Hungarian Historical Phonology kedv

kedv 'Laune, Stimmung, Gemüt; Wunsch; Lust'

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

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Important dialectal forms

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Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

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(Disputed:)

UEW: *kȣ̈ntɜ

Status of the Ugric etymology

Regular

Loan etymology

None suggested

Cognates suggested in earlier research

Khanty: East (J) kĕnt 'Zorn' South (DN) kĕnt 'Zorn, Ärger, Bosheit', (Ni) kănt 'Zorn' < ? PKh *kint

Mansi: West (LM) känt, North (So) kantəŋ 'zornig' < PMs *känt

Commentary

Hungarian e points to earlier *ä, whereas the Ob-Ugric words point to *i. There are also semantic differences, as the Ob-Ugric words denote 'hate', whereas Hungarian kedv has a more general meaning of 'mood'. The derivational element -v in Hungarian is of unclear origin.

UEW mentions a possible connection with PU *küntV 'mist, steam, smoke', but this connection is impossible as the vowels do not fit (the Hungarian cognate köd cannot belong to the same word family as kedv). This same connection is also supported by Abondolo (1996: 35).

Harmatta (1997: 74) has suggested that the Ugric words are borrowed from Iranian: he reconstructs East Iranian *känti based on Old Indo-Aryan kānti- 'desire, wish'. While there it remains unclear why the Hungarian word should stem specifically from "East Iranian", the suggested Indo-Iranian origin of kedv is not impossible. A Pre-Hungarian *käntV could reflect Indo-Iranian *kānti-. However, the origin of Hungarian -v remains uncertain in this case too. The Indo-Iranian etymology requires further research. It is quite certain, however, that the assumed Ob-Ugric cognates are not loans from this Indo-Iranian word.

Conclusion

The etymology is irregular, and no PUg word can be reconstructed. The relationship with Hu köd 'mist' < *küntV is impossible. The possible Indo-Iranian origin of kedv requires further research.

References

Abondolo 1996: 35: PU (related to Samoyed words for 'smoke')

EWUng

Harmatta 1997: 74: ← Ir

Honti 1982: Proto-Ob-Ugric

UEW s.v. kȣ̈ntɜ: PUg, possible Uralic connections Uralonet