Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/71

Rh PER- SON. Plur. Sing. Definite. ACTIVE. -om, •em (-0m) -0. -ed (-ūd) -87 -od, -ja, 4 -Juk, -jük -játok, -itek -ják -ik IIUNGARY (LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE) Indefinite. Punive. -ek (-ük) -atom, -etem -stol, -etel -atik, -etik -atunk. -etünk -attok, -ettek -atnak, -etnek (Root) -unk, -ünk -tok, -tek (-tök) -nak -nek Examples: várom, I expect him, her, it, them, or the man; tárok, I expect, wait; váratom, I am expected; kéred, thou askest him, &c.; kérez, thou askest; kéretel, thou art asked; látja, he or she sees it; lát, he or she sees; látjuk, we see it; látunk, we see, &c. Other moods and tenses are formed by inserting new letters or syllables between the above suffixes and the root, or in a few cases by a change of the final vowel or consonant, and by auxilia- ries; thus: vára, waited; váránk, we waited; vártunk, we have waited; várnánk, we would wait; várandok, I shall wait; várjatok, that ye wait. The auxiliaries are: volt or vala, for the pluperfect; legyen, for the conjunctive past; volna, for the optative past. The infini- tive is formed by suffixing ni to the root, as várni, to expect. A combined future is formed by the infinitive with the auxiliary verb fog; thus, várni fogok, I shall wait; várni fogom, I shall expect it. Possession is indicated by the irregular verb lenni, to be; van, is; vannak, are; volt, was; lesz, will be, &c.; thus: anyám van (mother-my is), I have a mother; also with the mark of the dative, nekem vannak kerteim (to-me are gardens-my, mihi sunt horti), I have gardens. Negation is expressed by nem, not; nincs, is not, nincsenek, are not; sincs, is neither. Various kinds of verbs are made by affixing certain syllables, thus: at or tat, cau- sative; gal, gat, &c., frequentative; dúl, incep- tive; inserting n, diminutive; hat, potential; it, int, &c., transitive; kodik, reciprocal; ódik, kozik, refiexive, &c. Examples: ver, he beats; veret, he causes to beat; vereget (verdes, verde- gél), he beats often; verint, beats softly; vere- kedik, fights with; verődik, beats against; vergődik, beats himself (breaks) through; ver- het, can beat; verethet, can cause to beat; verinthet, can beat gently; verekedhetik, can fight with somebody; verődhetik, can knock against; vergödhetik, can break through, &c. All these and similar derivatives can be con- jugated throughout in the same way as the simple verb. There are besides these other compounds with prefixes: alá, down; által, tbrough, hy; be, in; bele, into; el, of, away; ellen, against; fel, up; ki, out; össze, together, &c.; and especially meg, which is an emphatic particle denoting attainment of the aim, ac- complishment (like the German er and be in erlangen, begraben).-There is no gender; he and she are expressed by the same word. The definite article az or a' is of recent use. The adjective precedes the substantive, and receives the marks of relations only when standing by itself. The relations called cases and those VOL. IX.-5 418 63 expressed by prepositions in Indo-European languages are denoted in all Altaic tongues by suffixes. The plural is formed by k. Cases: é, genitive; nak, genitive and dative; t, at, accu- sative; ban, in; ba, into; ból, out of; ért, for; hoz, to; ig, till; ként, like, instead, as; kép, in manner of; kor, at the time of (about); nál (Latin apud, German bei), at; on, upon; ról, down; úl, instead, as; vá, (changed) into; val, with, by, &c.; almost all the suffixes being har- monized with the stem. Examples: szemeink- ben, eyes-our-in; ebédeikkor, dinners-their-at- the-time-of. The separable postpositions are of three categories: 1, answering to three ques tions, where? whither whence? thus: előtt, before (where?); elé, before (whither?); elől, from before; such are alatt, below; körött, around; között, between, among; megett, be- hind; mellett, near by; 2, of two forms, as he- gyett, hegyé, upon, &c.; 8, of one form, as ellen, against; iránt, regarding, &c. The compara- tive degree is formed by suffixing bb; the super- lative by prefixing leg to the comparative; thus: nagy, great, nagyobb, greater, legnagyobb, great- est. Pronouns: 1st person, én, I; enyém, mine; nekem, to me; engemet, me; mi, we; mienk, ours; nekünk, to us; minket, us; 2d person, te, tiéd, neked, tégedet; ti, tiétek, nektek, titeket; 8d person, of both genders, 6, övé, neki, öt; ők, övék, nekik, őket. These are joined with relative prefixes, thus: bennem, in me; belőled, out of thee; hozzájok, to them; alattam, uuder me; alattad, under thee, &c. In addressing a per- son we say ön (self), plural önök, or kegyed (thy grace), plural kegyetek, for both genders; or az úr, sir (the lord or gentleman); uraságod, eirship-thy; az asszony, lady; asszonságod, la- dyship-thy; formerly maga, self; to persons of lower standing, kend, you. Numerals: egy, 1; kettő, két, 2; három, 3; négy, 4; ōt, 5; hat, 6; hét, 7; nyolcz, 8; kilencz, 9; tiz, 10; tizenegy, 11, &c.; húsz, 20; harmincz, 30; negyven, 40, &c.; száz, 100; ezer, 1,000. Or- dinals: első, 1st; második, 2d; tbe others are formed by suffixing dik, as negyedik, századik, &c. All other varieties are formed by suita- ble suffixes. The formation of parts of speech, aud of various categories of signification, is ex- tremely luxuriant by means of suffixed letters or syllables, so that an indefinite and yet ever intelligible mass of words may be made to suit all conceptions and shades of meaning. This plasticity of the Magyar, together with its free syntax, renders it capable of expressing the turns of other tongues and the Greek and Latin metres with more ease and fidelity than almost any other language. We subjoin an example of construction and of elegiac distichs:

Férfiak! {gy molott Pannon. céan-istene hajdan: Men! so spake Pannonia's war-god (its) of old: Boldog foldet adok, vijatok érte ha kell, Blessed country give-İ, fight-ye for-it if need, 'S cittanak elswintan nagy bátor nemeetok érte and fought decidedly great brave nations for-it S véresen a' diadalt, végre kinyerte magyar. and bloodlly the victory lastly gained (the) Hungarian.