Hungarian Historical Phonology orvos

orvos 'doctor; (arch.) magician'

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

[coming]

Important dialectal forms

olvos, óros, orvas (see ÚMTSz IV: 212, s.v. orvos)

Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

(Disputed:)

UEW: *arpa ‘soothsaying instrument, magic instrument, potion; irgendein Wahrsagungs-, Zaubermittel‘

Loan etymology

Hu ← West Old Turkic *orwučï < *arwuči < *arwïlččï, cf. East Old Turkic arvïščï 'spell-binder, sorcerer' << *arva- 'make magic, cast spells' (WOT: 656–659)

Cognates suggested in earlier research

UEW:

Finnish: arpa

Saami: North vuorbi

Commentary

See also Etymologiadata:imsm:arpa

Many sources present both the inherited Uralic (Finno-Ugric etymology) and the Turkic loan etymology for the Turkic word (see most recently WOT, Honti 2017, Róna-Tas 2017). However, already MSzFE, which likewise presents both possibilities, noted that the relationship Fi a ~ Hu o is not regular (Hungarian o would not be the regular reflex of Proto-Uralic *a). Also the competing loan etymologies for the Finnic and Saami word (← Proto-Germanic *arƀa- or arƀa-z, > Old Swedish arf, arver ’maaomistus, perintö’; Koivulehto 1972: 249) and the Hungarian word make the Uralic etymology unlikely. The Turkic origin of the Hungarian word listed by WOT is plausible both phonologically and semantically (see WOT 657–659 for discussion on earlier, more problematic Turkic donor forms).

Conclusion

Hungarian orvos is probably borrowed from Turkic.

References

EWUng: 1071-1072, s.v. orvos: PFU or ← Turkic

Honti 2017: 48–49: PFU or ← Turkic

Koivulehto 1972: 249: Fi and Saa ← Germanic

MSzFE: 505-506: PFU or ← Turkic

UEW s.v. arpa: ? PFU Uralonet

Róna-Tas 2017: 51–52: PFU or ← Turkic

SSA: Fi & Saa ← ? Germanic

WOT: 656–659: ? ← Turkic