Hungarian Historical Phonology ajtó

ajtó 'door'

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

[coming]

Important dialectal forms

[coming]

Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

Proto-Ugric *ajə-

UEW: PUg *ȣjɜ- ‘sich lösen, los od. frei werden; come off, get looser, get free‘

Status of the Ugric etymology

Probable

Loan etymology

None suggested

Cognates suggested in earlier research

UEW:

Mansi: South (TJ) ajt- 'lösen, losbinden, befreien', (T) aj- 'päästä irti, päästä pois, vapautua (esim. kettu raudoista); päästä pakoon; loswerden, von etw. befreit werden, sich befreien (z.B. Fuchs aus dem Fangeisen), davonlaufen', East (KU) ajt- 'lösen, losbinden, befreien', ajtəl- 'avata (napit); aufknöpfen', West (P) ōjt- 'lösen, losbinden, befreien', oj- 'fliehen, entlaufen', North (So) oj- 'päästä pakoon; davonlaufen', (So) ojt- 'lösen, losbinden, befreien' < Proto-Mansi *aj-

Commentary

The Ugric etymology presented in the UEW is accepted by EWUng. TESz listed both the Ugric etymology and the possibility that ajtó is derived from Proto-Uralic/Proto-Finno-Ugric *aŋa- 'open' (> Fi avata) but it is remarked in the UEW that the *jt cluster seems old (already Old Hungarian shows jt) and could not have developed from *ŋt through *γt (for discussion on the development of *ŋ in Hungarian, see rá with references).

The connection between the Hungarian and Mansi words is phonologically regular. EWung notes that ajtó is a lexicalised participle from the unattested verbal stem that is attested in Mansi *aj-, *ajt-. The Hungarian word simply denotes 'door' whereas the meaning of the Mansi verbs show quite versatile semantics, but if a meaning 'open' can be reconstructed for the Proto-Ugric verb, the etymology seems possible.

Conclusion

Hungarian ajtó can be connected with the Mansi cognates without major problems.

References

EWUng: 15, s.v. ajtó: PFU or PUg

TESz: 112, s.v. ajtó: PUg

UEW s.v. ȣjɜ-: PUg Uralonet