Etymologically
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valaki

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Pronunciation

  • [ˈvɒlɒki][1]

Forms

valaki[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Hungarian vala- + ki (“who”).[2][3][1] The first part is the same as való, the participle of van “to be”; its sense “being somewhere, to be found” faded, and it became a marker of indefiniteness.[2][3] ÚESz says the compounds arose by syntactic fusion in relative clauses.[2]

The same first part forms valami, valamely and valamennyi, recorded as early as ⟨valaki⟩, and the adverbs valahol and valamikor.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Jókai Codex (after 1372, copy of about 1448), where valaky means “anyone, some person”; the same codex also uses it as a relative, “whoever”.[2]

Semantic evolution

The relative use, “whoever”, was common in the old language: the Munich Codex (after 1416) has it beside “someone”, and the ÉrtSz marks it obsolete.[4][5] In negative sentences it could mean “nobody”, as in a letter of 1757: ne lássa meg valaki “let nobody see it”.[6]

From 1794 the NSz records it as a noun, “an important person”.[2] In the dialects valakije means “a relative of his”, and in the Székely land the word was a name for a child not yet christened.[7][8][9]

Timeline

  • 1372–1448 – valaky “someone” and “whoever” in the Jókai Codex.[2]
  • after 1416 – “whoever; someone” in the Munich Codex.[4]
  • 1547 – walaky in a Transylvanian deed.[6]
  • 1757 – “nobody” in a negative sentence.[6]
  • 1794 – as a noun, “an important person”.[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. (indefinite) someone, somebody: a person not named or not known: Valaki kopogott.[5][1]
  2. One of several: Valaki közületek segítsen![5]
  3. Anyone, whoever it may be.[5]
  4. A person close to one, a relative or someone chosen: van valakije.[5][7]
  5. (relative, obsolete) Whoever.[5]

Noun

  1. A person, used with an adjective or article: egy kedves valaki.[5]
  2. A person of standing, “somebody”: Ő már valaki.[5]

Usage notes

It is abbreviated vki in dictionaries.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  3. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  4. ^ a b Szabó T., Ádám (ed.) (1985), A Müncheni Kódex szókincse (Der Wortschatz des Münchener Kodex), with the text of the Müncheni Kódex 1466 ed. Antal Nyíri and Gyula Décsy, Budapest
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
  6. ^ 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. 13, 1039
  7. ^ a b Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 639
  8. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 2, 436
  9. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 2, 907