Hungarian Historical Phonology szőke

szőke 'blond'

First attestation/Old Hungarian data

[coming] arch. sző 'grau, weißlich, blond'

Important dialectal forms

szöjke arch. and dial. szëg 'braun, kastanienfarbig' arch. and dial. szög 'braun, kastanienfarbig'

Uralic/Ugric/Pre-Hungarian reconstruction

(Disputed:)

UEW: PUg *säŋɜ 'light, clear; hell, licht, klar'

Status of the Ugric etymology

Improbable (phonologically irregular)

Loan etymology

None suggested

Cognates suggested in earlier research

UEW:

Khanty: East (V) säŋki 'hell, klar; grell; (himmlisches, vom Feuer)', South (DN) sȧŋkə 'hell, klar; Licht, Helligkeit, Welt' < Proto-Khanty **sǟŋki

Commentary

Despite the semantic closeness of the Hungarian and Mansi words, reconstruction of a Proto-Ugric word is unlikely due to irregular relations between the alleged cognates. Hungarian sző (from which szőke is derived) can reflect earlier *sVγV, Khanty *ŋk points to Pre-Khanty *ŋ or *ŋk. Proto-Khanty *ǟ reflects Pre-Khanty *ä; Hungarian ő could perhaps reflect *äw. The origin of the sequence öj in the dialectal form szöjke is not clear-

It is also doubtful whether Hungarian szëg, szög are related to sző, szőke. The vowel ë points to Pre-Hungarian i that is incompatible with Khanty vocalism.

Conclusion

A Proto-Ugric word cannot be reconstructed because of the irregularities.

References

UEW s.v. säŋɜ: ? PUg Uralonet