Hungarian Historical Phonology kebel
kebel 'breast, bossom'
First attestation/Old Hungarian data
[coming]
Important dialectal forms
[coming]
Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction
?
Status of the Ugric etymology
Irregular
Loan etymology
Hu kebel ← West Old Turkic *käbäl (WOT: 516–518)
Cognates suggested in earlier research
Munkácsi 1895, Widmer 2006: 305–307:
Khanty: East (V–Vj.) kimäl, (Vart. Mj. Trj. J) kimäl, South (Likr.) kimäï, Irt. (DN KoP Kr. Ts. stb.) kimät, (Ni. Š) kĭmät, North (Kaz.) kĭmäl, (O) kimäl ’ruha szegélye [...]’
Mansi: North (N) kēmpli ’ruhaszárny’
Commentary
Hungarian kebel is consider to be of uncertain or debated origin by most sources. WOT considers a Turkic etymology possible but debated, the main problem being that the exact donor form is not attested in Turkic. However, WOT and Róna-Tas (2017) argue that its existence might be assumed based on Mongolic kebeli ‘belly, stomach, paunch, womb’, and the form kebelmiš 'dressed' in the Codex Cumanicus might reflect a derivative of the Turkic original.
An old idea of an ugric etymology by Munkácsi (1895) is supported by Widmer (2006), who adds additional arguments and assumes that Hungarian kebel and its Ob-Ugric cognates reflect a derivative from the Proto-Ugric stem *kī- (in Widmer's reconstruction). Honti (2017) considers this Ugric etymology better than the Turkic loan etymology. However, Róna-Tas (2017) notes that semantically the Ugric etymology is problematic, as the original meaning of the Hungarian word was probably 'breast, heart', based on Old Hungarian attestations.
It can be added that besides semantic problems, there are phonological problems as well. Hungarian open e points to earlier *ä, but the Ob-Ugric forms listed by Widmer do not fit this regularly. It seems unlikely that the words are connected, and despite the problems with the Turkic attestation, the Turkic origin of kebel is more probable than the Ugric etymology.
Conclusion
The Ugric etymology is irregular and semantcially problematic. The Turkic etymology remains a possibility despite the originals poor attestation.
References
EWUng : 716, s.v. kebel: Unknown origin
Honti 1982: 151, No 272: POug
Honti 2017: 44–46: PUg
Munkácsi 1895: 257: PUg
Róna-Tas 2017: 50–51: ? ← Turkic
TESz II: 417, s.v. kebel: Unknown origin, not PUg; Turkic etymology requires further research
Widmer 2007: 305–307: PUg
WOT: 516–518: ? ← Turkic
Zhivlov 2006: 157: POug