Hungarian Historical Phonology sötét

sötét 'dark'

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

1211 Setit (EWUng: 1349-1350, s.v. sötét)

Important dialectal forms

sëtét

Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

* čittV-

(Disputed:)

MSzFE, UEW: PUg *čettɜ- 'darken; dunkel, finster werden'

Status of the Ugric etymology

Plausible

Loan etymology

None suggested

Cognates suggested in earlier research

Khanty: South (DN) čĕtimə- 'dämmern, dunkeln'

Mansi: East (KU) šǟtəp- 'finster werden', West (P) šätəp-: jel-šätəp- 'finster werden', (LU) šät: šät-khur 'szürkület, Dämmerung', (LM) šät: šät-khur 'szürkület, Dämmerung', šätem-: jäl-šätem- 'finster werden', North (So) satap- 'finster werden'

Proto-Ob-Ugric: *četV- (Zhivlov 2006: 113)

Commentary

The vowels in Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi point to Proto-Ugric/Proto-Uralic *i, and the word-initial consonants can be regularly derived from *č. The etymology is thus phonologically regular, and a Proto-Ugric word can be assumed.

UEW reconstructs a verbal stem to Proto-Ugric; the verbs in Khanty (DN čĕtimə-) and Mansi (KU šǟtəp- etc.) reflect different derivatives, and the Hungarian adjective sötét is a derivative too. However, it is formally difficult to determine what would have been the word class of the Proto-Ugric word. MSzFE and UEW consider Hu -ét a deverbal nominalizer. Mansi LU also has the form šät- in the noun šät-khur 'Dämmerung': it is unclear what is the precise origin of this form.

Conclusion

A convincing Proto-Ugric etymology

References

EWUng: 1349-1350, s.v. sötét: Proto-Ugric

Honti 1982: 134, no 113: Proto-Ob-Ugric

MSzFE: 555-556, s.v. sötét, setét: Proto-Ugric

UEW: Proto-Ugric Uralonet

WOT: 1287: Proto-Ugric

Zhivlov 2006: 113: Proto-Ob-Ugric