Hungarian Historical Phonology:Introduction

This page will include backgroud information about Hungarian and Ugric etymology and instructions about the use of the database.

The database will include critical commentary of the Proto-Ugric etymologies suggested in the earlier etymological dictionaries, Uralisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (UEW, Károly Rédei 1988) and Magyar Szókészlet Finnugor Elemei (MSzFE, György Lakó 1971–1978), and references to the other relevant sources were Ugric etymologies are discussed (notably WOT = András Róna-tas & Árpád Berta 2011: West Old Turkic: Turkic loanwords in Hungarian). The aim is to determine which of the cognates can really be reconstructed to a common proto-language of Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi, and to find alternative explanations to those etymologies that turn out to be irregular and cannot be reconstructed to Proto-Ugric.

In addition to the Proto-Ugric etymologies, Iranian loanwords of Hungarian will also be included in the database. The focus will be on the earliest loanwords borrowed in the separare existence of Hungarian (words borrowed before typical Proto-Hungarian sound-changes such as *s > ø, *VtV > VzV) as well as the Iranian etymologies considered uncertain in earlier research. As it is disputed whether the Iranian loanwords common to all the Ugric languages were borrowed at Proto-Ugric times or separately by Khanty, Mansi and Hungarian after it had diverged (Holopainen 2019), it is important to address the phonology of the loanwords as well.

The scrutiny of these cognates serves the long-term aim of the project, a comprehensive presentation of Hungarian historical phonology.