Hungarian Historical Phonology foszlik

foszlik 'sich fasern, schleißen, sich auftrennen'

foszt '(Feder) schleißen; schälen, (Mais) abschälen'

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

? 1343 Fozlanch (EWUng: 414, s.v. foszlik)

Important dialectal forms

[coming]

Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

Disputed:

UEW: PU *puśɜ- ‘rag, dissolve, fray; etzen; sich zerfetzen, sich fasern‘

Status of the Ugric etymology

Implausible

Loan etymology

None suggested so far

Cognates suggested in earlier research

UEW:

Khanty: East (VK) ľopi̮ pośt 'abgenutztes (Ober)kleid'

Mansi: North (So) posl- 'sich zu einem Loch abnutzen (Hemd, Schuhzeug, metallenes Gefäß)

? Udmurt: pośt- 'abgetragen, abgenützt werden, sich zerfetzen, lumpig werden'

Commentary

UEW considers the etymology as a certain Proto-Ugric word with an uncertain cognate in Udmurt. The suggested Udmurt cognate pośt- is completely irregular and should be rejected. Also, the Ugric etymology involves various problems: Khanty ś is irregular, and East Khanty pośt cannot be a regular cognate to neither Hu foszlik nor North Mansi posl-. The Mansi word could technically be related to Hungarian fosz-, as North Mansi o can reflect earlier *u, the usual source of Hungarian o, but the semantic difference and the limited distribution of the word to one dialect only make the etymology problematic.

Conclusion

The Khanty cognate has to be rejected as irregular, and the relationship between Hu foszlik and Mansi posl- is improbable.

References

EWUng: 414, s.v. foszlik: PUg, ? PFU

UEW: PUg, ? PFU Uralonet