^[3][8] In Szeged it meant “to seem” and, of pigeons, “to disappear beyond the horizon”.^[9] In Transylvanian records the phrase szemébe tűnik means “to notice”.^[10]

The derivatives were coined over three centuries: tünet first meant “apparition” (1621), then “appearance”, and its main modern sense “symptom” dates only from 1802;^[4][5][7] tünékeny “fleeting” is from 1647, kitűnő “excellent” from 1771 and tünemény “phenomenon” from 1786, a word of the language reform.^[4][5][7]

Timeline

• 1553 – tűnt “came to mind” in Heltai.^[3][4]
• 1604 – tűnöm in Szenczi Molnár's dictionary, “to change shape” and “to appear, seem”.^[3][4]
• 1618 – the sense “to vanish, get lost”, chiefly with el-.^[3]
• 1621 – the derivative tünet, first “apparition”.^[4][5]
• 1647 – tünékeny “fleeting”.^[5]
• 1651 – the sense “to pass away, be destroyed”, in Zrínyi.^[3]
• 1771 – kitűnő “showing, becoming evident”.^[4][5]
• 1786 – tünemény “phenomenon”.^[5][7]
• 1802 – tünet “symptom of a disease”.^[4][5]
• 1875 – beletűnik “to fall in love with someone”.^[3]
• 1897 – “to keep one's eyes shut (in hide-and-seek)”, in the MTSz.^[3][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To seem, look, appear (to be something), with the suffix -nak/-nek: Fáradtnak tűnsz.^[1]
2. Of a person or animal: to vanish suddenly from sight, or go off to an unknown place.^[2][1]
3. Of a thing: to disappear, get lost.^[2]
4. To fade away gradually, become invisible little by little; to cease.^[2]
5. To pass, go by (of time, an age).^[2]
6. (dialectal) In hide-and-seek: to keep one's eyes shut while the others hide; also to hide.^[8]

Word family

• tündér
• tündöklik
• tünemény
• tünet
• tünékeny
• eltűnik
• feltűnik
• kitűnik
• kitűnő

Usage notes

In the standard language the verb is mostly used with a preverb: eltűnik “to disappear”, feltűnik “to appear; to be conspicuous”, kitűnik “to become clear; to stand out”, letűnik “to set, pass away”.^[5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 1013
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
6. ^ a b Gombocz, Zoltán (1908), Honfoglalás előtti török jövevényszavaink, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia (Nyelvtudományi Értekezések), p. 90
7. ^ a b c d e Bárczi, Géza (1941), Magyar szófejtő szótár, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 173
8. ^ a b B. Lőrinczy, Éva (ed.) (1979–2010), Új magyar tájszótár, 5 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 5, 507
9. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 606
10. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 13, 655