visz

Forms

visz^[1] The 3rd person singular has an old and dialect form viszen; the past is vitt, the infinitive vinni.^[2][3] Western dialects have vüsz.^[4]

Etymology

It is an inherited stem, inherited from Proto-Uralic *wixe- (“to take, carry”), with the Hungarian frequentative suffix -sz, as in lesz and tesz.^[5][6][1] ÚESz reconstructs the stem as Finno-Ugric ⟨*βiγe-⟩ “to take, seize; carry”, the MSzFE as ⟨*wike-⟩.^[5][7] Its cognates are Mansi wü- (“to take”), Khanty wĕ- (“to take”), Komi-Zyrian vaj- (“to bring, carry; give birth”), Udmurt vaj- (“to take, carry; give birth”), Erzya vije- (“to bring, take, lead”) and Finnish viedä (“to lead, take away”).^[5][6][1] The short vowel inside the Hungarian word is somewhat unusual, but it has a parallel in the verb “to put”.^[5]

The meaning moved towards carrying away, so that the verb became the opposite of hoz (“to bring”).^[5] The early records of this verb and vesz (“to take”) are partly mixed;^[5][8] TESz takes the latter for a split variant of the former, perhaps going back to the Ugric period, while Wiktionary doubts that the two are one word.^[5][8][1]

The Finno-Ugric verb resembles Indo-European words for carrying and driving: Avestan vaz-, Sanskrit वहति (váhati) and Latin vehō (“to carry”).^[5][7] Some scholars took this for an ancient relationship, others for a borrowing from Proto-Aryan or Proto-Indo-European, and others again doubted any link;^[7] Joki allowed both relationship and borrowing.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in the Jókai Codex, about 1448, copied from a text written after 1372, with vyuen vele Frater Leot, “taking Brother Leo with him”.^[7][5] The codex has both “to carry, convey” and “to lead, take (a person) somewhere”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

ÚESz dates the further senses: “(of a road) to lead somewhere” and “to load as a burden” in the Vienna Codex (about 1450), “to bear, carry out” in 1527, “to lead to a result” before 1539, “to refer to someone” in 1583, and in Comenius's Janua of 1643 “to sweep away” and, mostly as elvisz, “to carry off a prize”.^[5] The derivative visel “to wear, bear” is formed from the variant stem vi-.^[9][7]

The saying vert viszen veretlent “the beaten one carries the unbeaten”, is recorded in Transylvania from 1632.^[10] In Szeged and the Ormánság nem sokáig viszi means “he will not live long”, and nem sokra vitte “he did not get far”.^[11][12]

The derivative vitel “carrying” is recorded from the Apor Codex (copy of a text written after 1416); kivihető “feasible” from 1823 and kivitelez “to carry out (a building)” from 1917.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1448 – vyuen “taking” and the senses “carry” and “lead” in the Jókai Codex (copy of a text written after 1372).^[7][5]
• c. 1450 – “(of a road) to lead somewhere” in the Vienna Codex.^[5]
• after 1416 – vitel “carrying” in the Apor Codex (a later copy).^[5]
• 1527 – “to bear, carry out”.^[5]
• 1583 – “to refer to someone”.^[5]
• 1632 – vert viszen veretlent in a Transylvanian letter.^[10]
• 1643 – “to sweep away” and “to carry off a prize” in Comenius's Janua.^[5]
• 1823 – kivihető “feasible”.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To carry, take something or someone somewhere, away from the speaker: Vidd ki a szemetet!^[2][1]
2. To take by vehicle, transport.^[2]
3. To take or lead a person somewhere; to take someone away under arrest.^[2]
4. Of a current or wind, to sweep along, carry away.^[2][5]
5. Of a road, to lead somewhere.^[5][12]
6. To bring someone into a place or situation: sírba visz “to bring to the grave”.^[2][11]
7. Of money, to swallow up: sok pénzt visz.^[2]
8. In card games, to take a trick.^[2]
9. (figurative) sokra visz, to get far, achieve much;^[5][11] elvisz, to carry off a prize.^[5][11]

Word family

• visel
• vitel
• elvisz

Related words

• vesz
• hoz

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 2, 464
4. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 2, 1005
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
6. ^ a b Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
7. ^ a b c d e f g Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 694
8. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 1125
9. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 1156
10. ^ a b Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 14, 519
11. ^ a b c d Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 674
12. ^ a b Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 596