On the origin of hisz ‘believe’, a mysterious Hungarian verb
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18349/MagyarNyelv.2023.2.191Keywords:
etymology, morphology, semanticsAbstract
This verb is one of a set of Hungarian verbs with so-called unstable roots, of which there are seven: tësz ‘do’, lësz ’will be’, vësz ‘take’, visz ‘carry’, ëszik ‘eat’, iszik ‘drink’ (and hisz itself). Hisz is unique even within this group in that its imperative forms involve long ďď (spelt ggy) as opposed the short ď (spelt gy) of the other six, cf. higgy! ‘believe-imp’ ↔ tégy! ‘do-imp’. Its origin is believed by Lewy and Rédei to be found in a lexeme of the form *kämä / *kemɜ. According to Lewy, its meaning might have been ‘hard, solid’; this appears to be possible on the basis of semantic parallels. However, there are two serious problems with the etymology of the verb hisz: we have no convincing explanation for the initial h- and the source of the imperative root involving -ggy(-) is also unclear.
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