Etymologically
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tart

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Pronunciation

Forms

tart[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][3] TESz and ÚESz think it may be inherited from Proto-Uralic *tarttɜ- (“to stick, get caught”), a word of the Finno-Ugric period.[2][3][4][1] The comparison rests on Finnish tarttua (“to grab, seize; to stick, get caught”) and its Votic counterpart.[2][3][4] The Finnic verbs may have been formed with a reflexive suffix from a base Proto-Finnic *tartta-.[2][5]

The comparison is weak: the only related words are few and in distant languages, and the Finnish verb may belong instead with Estonian tarduma (“to stiffen, congeal”), from a base meaning “stiff, sticky”.[2][5] The MSzFE takes “to get stuck, cling” for the original sense, and compares the pair Finnish pitää (“to hold”) and Erzya peďams (“to cling, stick to”) for the change to “to hold”.[5][3]

Whatever its source, TESz and Zaicz consider the verb a very old element of Hungarian, given the richness of its senses and derivatives.[2][4] Róna-Tas and Berta list a reconstructed Bulgar *tart (“to hold, carry; to last”) beside it.[6] ÚESz considers this newer Turkic derivation less probable, and TESz rejected the older Turkic and Finno-Ugric comparisons.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb may appear first in a personal name, Tartaudi, in a charter of 1138 known from a copy of 1329.[2][3] The first sentence with it is in the Königsberg Fragment: qui vleben tart chudaltus fiot, “who holds the wondrous son in her lap”, which TESz dates about 1350 and ÚESz to the early 13th century; the sense is “to hold, support”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

TESz derives the senses from “to hold (in the hands, arms or lap)”; many developed and became fixed in phrases and with preverbs.[2][4] TESz also thinks some uses were shaped by the near-synonyms fog and visel.[2]

Early senses are “to possess, keep for sale” (1269, in the name nyergestartó “saddle-keeper”), “to keep under guard” (1346, in ajtótartó “doorkeeper”), “to keep back, retain”, “to save (a soul)” and “to keep (a rule, feast or vow)” in the Jókai Codex, and “to store” in the Besztercei word list of about 1395.[2][3] The Vienna and Munich Codices (after 1416) add “to consider as”, “to hold (an event), perform”, “to hold out towards” and “to maintain, feed”;[3] “to belong to” follows about 1476.[3]

Derivatives are tartó from 1269 (in a name), tartás from the 14th century, tartós “lasting” from 1604, tartalék “reserve” from 1651, tartósít from 1842 and tartam from 1844.[4] In regional speech tart valakitől means “to be afraid of someone”.[7]

Timeline

  • 1138 – Tartaudi, perhaps a personal name formed from the verb, in a copy of 1329.[2][3]
  • early 13th century or c. 1350 – tart “holds” in the Königsberg Fragment.[3][2]
  • 1269 – nyergestartó “saddle-keeper”, the first record of tartó.[2][4]
  • 1346 – ajtótartó “doorkeeper”;[2] “to keep under guard”.[2]
  • 1372–1448 – “to keep, retain”, “to observe (a rule)” in the Jókai Codex.[2][3]
  • c. 1395 – “to store” in the Besztercei word list.[2][3]
  • 1416–1450 – “to consider as” in the Vienna Codex.[3]
  • 1604 – tartós “lasting”.[4]
  • 1651 – tartalék “reserve”.[4]
  • 1842 – tartósít “to preserve”.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To hold: to keep something in place, stop it falling: Tartsd a létrát![8][1]
  2. (transitive) To support, bear the weight of: Négy oszlop tartja a tetőt.[8][1]
  3. (transitive) To hold out, hold towards: A kezét tartotta.[8][7]
  4. (transitive) To keep in a state or place; to keep, store: Hol tartod a kulcsot?[8][1]
  5. (transitive) To keep (a promise, rule or custom); to observe: megtartja a szavát.[8][1]
  6. (transitive) To keep animals, employ servants; to maintain, provide for.[8][1]
  7. (transitive) To hold (a meeting, lecture or celebration); to take (a break).[8][1]
  8. (transitive, with -nak/-nek) To consider, regard as;[8][1] (with -ra/-re) to esteem: Okosnak tartom.[8][1]
  9. (intransitive) To last, go on: A film két óráig tart.[8][1]
  10. (intransitive, with lative suffixes) To head somewhere: hazafelé tart;[8][1] (with -val/-vel) to side with someone.[8][1]
  11. (intransitive, with -nál/-nél) To have got to a point: Hol tartasz a könyvben?[1]
  12. (intransitive, with -tól/-től) To be afraid of, fear.[8][7]

Word family

  • tartalék
  • tartalom
  • tartam
  • tartály
  • tartás
  • tarthatatlan
  • tartogat
  • tartomány
  • tartó
  • tartós
  • tartózik
  • betart
  • eltart
  • tartozik
  • tartósít
  • megtart
  • visszatart
  • Finnish tarttua

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. 3, 858
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  5. ^ a b c Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 616
  6. ^ Róna-Tas, András; Berta, Árpád (2011), West Old Turkic: Turkic Loanwords in Hungarian, 2 vols., Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz (Turcologica 84); word list via Lexibank
  7. ^ a b c Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 553
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu