Hungarian Historical Phonology

The aim of the project Hungarian historical phonology reexamined (with special focus on Ugric vocabulary and Iranian loanwords) is the reconstruction Hungarian historical phonology, based on a critical analysis of the early Iranian loanwords to Hungarian and the common vocabulary of Hungarian and the Ob-Ugric languages Khanty and Mansi. These three languages have traditionally been assumed to form the Ugric branch of the Uralic (Finno-Ugric) family.

The project tackles several open questions in Uralic and historical linguistics. In the project, the suggested Ugric cognates, the shared Iranian and Turkic loanword layers of these languages, and words that have been considered derivatives on the Proto-Ugric level will be analysed critically, with the aim to distinguish true cognates from false etymologies and possible substrate words. Also, a new stratigraphy of the earliest Iranian loanwords into Hungarian will be presented and the phonology of the loanwords will be compared with the developments attested in the Ugric lexicon. Based on the results of the etymological research, an outline of historical phonology of Hungarian will be published, showing the regular developments from Proto-Uralic to Proto-Ugric and from Proto-Ugric to the earliest phases of Hungarian.

The wiki-database is in preparation and will include detailed commentary of the Ugric cognates suggested in earlier etymological dictionaries (Magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, Uralisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch) and the earliest Iranian loanwords of Hungarian.

The project is carried out by Sampsa Holopainen, fellowship holder of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (APART-GSK) at the Department of Finno-Ugrian studies of the University of Vienna. The project duration is 1 May 2021–30 April 2023.

Additional information is found in the external website of the project.