Hungarian Historical Phonology evet

(dial.) evet 'squirrel; Eichhorn'

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

1215 Ewetes (see EWUng)

Important dialectal forms

[coming]

Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

?

Disputed:

UEW:

PUg *äpɜ 'squirrel; Eichhorn'

or

PU *säpɜ (šäpɜ), *täpɜ 'squirrel; Eichhorn'

Status of the Ugric etymology

Improbable (phonologically irregular)

Loan etymology

None suggested

Cognates suggested in earlier research

UEW:

Khanty: East (V) iwə läŋki, (Trj) jipet ʌȧŋki, South (DN) imət tȧŋkə 'Flughörnchen'

or

Mansi: (Sy, N) mā-tapriś 'Maus (in den Märchen)'

Samoyed: Selkup (Tur) tēpeq, (TaU) täpäk, (TaM) täpäŋ, (Ty) täpäk 'Eichhorn'

Commentary

Hungarian evet (which today is found only in dialects spoken in Transilavania; see EWUNg s.v.) has two competing etymologies. However, neither of them is plausible. The uncertain Ugric etymology listed in the UEW connects evet with Khanty words like V iwə. The possible Proto-Ugric reconstruction is given as *äpɜ. The Khanty words words are found only as attributes of the word for 'squirrel' in words denoting 'flying squirrel', which makes the original meaning of the Khanty words uncertain. The phonological correspondence between Khanty V iwə, Trj jipet and DN imət is aberrant, and no Proto-Khanty word can be reconstruced. Also UEW notes that as the Khanty word is found only as part of the word 'flying squirrel' and as the relations between these dialectal words are unclear, the Ugric etymology has to be considered uncertain. It can be added that none of the Khanty forms listed here corresponds regularly to Hungarian evet, so the Ugric etymology should be rejected completely.

The other etymology is likewise problematic. UEW considers evet as possible reflex of Proto-Uralic *säpɜ or *šäpɜ, allegedly reflected also in Mansi and Selkup. The vowel e in Hungarian points to Proto-Uralic *ä, so evet could be derived from *säpV or *šäpV regularly, but the Mansi and Selkup words do not fit here, as neither of these reflects PU *ä regularly.

Conclusion

Both etymologies suggested in the UEW are irregular and should be rejected. The origin of Hungarian evet remains uncertain.

References

EWUng 342-343, s.v. evet: probably PU or PUg

UEW s.v. äpɜ: ? Proto-Ugric Uralonet; s.v. säpɜ (šäpɜ), täpɜ: ? Proto-Uralic Uralonet