Hungarian words from Proto-Uralic
54 Hungarian words with Proto-Uralic in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
a
It is the form of az without the final consonant, used before consonants, and shares its history: the demonstrative stem is inherited from Proto-Uralic *o (“that, that other”), one of the pronoun…
ad
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *amta- (“to give”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. Its cognates are Komi-Zyrian ud- (“to give to drink”), Udmurt ud- (“to give to…
áll
1. The verb “to stand” is inherited from Proto-Uralic *salkɜ- (“to stand”), a word Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. Its cognates are Komi-Zyrian sulal- and Udmurt si̮l- (“to stand…
anya
It is probably inherited from Proto-Uralic *ańa (“wife of an older male relative; mother?”), a Uralic stem with a Hungarian ending. TESz reconstructs the base with a plain /n/ and allows the…
apa
It is probably formed from a Finno-Ugric stem, inherited from Proto-Uralic *appe (“father-in-law”), with a Hungarian suffix. Its cognates mean “father-in-law”: Mansi up, Khanty up, Eastern Mari…
az
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *o (“that, that other”), one of the pronoun stems Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period, with the pronoun-forming suffix ⟨-z⟩ of Hungarian. TESz and the MSzFE…
él
1. The verb “to live” is inherited from Proto-Uralic *elä- (“to live”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period. Its cognates are Mansi ilt- (“to recover”), Khanty jilpət- (“to…
én
Its origin is disputed. ÚESz, EWUng and Zaicz take it for a compound formed in Hungarian whose first part is probably the near demonstrative e (“this”) (see ez). Its second part is most likely…
eszik
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *sewe- (“to eat”), a Finno-Ugric stem with a Hungarian suffix. The cognates are Mansi tī-, Khanty li-, Komi-Zyrian śoj-, Udmurt śi-, Erzya śeve- (“to consume”)…
év
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *ikä (“age, year”) (or *jikä), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. Its relatives are Eastern Mari i (“year”), Erzya ije (“year”)…
ez
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *e- (“this”), one of the pronoun stems Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period, with the pronoun-forming suffix ⟨-z⟩. ÚESz, EWUng and Zaicz reconstruct the…
fél
1. The verb “to fear” is inherited from Proto-Uralic *pele- (“to fear”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period. Its relatives mean “to fear” across the family: Mansi piľ-…
fiú
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *pojka (“son, boy”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. Its cognates are Mansi püw, Komi-Zyrian pi, Udmurt pi, Finnish poika and…
fog
1. The verb “to hold, to catch” is inherited from Proto-Ugric *puŋɜ- (“to catch, to seize”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Ugric period. Its only cognate is in Mansi: Mansi pow- (“to…
hagy
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *kaďa- (“to leave; to remain”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period. Its cognates include Mansi kōľ- “to leave”, Khanty kăj- “to leave…
hall
1. The verb meaning “to hear” probably arose from two old verbs that fell together: an old Old Hungarian *hal “to hear” and hadl “to listen, pay attention; learn of”. The first is inherited from…
hív
1. The verb “to call” is of uncertain origin; it may be inherited from Proto-Uralic *kaŋɜ- (“to call”), a word of the Uralic period. The only cognates are in the distant Samoyedic languages: Selkup…
hol
It is a lexicalised case form: the interrogative pronominal stem of hogy, ha, hány, honnan and hova, with the ablative suffix -l. The stem is inherited from Proto-Uralic *ku- (“who, which, what”)…
jár
It is inherited from the Finno-Ugric period, but its cognates are disputed. ÚESz and EWUng give two explanations. The first takes it for the meeting of two Finno-Ugric verbs: inherited from…
kell
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *kelke- (“to be necessary, must”), one of the verbs Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. Its cognates are Komi-Zyrian kol- (“to be needed”), Udmurt…
kér
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *kerä- (“to ask, to request”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. The related verbs are Komi-Zyrian kor- (“to ask, demand, invite”)…
két
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *käktä (“two”), from the Finno-Ugric or perhaps the Uralic period; TESz, ÚESz and the UEW give it as ⟨*kakta ~ *käktä⟩. Its cognates are Mansi kiť, Khanty kät…
lát
It is probably inherited from Proto-Uralic *lᴕttɜ- (“to see”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period. The only proposed cognates are in the Samoyedic languages: Tundra Nenets…
lesz
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *le- (“to be, become, live”), a stem of the Finno-Ugric period, with a Hungarian suffix. ÚESz and Zaicz give as cognates of the stem Komi-Zyrian lo- (“to become…
marad
Its origin is uncertain. ÚESz and Zaicz suggest that it is inherited from Proto-Uralic *mᴕrɜ- (“to hold back”), a stem of the Uralic period, with the Hungarian frequentative suffix ⟨-d⟩. The…
más
It is a Hungarian formation from a stem inherited from the Finno-Ugric period, inherited from Proto-Uralic *mu (“other”), probably with the adjective suffix ⟨-s⟩. The stem is found in Mansi māt…
meg
It is a case form that hardened into an adverb: from Hungarian mög (“the area behind something”) + -é (“to (lative suffix)”), built like mögé “to behind”, from the older form of the noun, Old…
megy
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *mene- (“to go”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period. The verb survives in nearly every branch of the family: Mansi miń-, Khanty měn-…
mond
It is probably inherited from Proto-Uralic *monɜ- (“to say, tell”), a stem of the Uralic period, with the Hungarian frequentative suffix -d. ÚESz gives as cognates of the stem Eastern Mari mana-…
nagy
Its origin is uncertain; it may be inherited from Proto-Uralic *nᴕńćɜ (“strong, hard”), a word inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. The proposed cognates are all in Komi: Komi-Zyrian naʒ́…
ne
It is probably inherited from Proto-Uralic *ne (“not”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period, and shares its origin with the negative nem. Its cognates survive only…
néz
It is a derivative of a stem ⟨né-⟩ inherited from the Finno-Ugric period, inherited from Proto-Uralic *näke- (“to see, look”), with a Hungarian suffix. The cognates are Mansi ńäwl- (“to become…
nő
1. The verb meaning “to grow” is of unknown origin. ÚESz and Zaicz think it probably belongs to the oldest layer of the Hungarian vocabulary. Its stem variants (⟨nő-⟩, ⟨növ-⟩, ⟨nev-⟩, and dialect…
ő
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *sᴕ̈ (“he, she”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. The cognates are Mansi tüw, Erzya son, Moksha son, Finnish hän and Northern Sami…
rossz
It is probably inherited from Proto-Uralic *roćɜ (“weak, thin, tired”), a word inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. Its cognate is Komi-Zyrian ruʒ́ mun- (“to grow tired, weaken”). The UEW adds…
segít
The verb belongs with segéd and segedelem, probably inherited words: their stem dates from the Finno-Ugric period, and the derivation is Hungarian. The stem is inherited from Proto-Uralic *čäŋkɜ-…
sok
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *čukkɜ (“dense, thick”) (or *čokkɜ), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. The related words mean “many” in Mansi and “dense” elsewhere…
szép
Its origin is uncertain. The usual explanation is that it is inherited from Proto-Uralic *śeppä (“skilful”), inherited from the Finno-Ugric period: TESz offers it with a “perhaps”, EWUng and ÚESz as…
szeret
It is a derivative of an old verb stem with the momentane suffix -t. ÚESz and Zaicz take that stem to be the verbal side of an ancient noun-verb whose nominal side is szer “group, community; order”…
szerint
It is a fossilized case form from Hungarian szer (“manner; order”) + -int. ÚESz and Zaicz analyse the ending, -ént ~ -int, as the old lative -é with the locative endings -n and -t, of which the last…
talál
It is a Hungarian derivative of a stem inherited from the Uralic period, inherited from Proto-Uralic *tole- (“to come”), with the frequentative suffix ⟨-l⟩ of dobál and metél. TESz, ÚESz and Zaicz…
tart
The origin is uncertain. TESz and ÚESz think it may be inherited from Proto-Uralic *tarttɜ- (“to stick, get caught”), a word of the Finno-Ugric period. The comparison rests on Finnish tarttua (“to…
te
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *tinä (“you (singular)”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period. Its cognates are found across the family: Komi-Zyrian te, Udmurt ton, Western…
tesz
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *teke- (“to do, make”), a verb stem of the Finno-Ugric period, which Hungarian extended with the frequentative suffix -sz. TESz counts the whole verb as inherited…
ti
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *te (“you (plural)”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period. ÚESz and the UEW write the Uralic form *tȣ̈. Its relatives are Komi-Zyrian ti…
több
It is a lexicalised comparative, formed with the comparative suffix -b from a stem not recorded on its own, ⟨*tep⟩ ~ ⟨*töp⟩ “many”. The stem is inherited from Proto-Uralic *teppɜ (“dense, firm”)…
tud
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *tumte- (“to feel, to know”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Uralic period. Its cognates are Komi-Zyrian te̮d-, Udmurt tod-, Finnish tuntea (“to…
túl
It is a fossilized case form. Its base is the distal pronoun stem inherited from Proto-Uralic *to (“that”), also found in távol, tavaly, tova and tékozol; the ending is the ablative suffix -l. It is…
új
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *wuďe (“new”), a word inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. Its cognates are Komi-Zyrian vi̮ľ, Udmurt vi̮ľ, Eastern Mari u, Erzya od, Moksha od, Finnish uusi…
van
It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *wole- (“to be, to become”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Finno-Ugric period. Its cognates are Mansi āl-, Khanty wǎl- (“to live, to be”)…
vég
Its origin is uncertain: TESz, EWUng, ÚESz and Zaicz consider it perhaps inherited from Proto-Uralic *wiŋe (“end”), a word of the Finno-Ugric period. The comparison rests on Finnish viime (“last…
vesz
It probably split off at a very early stage, in Proto-Hungarian or perhaps already in the Ugric period, from visz “to carry”. That verb is inherited from Proto-Uralic *wike- (“to take, grasp; to…
világ
It is formed from a stem of the Finno-Ugric period, inherited from Proto-Uralic *walkɜ (“white, bright, shining; to shine”), with the Hungarian deverbal noun suffix ⟨-g⟩, as in csillag and harag…
visz
It is an inherited stem, inherited from Proto-Uralic *wixe- (“to take, carry”), with the Hungarian frequentative suffix -sz, as in lesz and tesz. ÚESz reconstructs the stem as Finno-Ugric ⟨*βiγe-⟩…