Hungarian Historical Phonology nyék

nyék (arch.) 'Hürde, Flechtzaun; Wald an einem Fluß; Hain'; dial. 'Wildbahn'

? Old Hungarian tribal name nyék in place names Kápolnásnyék, Nyékhát

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

[coming]

Important dialectal forms

In modern Hungarian nyék is a dialectal word.

Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

? Pre-Hu *ńekkV

(Disputed:)

UEW: PUg *näkɜ- (nekɜ-) 'tie, bind; binden'

Status of the Ugric etymology

Improbable (phonologically irregular)

Loan etymology

None suggested

Cognates suggested in earlier research

UEW:

Khanty: South (Kr) newəj- 'die Zettelfäden des Gewebes' < ? PKh *nēwəj-

Mansi: East (KU) nēγ-, West (P) nēw-, North (So) nēγ- 'binden' < PMs *nīγ-

Proto-Ob-Ugric:  ?

Commentary

Rédei (1964) assumes that the Hungarian word is a derivative of the Ugric verb that is reflected by Mansi nēγ-, nēw- and the Khanty derivative (?) Khanty newəj-. However, no Proto-Ugric form can be reconstructed: the origin of Hungarian *ń in this word is unclear, and the vowel-correspondences between the Hungarian and the Ob-Ugric words are likewise irregular. It is also far from certain that the Hungarian and Khanty nouns are derivatives of a verbal stem. It is likewise uncertain whether the Hungarian tribal name nyék is the same word as the noun nyék.

Conclusion

Due to phonological difficulties, the Ugric etymology should be rejected.

References

EWUng

UEW: Proto-Ugric Uralonet

WOT