The linguistic clues of the Sermon

Hungarian Linguistics

Linguistic clues of the Sermon

The vocabulary

(2)

(2)

(5)

(6)

(7)
(8)

(10) (Line 2) ysa extinct word, closest is modern íme, itt van with meaning here it is/ there is/ here you are. Corresponding Latin word is hic, Slavic eto.
(2) milostben today malasztban meaning in grace/ favour. Loan word from Slavic: milost with the same meaning.
(5) heon híján, means lacking/ wanting sg./ without sg., the original meaning has changed. From context we know it means except.
(6) biz today used as interjection well, really. Short form of bizony meaning really/ certainly. Word not limited to Hungarian only: Greek pistoV has got the same meaning.
(7) hadlaua or hallavá. The presence of D is unexplained.
(8) intetvinec the meaning and the suffixes have changed. Today's form is intésének, and the meaning is to his warning/ admonition, but from the context we know, the original meaning was to his incitement.
(10) turchucat today torkukat meaning their throats. This word is not unique to Hungarian, it existed in Latin thorax, in Greek faruggaV or trachloV, German Drossel, English throat or throttle etc.
(12)

(15)

(16...
...27)

(16...
...29)

(18)

(24)
(31)
(32) (12) munkás the meaning has changed. Today it means laborious, industrious, but the original meaning was tormented/ painful. The corresponding Slavic word is muka, meaning torment/ pain, German Mühe, meaning trouble/ effort.
(15) mulchotia or múlhatja, semantical shift: old meaning was can avoid, today it means to let pass in modal form.
(16) wimagguc, (18) vimagguc, (19) uimaggonoc, (21) uimagguc, (23) uimadsaguc, (27) uimaggomuc the form and meaning has changed. Today imádságuk means their worship but from the context we know, it meant their prayer. The leading V is not explained.
(16,22) uromc, (20) urot, (26) uromchuz, (28) vr, (29) ur word unchanged in today's language. Usage not limited to Hungarian only: German Herr, Greek kurioV are all the same. Related word is (25) munhi uruzagbele meaning into Kingdom of Heavens.
(18) bovdug or boldog, meaning blessed, today rarely used. The use of the word is not limited to Hungarian, in Latin there is beatus, in Slavic blag, blazen, in English blessed.
(24) ildetuitvl today üldetésétõl
(31) unuttei today önöttei, obsolete word.
(32) iochtotnia today juttatnia or iktatnia meaning to place/ put.

The grammar

(1...
...16)

(3..
...32)

(3)

(5...
...27)

(6) (Lines 1,2,14,16) vogmuc today vagyunk. The root vagy is an irregular auxiliary verb van meaning to be/ to have. (3) teremteve eleve simple past tense, teremté élve, this form is obsolete, today's form is teremtette élve meaning brought alive.
(3,14) miv today mi means uors, (22) iv today õk/ övéik means theirs, (32) tiv today ti means yours, extinct possessive grammatical form still recognizable in Latin tuus/ suus etc, or in Slavic tvoj.
(3) odutta vola, past tense with an auxiliary verb van/ vola, obsolete in modern Hungarian. Today's form is adta, meaning he gave. (10) mige zocoztia vola again obsolete past tense with meaning thorn. This is an important clue, that maybe in the past there have been many types of tenses existing in the grammar, but they disappeared.
(5,6) gimilce tvl, (7) isten tvl, (11) muga nec, (27) lilki ert in these cases the scribe wrote the suffixes separated from the words. Apart of this, there is no vowel-harmony between the suffixes and the words. This may be an indication, that in older times the suffixes were more loosely connected to the words than today. This again gives an important hint, about the origin of the suffixes.
(6) eneyc today egyék, means to eat (in imperative), emdul today eszel means you eat (infinitive enni), (8,9,11) evec today evett means he ate. Word is not limited to Hungarian only: Latin edo, edere & esse, edi, essum, Slavic jede, German essen, English eat. The various forms reveal that in the past the verb was irregular, as it is today.
(7)

(8)

(10)

(12...
...28)

(12)

(14)

(17)

(26) (7) hadlua or hallavá today hallotta, (7) teremteve or teremtevõ today teremtõ, (8) feledeve or feledevé today feledte, (12) horogu vec or haraguvék today haragudott, (12) veteve or vetevé today vetette, they are all testimony of a former simple past tense, which is the only past tense passed down to our days, even though in modified form (the -ve suffix disappearing).
(8) engede today engedett means allowed/ permitted/ yielded, (28) mente today mentette means saved simple past tense.
(10) uola today volt meaning was the former auxiliary verb still surviving but as a verb to be/ to have.
(12) vilagbele today világba, (25) nugulmabeli today nyugalmába, (25) munhi uruzagbele today menyországba, (28) timnucebelevl today tömlõcbõl, are all testimony of the more complete form of today's short suffixes -ba/-be meaning into revealing that the ancestor of this suffix was the prefix bele with the same meaning. This is the second hint (apart of that mentioned in line 5), that the Hungarian suffixes may have been once a free floating speech-particles, before having locked to the related words as suffixes.
(12) levn or lévén today lett means has become. Today this word survives in forms: lenni (infinitive), lesz (future), legyen (imperative), lett (past tense), meaning to be.
(14) hug es tiv today ahogy ti is means as you too, es num egg today nem is egy means not a single one/ no one.
(17) iorgossun or irgasson today irgalmazzon means to have mercy. The verb irg is extinct from the modern use, instead there is a noun irgalom, obviously produced from an extinct verb by means of a noun-making suffix -m. In this way, the modern verb is produced from a noun (which is produced from an extinct verb!).
(26) harmul today háromszor.

The vowel-harmony

(3) (3) milostben today malasztban. (3) isemucut today õsünket. (4) paradisumben today paradicsomban. (7) halalnec today halálnak. (26) iovben today jóban. One of the basic characteristics of the Hungarian language is the complete vowel-harmony between the suffixes and the words, which they are attached to. In all this cases there is a lack of this vowel-harmony, indicating, that the suffixes may have been handled as separate words. This enables important conclusions about the origin of the suffixes.

Conclusions
The Sermon above the grave and the Prayer is written in an archaic grammar with unusual vocabulary, which gives an interesting insight into the structure of the Old Hungarian. It is possible to draw some conclusions, which would be impossible to do by studying the modern language itself.
The basic speech particles of the Hungarian language - the suffixes must have been once free floating words, which eroded, and became attached to the word roots they relate to.
In older times there were at least two more types of past tenses in use, similar to perfect and aorist of other languages, which are now extinct from the modern Hungarian, leaving only simple past.

Back to the Sermon


The vocabulary
(2) (2) (5) (6) (7) (8) (10)	(Line 2) ysa extinct word, closest is modern íme, itt van with meaning here it is/ there is/ here you are. Corresponding Latin word is hic, Slavic eto. (2) milostben today malasztban meaning in grace/ favour. Loan word from Slavic: milost with the same meaning. (5) heon híján, means lacking/ wanting sg./ without sg., the original meaning has changed. From context we know it means except. (6) biz today used as interjection well, really. Short form of bizony meaning really/ certainly. Word not limited to Hungarian only: Greek pistoV has got the same meaning. (7) hadlaua or hallavá. The presence of D is unexplained. (8) intetvinec the meaning and the suffixes have changed. Today's form is intésének, and the meaning is to his warning/ admonition, but from the context we know, the original meaning was to his incitement. (10) turchucat today torkukat meaning their throats. This word is not unique to Hungarian, it existed in Latin thorax, in Greek faruggaV or trachloV, German Drossel, English throat or throttle etc.	(12) (15) (16... ...27) (16... ...29) (18) (24) (31) (32)	(12) munkás the meaning has changed. Today it means laborious, industrious, but the original meaning was tormented/ painful. The corresponding Slavic word is muka, meaning torment/ pain, German Mühe, meaning trouble/ effort. (15) mulchotia or múlhatja, semantical shift: old meaning was can avoid, today it means to let pass in modal form. (16) wimagguc, (18) vimagguc, (19) uimaggonoc, (21) uimagguc, (23) uimadsaguc, (27) uimaggomuc the form and meaning has changed. Today imádságuk means their worship but from the context we know, it meant their prayer. The leading V is not explained. (16,22) uromc, (20) urot, (26) uromchuz, (28) vr, (29) ur word unchanged in today's language. Usage not limited to Hungarian only: German Herr, Greek kurioV are all the same. Related word is (25) munhi uruzagbele meaning into Kingdom of Heavens. (18) bovdug or boldog, meaning blessed, today rarely used. The use of the word is not limited to Hungarian, in Latin there is beatus, in Slavic blag, blazen, in English blessed. (24) ildetuitvl today üldetésétõl (31) unuttei today önöttei, obsolete word. (32) iochtotnia today juttatnia or iktatnia meaning to place/ put.
The grammar
(1... ...16) (3.. ...32) (3) (5... ...27) (6)	(Lines 1,2,14,16) vogmuc today vagyunk. The root vagy is an irregular auxiliary verb van meaning to be/ to have. (3) teremteve eleve simple past tense, teremté élve, this form is obsolete, today's form is teremtette élve meaning brought alive. (3,14) miv today mi means uors, (22) iv today õk/ övéik means theirs, (32) tiv today ti means yours, extinct possessive grammatical form still recognizable in Latin tuus/ suus etc, or in Slavic tvoj. (3) odutta vola, past tense with an auxiliary verb van/ vola, obsolete in modern Hungarian. Today's form is adta, meaning he gave. (10) mige zocoztia vola again obsolete past tense with meaning thorn. This is an important clue, that maybe in the past there have been many types of tenses existing in the grammar, but they disappeared. (5,6) gimilce tvl, (7) isten tvl, (11) muga nec, (27) lilki ert in these cases the scribe wrote the suffixes separated from the words. Apart of this, there is no vowel-harmony between the suffixes and the words. This may be an indication, that in older times the suffixes were more loosely connected to the words than today. This again gives an important hint, about the origin of the suffixes. (6) eneyc today egyék, means to eat (in imperative), emdul today eszel means you eat (infinitive enni), (8,9,11) evec today evett means he ate. Word is not limited to Hungarian only: Latin edo, edere & esse, edi, essum, Slavic jede, German essen, English eat. The various forms reveal that in the past the verb was irregular, as it is today.	(7) (8) (10) (12... ...28) (12) (14) (17) (26)	(7) hadlua or hallavá today hallotta, (7) teremteve or teremtevõ today teremtõ, (8) feledeve or feledevé today feledte, (12) horogu vec or haraguvék today haragudott, (12) veteve or vetevé today vetette, they are all testimony of a former simple past tense, which is the only past tense passed down to our days, even though in modified form (the -ve suffix disappearing). (8) engede today engedett means allowed/ permitted/ yielded, (28) mente today mentette means saved simple past tense. (10) uola today volt meaning was the former auxiliary verb still surviving but as a verb to be/ to have. (12) vilagbele today világba, (25) nugulmabeli today nyugalmába, (25) munhi uruzagbele today menyországba, (28) timnucebelevl today tömlõcbõl, are all testimony of the more complete form of today's short suffixes -ba/-be meaning into revealing that the ancestor of this suffix was the prefix bele with the same meaning. This is the second hint (apart of that mentioned in line 5), that the Hungarian suffixes may have been once a free floating speech-particles, before having locked to the related words as suffixes. (12) levn or lévén today lett means has become. Today this word survives in forms: lenni (infinitive), lesz (future), legyen (imperative), lett (past tense), meaning to be. (14) hug es tiv today ahogy ti is means as you too, es num egg today nem is egy means not a single one/ no one. (17) iorgossun or irgasson today irgalmazzon means to have mercy. The verb irg is extinct from the modern use, instead there is a noun irgalom, obviously produced from an extinct verb by means of a noun-making suffix -m. In this way, the modern verb is produced from a noun (which is produced from an extinct verb!). (26) harmul today háromszor.
The vowel-harmony
(3)	(3) milostben today malasztban. (3) isemucut today õsünket. (4) paradisumben today paradicsomban. (7) halalnec today halálnak. (26) iovben today jóban.		One of the basic characteristics of the Hungarian language is the complete vowel-harmony between the suffixes and the words, which they are attached to. In all this cases there is a lack of this vowel-harmony, indicating, that the suffixes may have been handled as separate words. This enables important conclusions about the origin of the suffixes.
Conclusions The Sermon above the grave and the Prayer is written in an archaic grammar with unusual vocabulary, which gives an interesting insight into the structure of the Old Hungarian. It is possible to draw some conclusions, which would be impossible to do by studying the modern language itself. The basic speech particles of the Hungarian language - the suffixes must have been once free floating words, which eroded, and became attached to the word roots they relate to. In older times there were at least two more types of past tenses in use, similar to perfect and aorist of other languages, which are now extinct from the modern Hungarian, leaving only simple past.