Hungarian Historical Phonology hamu
hamu 'ashes'
First attestation/Old Hungarian data
[coming]
Important dialectal forms
[coming]
Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction
Proto-Ugric/Proto-Uralic *kad'ma 'ashes'
Zhivlov 2014: 126: *kaδ̕ma2 'ashes'
UEW: PUg (? PFU) *kuδ̕mɜ 'ash; Asche'
Helimski: Marginalia... PU ? *kottз
Status of the Ugric etymology
Plausible
Loan etymology
None suggested so far
Cognates suggested in earlier research
UEW:
Khanty: East (Vj) kajəm 'Schlacke (Barre), die beim Brennen vom Espenholz in der Feuerstelle zurückbleibt', South (DN) χojəm 'Asche (im Ofen in der Tabakspfeife)', North (Kaz) χɔjəm 'Asche einer morschen Espe, Birke (woraus 'Seife' gekocht wird)' < PKh *kājəm (Zhivlov 2014)
Mansi: South (TJ) kōľǝ̇m, East (KU) χūľəm, West (P) kuľəm, North (So) χūľəm < PMs *kūľəm (Zhivlov 2014)
? Mordvin: Erzya kuloŋ, kulov, Moksha kulu 'Asche'
Commentary
UEW lists Mordvin kuloŋ, kulov, kulu as possible cognates, but this connection is irregular and has to be rejected. The word is thus confined to the Ugric languages. The etymology of the Mordvin word remains unclear.
Abondolo (1996) assumes that the Ugric word is derived from Uralic *kad'a- 'leave' (*-mA is a known Proto-Uralic derivative suffix.). Zhivlov (2014: 126) lists the same etymology, attributing it to Aikio's personal suggestion. This idea of a derivative is semantically plausible, and as the Khanty and Mansi vocalism points to Uralic *a-a-stem, the idea is convincing. Hungarian a from Uralic *a is regular, whereas Hu a as the reflex of Uralic *u is found in very few convincing etymologies.
The derivative is confined to Ugric, so even though the Ugric word has an Uralic etymology, it is possible that we are dealing with a Proto-Ugric lexical innovation.
The origin of Hungarian word-final -u is not clear. Both hamut and hamvat are attested as accusative forms (UEW).
Conclusion
The Ugric etymology is plausible, and so is the idea that *kad'ma is derived from PU *kad'a- 'leave'. UEW's reconstruction with *u is erroneous.
References
Abondolo 1996: derivative of PU *kad'a- 'leave'
Zhivlov 2014: 126: derivative of PU *kad'a- 'leave'
UEW s.v. kuδ̕mɜ: Proto-Uralic Uralonet