Hungarian Historical Phonology űz

űz 'jagen, nachjagen, verfolgen; ausüben, betreiben'

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

[coming]

Important dialectal forms

[coming]

Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

(Disputed:) Abondolo 1996: 112: *iwtV- 'jumps'

UEW: PUg *itɜ- 'run, spring; laufen, springen'

Status of the Ugric etymology

Unclear

Loan etymology

űzik 'brünstig sein' ← Turkic üd- 'follow', > Old Turkic üdiγ 'passion, sexual desire....intensity of passion and love' (Palló 1982: 214-215)

Cognates suggested in earlier research

Khanty: East (Trj) it- 'von Baum zu Baum springen (Eichhörnchen, Zobel)', North (O) it- 'wegziehen nach seinem Wohnplätzen gehen (Enten Waldtiere), nach irgendein Richtung gehen (Waldtiere)', (Kaz) ĭt- 'von Baum zu Baum springen (Eichhörnchen, Zobel)'

Mansi: East (KU) itγəl- 'springen', West (P) ittǟl- 'springen', North (So) itγal- 'springen'

Commentary

Hungarian vocalism makes the Proto-Ugric etymology unlikely: Hungarian ű from Proto-Ugric/Proto-Uralic *i would be irregular. The Hungarian word is also semantically rather far from the suggested Ob-Ugric cognates.

However, Abondolo (1996: 112) reconstructs *iwtV- and assumes that the labial vowel ű is due to *-w- (he notes that the same sound would have caused the length of the Ob-Ugric vowel).

Palló (1982: 214-215) supports the Ugric etymology but notes that there are two originally distinct űz- stems that have merged in Hungarian; the other űz- (űzik) 'brünstig sein' is a loan from the Turkic verb *üd- 'follow' according to Palló. The derivatives of this verb in various Turkic languages have meanings related to passion and love (such as Old Turkic üdiγ 'passion, sexual desire....intensity of passion and love'). This etymology is not commented by WOT. UEW mentions Palló's etymology but considers it impossible because of phonetic problems and also because of the poor attestation of the Turkic verb. However, the word family is attested in Old Turkic, so there should be no obstacle in assuming the existence of a verb *üd- in the variety of Old Turkic that was in contact with Hungarian. Concerning the phonetic side of the etymology, Palló argues that Hungarian z (< Proto-Hungarian *δ) can be derived from Turkic *d that probably was a spirant at the time of borrowing. Hungarian z corresponds to Turkic *d in other loans as well, such as Hungarian búza 'wheat' ~ East Old Turkic bugday id. (WOT: 186-188).

As all of the meanings of Hungarian űz are far from the meaning 'jump' of the Ob-Ugric words, it seems probable that there is only one verb űz and it seems probable that this word is a Turkic loan.

Conclusion

The Ugric etymology is improbable; Hungarian űz is probably borrowed from Turkic *üd-.

References

Abondolo 1998: 112

EWUng

MSzFE

Palló 1982: 214-215: PUg; űzik in the meaning 'brünstig sein' from Turkic

TESz

UEW s.v. itɜ-: Proto-Ugric Uralonet